Lincoln Cathedral Close

The Cathedral Close was the wealthiest area of medieval Lincoln encouraging “cutpurses”, thieves and murderers to frequent the area at night preying on the people of the Close.

​Medieval Lincoln was divided into three districts: the City, the Bail and the Close*; each was a locally independent self-governing place. The Close is the area surrounding the Cathedral, housing the priests and officials of the Cathedral, together with their servants and those involved in the operation of the Cathedral and the Close. It is believed that the Close came into being at the time of the building of the Cathedral.

*Beaumont Fee was also a self-governing area outside the jurisdiction of the City.

The Dean and Chapter (under the instruction of Oliver, bishop of Lincoln) were granted licenses to crenellate the Close, “for their (the clergy) better safety from night attacks in passing from their houses to the said church”. The first licence was issued on 8th May 1285 for a 12-foot wall (the licence was repeated in 1316) the second was issued in 1318 to raise the wall and add turrets.  The licences required the gates to be open during the day

The Close Wall on Winnowsty Lane

The boundary wall of the Close was intact in 1722 with three of the four towers and is still standing in many places.

The first Lincoln houses to have numbers were in the Close, the “Number Houses”, built after the mid 18th century and somewhat modernised and altered since.

There are over 80 buildings in the Close, most of which are in the ownership of the Cathedral, many of the buildings are of Grade 1, 2 or 2* significance. These are some of the most important:

The main entrance to the Close was Exchequergate, all the gates were double, with a courtyard between the sets of gates, except for Pottergate and Greestone gate, where the incline precluded the use of two gates.

Bishop Alnwick's Tower, 
The Bishop's Palace.

The Bishop’s Palace, a grand medieval series of buildings largely destroyed by the Parliamentarians during the Civil War. Standing on the south side of the Cathedral it is a manifestation of the power and wealth of Lincoln’s medieval bishops.

The Chancellory, on Priorygate opposite the Cathedral, is easily recognised by the grand oriel window on the first floor, it is believed to be Lincoln’s oldest brick building.

The Choristers House, stands near to Priory Gate Arch. Built in 1661 it was converted into 3 residences in 1887

The Deanery, built by Dean, later Bishop, Gravesend in 1254. By the 19th century this building was in a poor state of repair and was replaced on the same site in the mid-1840s.

The Subdeanery stands to the south side of the Exchequer Gate. a medieval building, re-fronted in 1873 by J.L.Pearson.  A mosaic and hypocaust was discovered on the site in the 18th century.

Cantilupe Chantry stands opposite the south east door of the Cathedral.  Founded by Nicholas, Lord Cantilupe for a college of priests, to say mass for the souls of the founder and his relations at an altar.

The Vicars’ Court, the entrance is on Greestone Lane, above the stairs.  It was built as a ‘college’ for 20 Vicars Choral¹.  It was originally formed into a quadrangle but many of the other buildings have been removed, Thought to have been erected during the reign of Edward I, but much altered since.

The Vicars’ Stables or Tithe Barn stands below the Vicars’ Court and is a long two storey building built by Bishop Alnwick and John Breton in the 1440s.  Lately used for storage and as a dining hall for the former Girls’ High School on Lindum Road.

¹ In medieval times the most important people of the Cathedral were the Canons. often living elsewhere they appointed so-called ‘Vicars Choral’ to deputise for them 

Pottergate, the south gate of the Close.  The gate gets its name from the belief it was built on a Roman pottery.  Over the years it has become a traffic island, first on the west side to relieve traffic congestion in the late 19th century, in the 1930s because corporation buses were too high to pass under.