Lincoln, Lincolnshire

Distance Travelled from London: 155 miles

And thens he roode by Huntingdon, Staunforde [Stamford] and to Lincoln, and ther his grace kepte right devoutly the holy fest of Ester [Easter]. The Herald’s Memoir

The Herald seems to have viewed Lincoln as the first significant stop on the King’s itinerary since leaving London. He describes what unfolded there in considerably more detail than the royal visits to either Waltham or Cambridge. 

Lincoln lies around 90 miles due north of Cambridge and would have been reached from Cambridge via Huntingdon and Stamford primarily by travelling along the Great North Road. In this case, we do not know where Henry was ceremonially received as he approached the city. His son, who lodged at Lincoln during his historic 1541 progress, was greeted at Temple Bruer, seven miles south of the city. This place has a fascinating history. It was a monastic property of some renown, belonging at the time of these royal visits to the Knight’s Hospitallers. Was Henry VII also received here? We simply do not know, but again, it is an intriguing possibility and certainly a candidate of worthy consideration. 

The King’s stay in Lincoln was obviously meant to be one of the centrepieces of the progress – alongside the Garter Day festivities that would take place in York the following month. No doubt the timing to arrive in Lincoln for Easter was no coincidence. This was a major holy day celebration in the Christian calendar, and from the Herald’s account, it is clear that Henry intended to fulfil the ritual element of kings to the full – and in full view of the public gaze. Our trusty Herald states that ‘full like a cristene [Christian] prince hard [heard] his dyvyne service in the cathedral church and in no private chapell’.

According to McGee in his thesis, Henry arrived in Lincoln on 23 March; this coincided with Maundy Thursday, a day when kings traditionally washed the feet of the poor in an act of humility. Not missing an opportunity to add his name to the roll call of monarchs to perform this ritual, the Herald records that Henry ‘had in the bisshops hall xxix poore men for whom he humly and cristenly for Christez [Christ’s] love, with his noble handles, did wesshe [wash] ther fete.’

The mention of Henry performing this act in ‘the bisshops hall’ is of great interest to anyone wishing to follow in the King’s footsteps. Although it is not made explicit in the Herald’s account, the assumption would be that this act was performed in one of the two hall’s associated with the Bishop’s Palace; a palace which lay adjacent to the eleventh century cathedral (and which, in my humble opinion, is one of the finest in the country).

The Bishop’s Palace at Lincoln

The Bishop’s Palace lay to the south of Lincoln Cathedral, just outside the city walls (also referred to as ‘the Bail’). It had commanding views over the city to the south, as well as the surrounding countryside, since the old city of Lincoln, which included the cathedral, castle and the Bishops’ Palace, was perched up high atop a plateau of land. Indeed, if you approach the city from the south today, you will experience the breathtaking sight of the cathedral soaring into the sky, clearly visible from a distance. It certainly has the ‘wow!’ factor in abundance!

The Origins of the Bishop’s Palace

The palace’s origins stretch back to the mid-twelfth century when Bishop Robert de Chesney began its construction as a residence for himself and his large household of officials and servants; it was later enlarged and altered by subsequent incumbents.

It was an impressive building. There is a reason for this. During the medieval period, the Diocese of Lincoln was enormous, stretching from the Thames in the south, up to the River Humber in the north, around half the length of England. As the administrative centre of this, one of the largest dioceses of the period, the palace was constructed to reflect its bishops’ staggering power and wealth. It was therefore perfectly suited to host a royal visit. 

Although we cannot prove it, as no specific mention is made of the King’s lodgings in the Herald’s account, it seems likely that Henry would have stayed in the Bishop’s Palace during his sojourn to Lincoln. However, as you shall see in a moment, the exact location of these lodgings within the palace is less easy to pin down with certainty.

The Layout of the Bishop’s Palace

The palace buildings were surrounded by crenellated walls that formed an exclusive precinct, with the primary gateway sited in the north-east corner. Today, a later Victorian replacement stands in its place. When Henry arrived at Lincoln, he would have enjoyed the most recent and extensive renovations to be made to the building. These were carried out under the watch of Bishop William Alnwick in the mid-fifteenth century. The changes to the palace included building a residential tower block and a private chapel, the latter lying to the east of the aforementioned tower. This residential block contained some of the bishops’ privy chambers, including a withdrawing chamber and was named eponymously after Bishop Alnwick. 

