Plans for new Lincoln Cathedral shop, cafe and visitor centre to go before council

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Visuals for the Lincoln Cathedral shop and Cafe, as part of the £16 million Lincoln Cathedral Connected project.

Plans to turn the Old Deanery building at Lincoln Cathedral into a new cafe, education centre, offices and community space will go before council planners next week.

The plans, which form part of the £16 million Lincoln Cathedral Connected project, will see the former playground, Grade II listed Old Deanery, stable block and former Minster School yard area redeveloped.

The new exhibition space as part of the Lincoln Cathedral Connected project.

The new exhibition space as part of the Lincoln Cathedral Connected project.

The north side of the cathedral, which has been mostly hidden from the public, would be given new life with:

  • Creation of new visitor facilities (shop, cafe, toilets, changing places room)
  • An Interpretation Centre
  • Landscaping of the West Front and Dean’s Green to create calm and prayerful public spaces
  • Renewing and replacing the floodlights, with possibility of changing colours
  • Conservation of Exchequergate Arch
  • Conservation of the West Front centre niche, Gallery of Kings and Romanesque Frieze

Planning documents state that no objections of representations were received by members of the public in response to the plans.

It has been recommended that City of Lincoln Council’s planning committee approves the plans at its meeting on December 14.

Image: Simpson Brown Architects

Image: Simpson Brown Architects

Project partners expect to hear whether they’ve secured a bid for £12.4 million of funding by the Heritage Lottery Fund in January.

Surveying work is planned to begin on site in Spring 2017 and building work will commence from 2018. The project should be finished by 2020.

In preparation for the work to come, Connected has already lead to a selection of historic artefacts and stories being unearthed on the site.

Ancient skeletons and artefacts were found during test pit digs in July, and the cathedral’s than suspects that many more interesting finds will crop up as work continues.

It’s even believed the remains of a Roman building lie beneath the Dean’s Green and in the area of a water tank which was installed in the Second World War.