Chapter XVI: Act 9: Geo. IV. c. 14 (Lord Tenterden's act) requires any promise or (3)

Lincoln is one of the most interesting cities in England. The ancient British town occupied the crown of the hill beyond the Newport or North Gate. The Roman town consisted of two parallelograms of unequal length, the first extending west from the Newport gate to a point a little west of the castle keep. The second parallelogram, added as the town increased in size and importance, extended due south from this point down the hill towards the Witham as far as Newland, and thence in a direction due east as far as Broad Street. Returning thence due north, it joined the south-east corner of the first and oldest parallelogram in what was afterwards known as the Minster yard, and terminated its east side upon its junction with the north wall in a line with the Newport gate. This is the oldest part of the town, and is named "above hill." After the departure of the Romans, the city walls were extended still farther in a south direction across the Witham as far as the great bar gate, the south entrance to the High Street of the city; the junction of these walls with the later Roman one was effected immediately behind Broad Street. The "above hill" portion of the city consists of narrow irregular streets, some of which are too steep to admit of being ascended by carriages. The south portion, which is named "below hill," is much more commodious, and contains the principal business premises. Here also are the railway stations.

The glory of Lincoln is the noble cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary, commonly known as the Minster. As a study to the architect and antiquary this stands unrivalled, not only as embodying the earliest purely Gothic work extant, but as containing within its compass every variety of style from the simple massive Norman of the central west front, and the later and more ornate examples of that style in the west doorways and towers; onward through all the Gothic styles, of each of which both early and late examples appear. The building material is the oolite and calcareous stone of Lincoln Heath and Haydor, which has the peculiarity of becoming hardened on the surface when tooled. Formerly the cathedral had three spires, all of wood or leaded timber. The spire on the central tower, which would appear to have been the highest in the world, was blown down in 1547. Those on the two western towers were removed in 1808.

The ground plan of the first church, adopted from that of Rouen, was
laid by Bishop Remigius in 1086, and the church was consecrated three
days after his death, on the 6th of May 1092. The west front consists
of an Early English screen (c. 1225) thrown over the Norman front, the
west towers rising behind it. The earliest Norman work is part of that
of Remigius; the great portals and the west towers up to the third
storey are Norman c. 1148. The upper parts of them date from 1365.
Perpendicular windows (c. 1450) are inserted. The nave and aisles were
completed c. 1220. The transepts mainly built between 1186 and 1235
have two fine rose windows, that in the N. is Early English, and that
in the S. Decorated. The first has beautiful contemporary stained
glass. These are called respectively the Dean's Eye and Bishop's Eye.
A Galilee of rich Early English work forms the entrance of the S.
transept. Of the choir the western portion known as St Hugh's
(1186-1204) is the famous first example of pointed work; the eastern,
called the Angel Choir, is a magnificently ornate work completed in
1280. Fine Perpendicular canopied stalls fill the western part. The
great east window, 57 ft. in height, is an example of transition from
Early English to Decorated c. 1288. Other noteworthy features of the
interior are the Easter sepulchre (c. 1300), the foliage ornamentation
of which is beautifully natural; and the organ screen of a somewhat
earlier date. The great central tower is Early English as far as the
first storey, the continuation dates from 1307. The total height is
271 ft.; and the tower contains the bell, Great Tom of Lincoln,
weighing over 5 tons. The dimensions of the cathedral internally
are--nave, 252 × 79.6 × 80 ft.; choir, 158 × 82 × 72 ft.; angel choir,
which includes presbytery and lady chapel, 166 × 44 × 72 ft.; main
transept, 220 × 63 × 74 ft.; choir transept, 166 × 44 × 72 ft. The
west towers are 206 ft. high.