Thankfully, this tower has survived largely intact, although heavily restored in more recent centuries. Today, you can see a blocked-up doorway in the main private chamber on the first floor when you visit. This doorway once gave access to the Bishop’s private pew, overlooking the body of the chapel below. Just as an aside, of course, notoriously, Lincoln is cited as one of the places of Catherine Howard’s infidelity with the handsome Thomas Culpepper. Indeed, echoes of their stay in the city were once seen in Henry VIII’s and Catherine’s coats of arms, which were noted in the 1647 Parliamentary Survey to have decorated the Bishop’s private chapel. Unfortunately, this chapel, along with these artefacts, has not survived the passage of time. 

A Tale of Two Halls

The Great (West) Hall

As mentioned above, two halls existed at the palace: a great hall to the west and a second to the east. A narrow external, cobbled courtyard separated the two, and both were connected to the aforementioned Bishop’s lodgings in the Alnwick Tower.

Firstly, concerning the former, this was the larger of the two, measuring 60 ft by 90 ft. The roof was of ‘very strong timber’ being covered in lead and supported along its length by eight pillars of grey, Purbeck marble ‘bearing up arches of freestone in the form of a large church’. The low end of the hall had the usual arrangement of three (now blocked up) entrances that once led to the buttery, pantry and kitchens. These doorways are still clearly visible. 

Another blocked doorway in the south-west corner of the west hall (at this low end) once led up to high-status guest lodgings on the first floor. In the nineteenth century, this building was converted into a Victorian chapel. Its first floor was stripped out, creating one large space from floor to ceiling. When I visited Lincoln while researching the palace for my co-authored, In the Footsteps of the Six Wives of Henry VIII book, the guide on-site indicated that Henry VIII was lodged in this suite of rooms during his stay at the palace. This is possible, for on occasion guest lodgings were used by royal visitors when visiting high-status buildings such as this one – as we shall shortly see was the case in York. 

However, there is an alternative that we cannot ignore. Equally likely would be that the bishop (or the Abbott, if it was a monastery) would cede their private lodgings to any visiting monarch, as these rooms were the most luxurious. Did Henry VII occupy the Bishop’s chambers, including those in the Alnwick Tower? Unfortunately, we are unlikely to know for sure once again, but it allows us to explore the palace in full knowledge of these different possibilities.

Back in the Great Hall, we know that a central hearth (still noted to be present in the 1647 Parliamentary Survey) would have kept any feasting guests warmed on a chilly spring evening.

The East (Little) Hall

The same survey also mentions the second, smaller hall (called ‘Little Hall’) lying to the east. This latter hall is known to be the older of the two, probably constructed in the 1170s and was part of the original palace buildings. It is connected to Alnwick’s Tower by what appears to be a gallery at the first-floor level. The hall is considerably smaller than its neighbour. A floor plan of the building illustrated in the Memoirs Illustrative of the History and Antiquities of the County and City of Lincoln shows a space which was about a third of the size of the Great Hall. Beyond this were a large dining chamber and a room which the Parliamentary Survey calls a ‘study’, which extended to the south-east corner of the palace.

So, which hall was used by Henry VII to wash the feet of 29 poor men? ‘Little Hall’ is more associated with being the private hall of the Bishop and, therefore, might be the one suggested by the term used in the Herald’s account: the ‘bisshop’s hall’. However, on the other hand, the larger Great Hall was still owned by the bishop and more likely used for lavish, public ceremonies like this one. Thus, it seems to me to fit the bill better as the space best aligned with Henry’s desire to be seen by as many people as possible as he fulfilled the traditional role of a monarch. So, on balance, my money would be on the latter.

Easter at Lincoln

At Lincoln, the Herald shares with us more of the ceremony surrounding the celebrations traditionally associated with Easter, including the blessing of cramp rings by the King. This ceremony began during the reign of Edward the Confessor. Edward VI briefly abolished it before being reinstated for the final few years during the Catholic reign of Mary I. It was latterly entirely abandoned. 

