The castle walls offer a fabulous view of the Cathedral
After we’d finished at the Cathedral today we walked over the road to Lincoln Castle. Today the largest remaining elements of the castle’s original are the substantial 12th century walls. We walked a complete circuit and the views across the city were marvellous.
Another view across the rooftops to the Cathedral
Looking down on the prison exercise yard
Inside the Victorian wing of the prison
Inside the walls stands a prison, which was originally built in 1787. The jail was extended in 1847 and remained open until 1878. The regime for criminals (as opposed to those jailed as debtors) was one of isolation, with small individual cells in the Victorian wing of the building. Even the prison chapel was built with this in mind and every prisoner was confined to their own cubicle. This meant the preacher could see everyone, while prisoners could see only him. To give a sense of what it would have been like the curator has placed some ‘fake’ prisoners in the cubicles. From my position in the pulpit the sight of the visible heads was very eerie!
One of the tiny cells. Small and spartan, but equipped with a toilet - no doubt quite a luxury in Victorian times!
Looking down on the chapel from the pulpit
The original Georgian wing looks more like a stately home than a prison from the outside!
13 October 2020
Thank you Helen, a great set of shots and really interesting information, Lincoln is now on my places to visit list.