Happy 927th Birthday Lincoln Cathedral

Happy 927th Birthday to Lincoln Cathedral! The iconic building which was once the tallest in the world continues to stand proud in the city.

Bishop Regimus started work on Lincoln Cathedral in 1072 before it was consecrated in 1092, having been commissioned by William the Conqueror. Bishop Regimus passed away later that year. May 9 is the anniversary of the consecration of Lincoln Cathedral in 1092 making it 927 years old this year.

The building was ravaged by a fire in 1124 before it was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 1185, leaving only the West Front which can still be seen today. There were smaller earthquakes in 1990 and 2008 but these only shook the cathedral slightly.

Watercolour by J M W Turner shows how Lincoln Cathedral looked in 1795.

The Central Tower collapsed in 1237 before it was rebuilt in 1311 making it the tallest building in the world.

In 1255 Henry III approved a petition by the Dean and Chapter to take down part of the Roman city wall in order to extend the cathedral. The building of the Angel Choir began in 1256 after the license was granted. It was eventually finished in 1280 ready for its dedication.

Lincoln Cathedral held the record for being the tallest building for over 200 years until the spire collapsed during a fierce storm in 1548.

Members of the WI performed Jerusalem. Photo: Lincoln Cathedral

During the English Civil War, Cromwell and his men caused damaged to the building in 1644 during their siege on Lincoln.

The West Tower Spires were removed in 1807. It was believed that the towers were endangered by their own weight. James Gibbs advised that the spires be removed in 1724, but this was not acted on until 1807 after the people of Lincoln rioted.

Crowds gathered outside the Christmas tree at Lincoln Cathedral as part of the official market opening ceremony.

The ‘Great Tom’ bell was lifted into the Central Tower in 1834. In 1880 two more bells were added to the Central Tower which served the purpose of ringing every quarter of an hour.

The iconic building was also used for the filming of the The Da Vinci Code in 2005. The final scenes of the film were shot within the chapter house. Two years later filming began for The Young Victoria with scenes shot at the Cathedral.

The west Front work will involve conservation of ‘Gallery of Kings’.

In 2015 the Heritage Lottery Fund earmarked £12.4million to the Lincoln Cathedral Connected Team. This included for conservation of Exchequergate Arch and the West Front centre niche, Gallery of Kings and Romanesque Frieze. It also included the creation of new visitors facilities and an interpretation centre, renewing of floodlights and landscaping of the West Front and Dean’s Green.

The first phase of works began at the cathedral in 2018 including refurbishment of the Old Deanery on the north side of the building for the new visitor centre and cafe. The whole project including conservation works is expected to be completed by 2020.

In 2018 the cathedral was once again turned into a film set. In June of that year film crews shot scenes for the new Netflix movie the King.

The Grand Tour trio inside Lincoln Cathedral. Photo: Photo: The Grand Tour available now on Prime Video

The finale of Amazon’s The Grand Tour was filmed inside the iconic building in October 2018.

It included hundreds of people with audience tickets queuing to get in the cathedral. The choir and the audience sang a hymn – “Dear Ford & Father of mankind” as a tribute to the Ford car.

Birdwatchers were out in full force as two Peregrine Falcons nursed their young in April 2019. The cathedral’s bell tower has been home to the birds of prey for around 13 years. In May the first Peregrine chick hatched.