The blessing of such rings by the monarch was meant to confer protection from epilepsy. At Lincoln, the King is noted to make ‘offerins and observances of halowing of his ringes’ before having dinner (which would have been in the middle of the day). After dinner, Henry showed more largesse to his people, giving ‘marveolous great summes of mon[e]y in grotes to poo[r]e people, besides almes to poore freres, prisoners and lazares [lepers] howsez of the countrey [county]. All the while, on each day of the Holy Days of Easter, Henry made sure he was seen progressing to the nearby cathedral to hear ‘divine service’ which was sung by the then Bishop of Lincoln. At the time, this was John Russell, whose fine tomb and chantry chapel can still be seen in the cathedral.

A Storm is Brewing in the Rebellious North…

However, behind the scenes, trouble was brewing. During the King’s stay in Lincoln, unsettling news arrived. The stalwart Ricardian supporters, Francis, Viscount Lovell, and Humphrey Stafford had left their sanctuary at Colchester (where they had been since the Battle of Bosworth). Lovell was headed towards Yorkshire and the Stafford brothers to Worcester. Henry dispatched messengers to some of his key nobles, who were not already with the progress, commanding them to rendezvous with him at Nottingham. This included the likes of  George Stanley, Lord Strange; Sir William Stanley and John de Vere, the Earl of Oxford. 

With Holy Week complete and rumours of insurrection beginning to press upon the King, Henry left Lincoln around 29 March. He needed reinforcements to impress upon those willing to rise against him that opposition would be brutally quashed. The next significant stop would be the formidable Nottingham Castle.

Visitor Information

Lincoln is a bustling city, its suburbs tumble down the south-facing hillside from the high plateau upon which the Roman city was originally founded. I arrived by car from the south-west, the flat lowlands of Lincolnshire ensuring that the Norman cathedral is clearly visible at some distance from the city. It is breathtaking, the nearly thousand-year-old building standing regally against the raised skyline. Indeed, there is something comforting in the sense of continuity it invokes, connecting us over millennia to the dawn of medieval England.

In many ways, Lincoln is a tale of two cities. You may enjoy the low-lying harbour and surrounding shops, but if your delight is found amongst historic buildings, you will most likely find your ease in The Cathedral Quarter. However, if you have any issues with mobility, we strongly urge you to find accommodation close to the cathedral; otherwise the strenuous climb up the charming but aptly named ‘Steep Hill’ may prove a challenge.

At the top of the plateau, the Norman castle, the old abbey gatehouse, the cathedral and the old Bishop’s Palace are within a stone’s throw of one another; the medieval central marketplace being a daily hub of activity that connects them all. Here you will also find the local tourist information centre located in a typical wattle and daub house, which was built just two years after the visit of  Henry VIII and Catherine Howard in 1543.

Lincoln Cathedral: 

Entry to the cathedral is free of charge. You can enjoy a fine view of the nave from just inside the great west door. It is also permissible to visit the Morning Chapel for private devotions or the cathedral shop. But if you want to explore further, there is a fee payable. All tours of the cathedral are included in the entry charge. On Sunday, there are no tours, but equally, there is no charge.

While in the cathedral, make sure you visit the tombs of Katherine Swynford and her daughter, Joan Beaufort, Countless of Westmoreland. These medieval noble women were both ancestors of Henry VIII: through his mother, Elizabeth of York, Henry was the great-great-grandson of Joan, and on his father’s side (Henry VII), he was the great-great-grandson of Katherine’s son, John Beaufort. Henry VIII’s sixth wife, Katherine Parr was also descended from Joan Beaufort. Sadly the tombs were stripped of the brass effigies and decorated shields during the English Civil War. Only the plain stone sarcophagi remain behind.

Also, look out for the tomb of John Russell in the Russell Chantry Chapel.

Please note that parking is very limited around the cathedral. Castle Car Park is the closest, but only has 27 spaces (Postcode: LN1 3AA). Alternatively, just 5 minute walk away is Westgate parking, with circa 100 spaces (Postcode: LN1 3BG.)

Postcode for Lincoln Cathedral: LN2 1PX.

Check out the Web site for Lincoln Cathedral here.

