The City of Lincoln has had a fortunate history! It has prospered almost continuously since it was founded as a Roman frontier garrison, the "Lindum Colonia". In time it became an important staging post on the Ermine Street - the major Roman highway to York - and also had the Fosse Way linking it to Exeter in the southwest. Additionally there was the Fosse Dyke canal linking the city to the River Trent, the Car Dyke heading south to the Nene and of course the River Witham providing further transport and trading links. By the C9th it was an important Danish town and expanded significantly beyond the walls of the Roman city to the South Common. As a centre used by mediaeval merchants to trade it continued to thrive throughout the Middle Ages.
Some decline did occur however from about the mid C14th. The factors causing this were varied (loss of the cloth trade; the silting of the Fosse Dyke; the Black Death; the Great North Road by-passing the city etc) and the effects lasted until the very early C18th. During the C17th, and more so in the C18th, the River Witham had been widened and straightened so that river trade began to flourish again and when the railways arrived in the C19th economic life was transformed yet again. Lincoln then became acknowledged world-wide as a centre of excellence in heavy and machine engineering, a reputation that lasted well into the C20th when, during WWI, the first tanks were built there.
This long and prosperous history has resulted in Lincoln's uniquely varied architectural legacy with buildings surviving from every age from the times of the Romans onwards.
And the crowning glory of course for over eight centuries has been its magnificent cathedral! It is generally recognised that Lincoln vies with Durham for the honour of having England's most dramatically sited cathedral with many arguing Lincoln's case as the winner of the contest. What finer location therefore to start our Spires & Steeples trail?
