Lincoln's Public Library

 Prior to The Public Libraries Act of 1850 libraries were only available to subscribers, often in stationery and book shops.

The Public Libraries Act was eventually adopted by Lincoln Corporation on 21st January 1892.  The Corporation formed a Library Authority for 3 years from 9 May 1894.  To help with the costs of setting up the library  Sir Charles Seely, MP gave £1,200., The Corporation, £200 and William Crosfield, MP, £100.

The City Assembly rooms, above the Buttermarket as St Peter at Arches was converted to the library at a cost of £1,272 17s. under the supervision of the City Surveyor, Mr R A MacBrair.

Lincoln's Public Library opened on 9th May 1895 with 7,000 books and news and reading rooms with about 100 newspapers and periodicals.

By this time the Mechanics' Institute had moved from Greyfriars to the old Assembly Rooms, Guild Court, Danesgate Terrace where they provided about 20,000 books but many of these were only available to subscribers.

Within 15 years the library had outgrown the former Assembly Rooms and a committee was formed with the aim of building a new Public Library.  Andrew Carnegie, the Scottish-American industrialist, gave the City a grant of £10,000 toward the cost of building the new library.  Sir Reginald Bloomfield was appointed to design  the new library, he also designed the Usher Gallery

The new Library, on Free School Lane, was opened on 24th February 1914, 108 years ago!

    

Lincoln Public Librasry.
© Copyright Dave Hitchborne and licensed for
reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

By the 1990s the library had again outgrown its location and it was decided to rebuild the library, retaining the Bloomfield designed front part of the building.  Melvyn Bragg officially opened the new library on 30th October 1996.

The library continues to serve the people of Lincoln and district, as a source of information for the researcher and entertainment for the reader of novels.  Whereas, years ago you would see older people in the Reading Rooms with newspapers and magazines now you will see younger people on computers updating their Facebook status.

Who knows what the future may bring?

A Walk in Half-Timbered Lincoln

Lincoln is fortunate in its number of half-timbered buildings, many of which have survived for 500 years or more.  Built at a time of prosperity most were later painted in dull colours when Lincoln no longer had the wealth it once had, and not the stunning black and white we see today.

Anyone who knows Steep Hill will understand why I am starting at the top!

Visitors will find the Tourist Information centre very usefully set on Castle Hill between the Cathedral and the Castle at:

Leigh-Pemberton House

Leigh-Pemberton House was a merchants house when it was built in 1543.  Extensive restoration was carried out by the National Provincial Bank in 1929 & 1970 and presented to the Dean & Chapter of Lincoln Cathedral on 31st May 1979; the building was named after the then chairman of National Westminster Bank, Robin Leigh-Pemberton.  The ground floor is used as a Tourist Information office and the upper floors are self-catering accommodation.

The building stands over Via Principalis, the Roman road that runs north to Newport Arch and via Steep Hill.

38-39 Steep Hill

​38 & 39 Steep Hill dates from the 16th century, with late 18th and 19th-century modifications.

The Harlequin

The Harlequin Inn (once known as the Harlequin and Columbine, when it was connected with the theatre on Drury Lane) dates from the 15th century, first recorded as an inn in the mid 18th century.  In 1931 it was refused the renewal of its alcohol licence as "structurally unsuitable". George Shelton was an antique furniture dealer for about 30 years and then it was the Harlequin Galleries, an antiquarian bookshop, for almost 50 years until it closed a few years ago.

The Crooked House

The Crooked House at the top of Michaelgate is well known, and is probably one of the most photographed buildings in Lincoln after the Cathedral, Castle and Stonebow.

This house looked like any other terraced house until the 1930s. At that time there was a major slum clearance throughout the city; in areas close to the factories and foundries of the Waterside, even Jews Court was in danger of being lost until it was rescued by the Lincolnshire Architectural and Archaeological Society (now The Society for Lincolnshire History and Archaeology).  In late 1933, a demolition order was issued for numbers 34, 36, 38 and 40 Michaelgate. When demolition of number 40 began it was discovered there was a half-timbered building behind the brick façade.  The owner of the house asked the council to rescind the demolition order.  Permission was granted by the Minister of Health subject to it not being used for human habitation.   

Dating from the 16th century, the house has 18th, 19th, and 20th century alterations. Dressed stone and brick, with close studded first floor with rendered nogging. Pantile roof. 2 storeys, 2 bays. Street front has a replica plank door to the left, and to the right, a 2-light sliding sash. Above, to the right, a C20 casement. South gable has a 20th century door to left and a 20th century casement above. Gable framing has curved braces and corner posts. (https://historicengland.org.uk/)

The house was acquired by Lincoln Council and renovated to its original style; it became one of the oldest council houses in England.  The house is still owned by the City of Lincoln Council and managed by the National Trust.

Click here to read about the interior of the house

Dernstall House

Dernstall House dates from the late 15th century, altered in the 17th and 18th centuries and restored in 1969.

​

The Cardinal's Hat

The Cardinal's Hat building is thought to be named after Cardinal Wolsey and dates from the 15th or 16th century.  Originally the home of the Grantham family, after which the nearby street was named later becoming an inn, it remained so until the early 19th century, when it was known as the Cardinal's Cap.  In 1872 it was the premises of Albert W Hall, grocer & baker, established in 1790.  Over the years it became a furniture store until the St John's Ambulance made it their county headquarters and the building was renovated in 1952.

​After almost 200 years it is now a public house again.

High Bridge

High Bridge on Lincoln’s High Street is the oldest surviving bridge with buildings on, in this country. It marks the spot where the Roman Ermine Street crossed the Witham by way of a ford; a bridge was built in the 2nd century.

The river was much wider than today and High Bridge was thought to be made of five arches; today only one arch remains.

There were many bridges like High Bridge in the middle ages; London Bridge for example, but all the others have long since disappeared; the only other bridges with buildings on them in England are Frome Bridge dating from 1667, and Bath’s Pulteney Bridge of 1773.

The Green Dragon

The Green Dragon is a four-gable half-timbered building dating from the 16th century.  It was probably built for a wealthy Lincoln merchant, and bought by the Common Council of the City of Lincoln from Thomas Grantham in 1569.  By 1624 it was known as the Great Garrettes, it remained as tenements and shops until the 1950s.

There was a major restoration of the building in the late 1950s, and the Green Dragon public house moved here from an adjoining brick-built building on the east side of the present building.

The Treaty of Commerce

The Treaty of Commerce is one of the most central pubs in Lincoln; many other central pubs have closed since the 1970s.  The name is said to have come from an 1860 trade treaty with France.  It was named Treaty of Commerce in 1867.  Owned by Ind Coope from 1911.  The plaster and timber frontage was added in 1926 for Ind Coope.

Became O'Donoghues Irish Bar in the 1990s, renamed Honest Lawyer from October 2000 to November 2001.  Reverted to The Treaty of Commerce in November 2001, when it was acquired by Bateman's Brewery

Whitefriars House

By Alfred Ernest White c1880 - Art UK,
Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45247605

Sadly only one wall now exists of Whitefriars House, but it has been protected from the elements by the building on the opposite side of Akrill's Passage.

It was called Whitefriars because it was once thought to be part of the Whitefriars Priory; but during the re-development of the Midland Station the remains of the priory was discovered.

By Richard Croft, CC BY-SA 2.0,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13622278

The original building dates from the 15th century and it has suggested that it could be the former vicarage of St Mary le Wigford.  It was restored in the late 20th century and a shop front added.

It is difficult to get a good photograph of the building so I have used a photograph from when the neighbouring building was rebuilt.