The buildings of the close that call for notice are the chapter-house
of ten sides, 60 ft. diameter, 42 ft. high, with a fine vestibule of
the same height, built c. 1225, and therefore the earliest of English
polygonal chapter-houses, and the library, a building of 1675, which
contains a small museum. The picturesque episcopal palace contains
work of the date of St Hugh, and the great hall is mainly Early
English. There is some Decorated work, and much Perpendicular,
including the gateway. It fell into disuse after the Reformation, but
by extensive restoration was brought back to its proper use at the end
of the 19th century. Among the most famous bishops were St Hugh of
Avalon (1186-1200); Robert Grosseteste (1235-1253); Richard Flemming
(1420-1431), founder of Lincoln College, Oxford; William Smith
(1495-1514), founder of Brasenose College, Oxford; William Wake
(1705-1716); and Edmund Gibson (1716-1723). Every stall has produced a
prelate or cardinal. The see covers almost the whole of the county,
with very small portions of Norfolk and Yorkshire, and it included
Nottinghamshire until the formation of the bishopric of Southwell in
1884. At its earliest formation, when Remigius, almoner of the abbey
of Fécamp, removed the seat of the bishopric here from Dorchester in
Oxfordshire shortly after the Conquest, it extended from the Humber to
the Thames, eastward beyond Cambridge, and westward beyond Leicester.
It was reduced, however, by the formation of the sees of Ely,
Peterborough and Oxford, and by the rearrangement of diocesan
boundaries in 1837.

The remains of Roman Lincoln are of the highest interest. The Newport Arch or northern gate of _Lindum_ is one of the most perfect specimens of Roman architecture in England. It consists of a great arch flanked by two smaller arches, of which one remains. The Roman Ermine Street runs through it, leading northward almost in a straight line to the Humber. Fragments of the town wall remain at various points; a large quantity of coins and other relics have been discovered; and remains of a burial-place and buildings unearthed. Of these last the most important is the series of column-bases, probably belonging to a Basilica, beneath a house in the street called Bail Gate, adjacent to the Newport Arch. A villa in Greetwell; a tesselated pavement, a milestone and other relics in the cloister; an altar unearthed at the church of St Swithin, are among many other discoveries. Among churches, apart from the minster, two of outstanding interest are those of St Mary-le-Wigford and St Peter-at-Gowts (i.e. sluice-gates), both in the lower part of High Street. Their towers, closely similar, are fine examples of perhaps very early Norman work, though they actually possess the characteristics of pre-Conquest workmanship. Bracebridge church shows similar early work; but as a whole the churches of Lincoln show plainly the results of the siege of 1644, and such buildings as St Botolph's, St Peter's-at-Arches and St Martin's are of the period 1720-1740. Several churches are modern buildings on ancient sites. There were formerly three small priories, five friaries and four hospitals in or near Lincoln. The preponderance of friaries over priories of monks is explained by the fact that the cathedral was served by secular canons. Bishop Grosseteste was the devoted patron of the friars, particularly the Franciscans, who were always in their day the town missionaries. The Greyfriars, near St Swithin's church, is a picturesque two-storied building of the 13th century. Lincoln is rich in early domestic architecture. The building known as John of Gaunt's stables, actually St Mary's Guild Hall, is of two storeys, with rich Norman doorway and moulding. The Jews' House is another fine example of 12th-century building; and Norman remains appear in several other houses, such as Deloraine Court and the House of Aaron the Jew. Lincoln Castle, lying W. of the cathedral, was newly founded by William the Conqueror when Remigius decided to found his minster under its protection. The site, with its artificial mounds, is of much earlier, probably British, date. There are Norman remains in the Gateway Tower; parts of the walls are of this period, and the keep dates from the middle of the 12th century. Among medieval gateways, the Exchequer Gate, serving as the finance-office of the chapter, is a fine specimen of 13th-century work. Pottergate is of the 14th century, and Stonebow in High Street of the 15th, with the Guildhall above it. St Dunstan's Lock is the name, corrupted from Dunestall, now applied to the entrance to the street where a Jewish quarter was situated; here lived the Christian boy afterwards known as "little St Hugh," who was asserted to have been crucified by the Jews in 1255. His shrine remains in the S. choir aisle of the minster. Other antiquities are the Perpendicular conduit of St Mary in High Street and the High Bridge, carrying High Street over the Witham, which is almost unique in England as retaining some of the old houses upon it.

Among modern public buildings are the county hall, old and new corn exchanges and public library. Educational establishments include a grammar school, a girls' high school, a science and art school and a theological college. The arboretum in Monks Road is the principal pleasure-ground; and there is a race-course. The principal industry is the manufacture of agricultural machinery and implements; there are also iron foundries and maltings, and a large trade in corn and agricultural produce. The parliamentary borough, returning one member, falls between the Gainsborough division of the county on the N., and that of Sleaford on the S. Area, 3755 acres.

