Short Trips --- Newark-on-Trent and Lincoln

Because our students appeared to be busy with other things this weekend, this weekend's Mark & Mary trip was without back seat passengers. We visited Newark, a market town about 20 miles from Nottingham, and then went on to Lincoln, a cathedral city, about another 20 miles beyond. Both have been a major population centers since Roman times.

Newark Castle ruin

It was market day in Newark, which meant that the town square was filled with tents and vendors selling everything from fruits and vegetables, to clothing, to computer and mobile phone accessories. In some ways, the concept of market day hasn't changed much in a thousand years (except for the addition of computer and mobile phone accessories).

There's a nice 14th century church in Newark -- not a cathedral, but fairly large and quite pretty. Like many churches we visit, the money changers are back in the temple. With few in attendance on Sundays, and offering plates less than full, the church makes ends meet by operating a coffee shop in one corner of the nave, and a card shop in the south transcept.

There's also a castle ruin overlooking the River Trent. Not much more than one wall remains, but if the sign is to be believed, the wall is exactly an eleventh of a mile long.

Lincoln Castle

Lincoln is built around a high hill that rises steeply out of the East Midlands plains. The Romans considered this high ground to be strategic, made it the intersection of two major roads, and built a fort there. Behind Londinium (London) and Eboracum (York), Lindum (Lincoln) was considered the third city in Roman Britain for a time.

Lincoln Cathedral

William the Conqueror built a castle there in 1068. It's seen just a few changes over the years (it was used as a debtors' prison in Victorian times), but the basic plan is unchanged from a thousand years ago. Because it was the site of a major battle in the war between King John and the Barons, one of the four existing copies of the Magna Carta resides there.

Cathedral Nave

Cathedral Quire

The cathedral is gorgeous. It's not quite equal to Salisbury, York, Wells, or Westminster Abbey, but it is definitely a very large and very beautiful church. The organist was practicing for Sunday while we were there on Saturday. It was a cloudy, foggy day (In England? What a surprise!) so the light through the stained glass windows was subdued, but still spectacular.