July 17, 2015 12.49 pm This story is over 104 months old

Lincoln’s hidden gems: The home of ‘Daphne’ the tank

Take a tour: As part of our ‘hidden gems’ series, visit the home of a famous Lincoln tank.

Hidden within the Museum of Lincolnshire Life is a World War I tank with an interesting history, spending much of its display life masquerading under another’s name.

Lincoln is celebrated as being the birthplace of the tank, with an iconic memorial unveiled this year to unveil an important slice of the city’s history.

The city’s own tank displayed at the museum on Burton Road was the subject of an intriguing investigation last year after it was suggested the vehicle was not the ‘Flirt’ it claimed to be.

Gifted to the Lincolnshire transport exhibition by the Bovington Tank Museum as Flirt II over 30 years ago, the tank was said to have been one damaged during war in France and captured by Germans.

It turned out however that Flirt, a Mark IV female, was in fact called ‘Daphne’ after a conflicting serial number was spotted during digital tour guide filming.

Read more about the discovery in our previous story. 

The museum also has exhibits featuring recreations of old shops, house interiors along with an extensive collection of early farm machinery, with examples of machines built by local companies, such as the Field Marshall tractor built in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire by Marshall, Sons & Co.

Our photographer took a tour of the museum as part of The Lincolnite’s Hidden Gems series.

Take a peak inside the city’s Guildhall in our previous gallery.