The Old Bishop’s Palace: 

Adjacent to the cathedral, on its south side, lies the now ruinous Bishop’s Palace, currently owned by English Heritage. There is an excellent audio tour of the ruins, along with helpful information boards whose illustrations are useful in bringing the once luxurious splendour of the rooms to life.

For those of us following in the footsteps of Henry VII, most of the palace is of interest as the king must have used many of the rooms during his stay. The key areas that we have discussed are the ragged remains of the once great west hall and the ruins of the neighbouring east hall. 

With foreplanning, it might be possible to visit the chapel’s interior still standing at the low end of the ruined west hall. I recommend contacting the Christian retreat centre to which it belongs. The cathedral owns it; if you are lucky and the chapel is not in use, you might be allowed to venture inside.

If you do get lucky, then once inside notice that at the first-floor level, there is little to see that recreates the splendour and comfort that any high-status guest must have enjoyed. However, on the ground floor, you will clearly see the three doorways (most now blocked up) that once led from the great hall at its low end through to the kitchen, pantry and buttery. As you stand silently in the aisle of the chapel, it is not so hard to let your mind slip away from the present and to imagine the ghostly commotion around you as servants come and go from the kitchen, bearing aloft a plethora of delicate dishes to be served to Bishop Russell’s royal guest, feasting in the great hall beyond.

Details of opening times and entrance fees for the Old Bishop’s Palace can be found on the English Heritage website.

Refreshments in Lincoln – My Favourites

Cafes, restaurants and toilet facilities abound both at the locations mentioned and in the vicinity of the market square. Our favourite tea room was the quintessentially English, Mrs Bunty’s (18 Steep Hill; Postcode: LN2 1LT.), which recreates the flavour of 1940s England; tea is served in old fashion china alongside a variety of delicious cakes. Just make sure you leave room to indulge yourself after all your sightseeing!

THE NEXT STOP ON THE PROGRESS IS ‘NOTTINGHAM’. Click here to continue on your way.

Nearby Locations of Tudor Interest:

Finally, whilst in Lincoln, you may wish to plan a visit to one or more of the following:

Gainsborough Old Hall (15 miles) The first marital home of Katherine Parr and an astoundingly authentic Tudor manor house. 

Thornton Abbey (39 miles) Visited by Henry VIII and Catherine Howard on the 1541 progress. 

Grimsthorpe Castle (40 miles) Ditto the 1541 progress; also home to Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk; briefly became home to Katherine Parr’s daughter, Mary Seymour, after Katherine died shortly following childbirth, leaving the child in the care of Katherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk).

Summary of the Lincoln itinerary:

March 23 Maundy Thursday: Henry VII arrives in Lincoln – washes the feet of the poor in the ‘bisshop’s hall’. Hears ‘divine service’ in the cathedral.

March 24 Good Friday: The blessing of cramp rings and the giving of alms. Hears ‘divine service’ in the cathedral – High Mass and Evensong.

March 25 Easter Eve: Hears ‘divine service’ in the cathedral – High Mass and Evensong.

March 26 Easter Sunday: Hears ‘divine service’ in the cathedral – High Mass and Evensong.

March 27 Monday: Hears ‘divine service’ in the cathedral – High Mass and Evensong.

March 28 Tuesday: Hears ‘divine service’ in the cathedral – High Mass and Evensong.

March 29 Wednesday: Hears ‘divine service’ in the cathedral – High Mass and Evensong. Henry VII leaves Lincoln on the 29 or 30 March.

Additional Sources

The Herald’s Memoir 1486-1490: Court, Ceremony and Royal Progress. Edited by Emma Cavell. 2009.

The Itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543, by John Leland.

A Critical Edition of the First Provincial Progress of Henry VII (Doctoral Thesis) by C.Edward McGee, 1977.

Memoirs Illustrative of the History and Antiquities of the County and City of Lincoln Communicated to the Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Held at Lincoln, July, 1848, with a General Report of the Proceedings of the Meeting, and a Catalogue of the Museum Formed on that Occasion, The Royal Archaeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. Jan 1850.

The Bishop’s Palace Lincoln, by Timothy Ambrose, City and County Museum, Lincoln. May 1980.

In the Footsteps of the Six Wives of Henry VIII, by Sarah Morris and Natalie Gruneninger. Amberley Publishing. 2015.Medieval Bishop’s Palace, Lincoln.