Lincoln Cathedral

Lincoln Cathedral, also called Lincoln Minster, and formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Lincoln, is a <a href="/facts/Church_of_England/A1CoKeGz">Church of England</a> cathedral in <a href="/facts/Lincoln%2c_England/3gwo2aMl">Lincoln</a>, England. It is the seat of the <a href="/facts/Bishop_of_Lincoln/4X6aDxzI">bishop of Lincoln</a> and is the <a href="/facts/Mother_Church/PNUpJW77">mother church</a> of the <a href="/facts/Diocese_of_Lincoln/h4FyUhFv">diocese of Lincoln</a>. The cathedral is governed by its <a href="/facts/Dean_of_Lincoln/sxSnRNrn">dean</a> and <a href="/facts/Chapter_(religion)/8CVLCeQc">chapter</a>, and is a <a href="/facts/Listed_building/PPx6CnfU">grade I</a> listed building.
The earliest parts of the current building date to 1072, when bishop <a href="/facts/Remigius_de_F%25C3%25A9camp/aMv8sFVf">Remigius de Fécamp</a> moved his seat from <a href="/facts/Dorchester_on_Thames/pWR2shm5">Dorchester on Thames</a> to Lincoln. The building was completed in 1092, but severely damaged in <a href="/facts/1185_East_Midlands_earthquake/DPfnwFSz">an earthquake in 1185</a>. It was rebuilt over the following centuries in different phases of the <a href="/facts/English_Gothic_architecture/q4LRtY1Q">Gothic style</a>, with significant surviving parts of the cathedral in <a href="/facts/English_Gothic_architecture/q4LRtY1Q">Early English</a>, <a href="/facts/Decorated_Gothic/q4LRtY1Q">Decorated</a> and <a href="/facts/Perpendicular_architecture/cWSMh62l">Perpendicular</a>.
The cathedral holds one of the four remaining copies of the original <a href="/facts/Magna_Carta/0dJd8tcs">Magna Carta</a>, which is now displayed in <a href="/facts/Lincoln_Castle/AyqSTxzx">Lincoln Castle</a>. It is the fourth largest cathedral in the UK by floor area, at approximately 5,000 m2 (50,000 sq ft), after <a href="/facts/Liverpool_Cathedral/gHmpPvVL">Liverpool Cathedral</a>, <a href="/facts/St_Paul%2527s_Cathedral/e51m9gYD">St Paul's Cathedral</a>, and <a href="/facts/York_Minster/FJA6doCg">York Minster</a>. It is highly regarded by architectural scholars; the <a href="/facts/Victorian_era/HQxGp7wh">Victorian</a> writer <a href="/facts/John_Ruskin/GL5qNpPt">John Ruskin</a> declared: "I have always held ... that the cathedral of Lincoln is out and out the most precious piece of architecture in the British Isles and roughly speaking worth any two other cathedrals we have."

Lincoln Cathedral open-in-new

Lincoln Cathedral