Lincoln

Industrial and cathedral city, administrative headquarters of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the River Witham, 210 km/130 mi north of London; population (2001) 85,600. Products include bricks, excavators, cranes, gas turbines, radios, vehicle components, cattle feed, matting, pharmaceuticals, power units for oil platforms, and cosmetics. Other industries include heavy engineering, iron foundries, seed milling, and food processing.

During the Roman period, Lincoln was the flourishing colony of Lindum, and in the Middle Ages it was a centre for the wool trade. Paulinus built a church here in the 7th century, and the 11th–15th-century cathedral (see Lincoln Cathedral) has the earliest Gothic work in Britain. The 12th-century High Bridge is the oldest in Britain still to have buildings on it.

A Roman colony The first settlement on the site of Lincoln was the ancient British settlement of Lindos (meaning marsh or pool); the Romans latinized the name as Lindum. The settlement was at the junction of Ermine Street and Fosse Way, and the Roman presence dates from AD 48. The first permanent fortress of the IXth Legion, whose defences have been located by excavations, was established on the hill top. The title of colonia was conferred in about AD 96. The Roman colony was in the territory of the Coritani, whose capital was at Leicester. The walls of the colony were extended down the hill slope almost to the river in the first half of the 3rd century; coin evidence shows that Roman occupation extended into the 5th century. Newport Arch, which was the north gate to the Roman colony, is the only Roman archway in the British Isles which still spans a main road used by modern traffic.

Under the Normans Lincoln never attained any great size, although at the Norman Conquest it was one of the six largest towns in the kingdom, with a considerable trade in wool. Under the Danish settlement Lincoln was one of the five boroughs of the Danelaw. William the Conqueror decided to build a castle there, and Lincoln was chosen as the seat of a bishopric. At that time the city was divided into separate jurisdictions of which only one, the manor of Hungate, or Beaumont Fee, survived into modern times. Other communities, civil and ecclesiastical, developed, including the Jewish community, a reminder of whose presence is the Jew's House. Later came the religious houses: Monks Abbey, a cell of the Benedictine abbey of St Mary of York; St Catherine's priory of the order of St Gilbert of Sempringham; and the friars' houses, the only remaining example being the beautiful Grey Friars (founded in 1090), which was later used as the grammar school and is now the museum.

From the Middle Ages to the 19th century Lincoln received its first royal charter in 1154. In 1301 Edward I granted the city a new charter, and after this there gradually developed a select body of common councilmen, who from the 16th century onwards met in the present guildhall over the Stonebow gatehouse. Many years elapsed before this gatehouse was completed, and the south face with figures depicting the Annunciation was not built before about 1520; the royal arms above the arch probably commemorated the visit of James I in 1617.

The prosperity of medieval Lincoln was based on the wool trade. The raw wool was brought to Lincoln mainly along the waterways (the Fossdyke connecting the Witham with the Trent, and the Cardyke connecting the Nene and the Witham), and was there made up for export to Flanders and the Hanseatic towns. Cloth was being made in Lincoln by 1157, at which date there was a guild of weavers. From 1369 Boston became the centre of the wool trade, and Lincoln declined in importance until improved fen drainage in the 19th century made Lincoln an important agricultural centre. The first railway line to reach Lincoln was opened in 1846, and industry soon developed. Initially, agricultural machinery was manufactured, and later, heavy engineering products.

Lincoln Castle The castle was built by William the Conqueror in 1068 to supplement the defences of the city, whose Roman walls and gates had for the most part survived. The upper town was annexed to the new castle as a kind of outer bailey, which gave rise to the modern name ‘Bailgate’. The castle had two gateways, the east gate opening upon Castle Hill, inside the city, and the west leading to open country. The east gate is still in use though the round Norman arch has been covered by a 14th-century pointed arch with flanking turrets. Lincoln Castle departs from the usual Norman plan in having two mounds instead of one; both stand on the south side of the castle yard, their bases being only about 60 m apart. The Stonebow, the southern gateway to Lincoln, stands on the site of the southern gate of the lower Roman enclosure. On the roof is the mote bell (1371), still rung to summon council meetings. The castle houses one of the four surviving copies of Magna Carta.

The Jewish quarter The most interesting buildings on Steep Hill are the Jews' houses. In the Strait is the one actually known as the Jew's House; the facade has been mutilated, but it does preserve its beautifully moulded doorway with interlacing pattern. Next door to it is the Jew's Court, rescued from destruction under slum clearance legislation and restored by the Lincolnshire Architectural and Archaeological Society. These houses and that popularly known as Aaron's House date from the 12th century, when Lincoln was at the height of its prosperity as a centre of the wool trade.

Other landmarks The Usher Art Gallery contains important permanent collections, including the Usher and Tennyson collections and a collection of works by Peter de Wint, the water-colourist. The High Bridge spans the Witham, and its central portion dates from the 12th century. On the west of the bridge are half-timbered houses built in about 1540, and on the eastern side once stood the wayside chapel of St Thomas of Canterbury, built in the 13th century, and demolished in 1763. The Grey Friars is approached from the Stonebow by way of Saltergate, but all that now remains is the chapel built in about 1230. Adjoining the museum is the central public library, built in 1913. The three most interesting medieval parish churches, St Benedict, St Mary-le-Wigford, and St Peter-at-Gowts, are all south of the river. In front of St Benedict's is the city war memorial. St Mary-le-Wigford and St Peter-at-Gowts both possess notable Saxon towers. Lincoln also boasts a bronze statue of Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1905). In 1995 construction began on a new university for Lincolnshire.

Lincoln

Industrial city and capital of Nebraska, 80 km/50 mi southwest of Omaha in the southeastern part of the state; seat of Lancaster County; population (2000 est) 225,600. It is the centre of a rich agricultural area; industries include processed food, railway rolling stock, engineering, pharmaceuticals, electronic and electrical equipment, and small motor vehicles and motor cycles. It was incorporated in 1869.

Lincoln was known as Lancaster until 1867, when it was renamed after US president Abraham Lincoln and designated the state capital; it was incorporated in 1869.

Features The current State Capitol was built by US architect Bertram Good hue in 1922 and took ten years to complete. Features include the Museum of Nebraska History and the Ralph Mueller Planetarium. Educational institutions include the main campus of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln (1869), Nebraska Wesleyan University (1887), and Union College (1889). University buildings are among Lincoln's 73 entries on the national register of historic places; others include the YWCA and the State Arsenal.