_History._--The British Lindun, which, according to the geography of Claudius Ptolemaeus, was the chief town of the Coritani, was probably the nucleus of the Roman town of Lindum. This was at first a Roman legionary fortress, and on the removal of the troops northward was converted into a municipality with the title of _colonia_. Such important structural remains as have been described attest the rank and importance of the place, which, however, did not attain a very great size. Its bishop attended the council of Arles in 314, and Lincoln (_Lindocolina_, _Lincolle_, _Nicole_) is mentioned in the Itinerary of Antoninus written about 320. Although said to have been captured by Hengest in 475 and recovered by Ambrosius in the following year, the next authentic mention of the city is Bede's record that Paulinus preached in Lindsey in 628 and built a stone church at Lincoln in which he consecrated Honorius archbishop of Canterbury. During their inroads into Mercia, the Danes in 877 established themselves at Lincoln, which was one of the five boroughs recovered by King Edmund in 941. A mint established here in the reign of Alfred was maintained until the reign of Edward I. (Mint Street turning from High Street near the Stonebow recalls its existence.) At the time of the Domesday Survey Lincoln was governed by twelve Lawmen, relics of Danish rule, each with hereditable franchises of sac and soc. Whereas it had rendered £20 annually to King Edward, and £10 to the earl, it then rendered £100. There had been 1150 houses, but 240 had been destroyed since the time of King Edward. Of these 166 had suffered by the raising of the castle by William I. in 1068 partly on the site of the Roman camp. The strength of the position of the castle brought much fighting on Lincoln. In 1141 King Stephen regained both castle and city from the empress Maud, but was attacked and captured in the same year at the "Joust of Lincoln." In 1144 he besieged the castle, held by the earl of Chester, and recovered it as a pledge in 1146. In 1101 it was held by Gerard de Camville for Prince John and was besieged by William Longchamp, Richard's chancellor, in vain; in 1210 it stood a siege by the partisans of the French prince Louis, who were defeated at the battle called Lincoln Fair on the 19th of May 1217. Granted by Henry III. to William Longepée, earl of Salisbury, in 1224, the castle descended by the marriage of his descendant Alice to Thomas Plantagenet, and became part of the duchy of Lancaster.

In 1157 Henry II. gave the citizens their first charter, granting them the city at a fee-farm rent and all the liberties which they had had under William II., with their gild merchant for themselves and the men of the county as they had then. In 1200 the citizens obtained release from all but pleas of the Crown without the walls, and pleas of external tenure, and were given the pleas of the Crown within the city according to the customs of the city of London, on which those of Lincoln were modelled. The charter also gave them quittance of toll and lastage throughout the kingdom, and of certain other dues. In 1210 the citizens owed the exchequer £100 for the privilege of having a mayor, but the office was abolished by Henry III. and by Edward I. in 1290, though restored by the charter of 1300. In 1275 the citizens claimed the return of writs, assize of bread and ale and other royal rights, and in 1301 Edward I., when confirming the previous charters, gave them quittance of murage, pannage, pontage and other dues. The mayor and citizens were given criminal jurisdiction in 1327, when the burghmanmot held weekly in the gildhall since 1272 by the mayor and bailiffs was ordered to hear all local pleas which led to friction with the judges of assize. The city became a separate county by charter of 1409, when it was decreed that the bailiffs should henceforth be sheriffs and the mayor the king's escheator, and the mayor and sheriffs with four others justices of the peace with defined jurisdiction. As the result of numerous complaints of inability to pay the fee-farm rent of £180 Edward IV. enlarged the bounds of the city in 1466, while Henry VIII. in 1546 gave the citizens four advowsons, and possibly also in consequence of declining trade the city markets were made free of tolls in 1554. Incorporated by Charles I. in 1628 under a common council with 13 aldermen, 4 coroners and other officers, Lincoln surrendered its charters in 1684, but the first charter was restored after the Revolution, and was in force till 1834.

Parliaments were held at Lincoln in 1301, 1316 and 1327, and the city returned two burgesses from 1295 to 1885, when it lost one member. After the 13th century the chief interests of Lincoln were ecclesiastical and commercial. As early as 1103 Odericus declared that a rich citizen of Lincoln kept the treasure of King Magnus of Norway, supplying him with all he required, and there is other evidence of intercourse with Scandinavia. There was an important Jewish colony, Aaron of Lincoln being one of the most influential financiers in the kingdom between 1166 and 1186. It was probably jealousy of their wealth that brought the charge of the crucifixion of "little St Hugh" in 1255 upon the Jewish community. Made a staple of wool, leather and skins in 1291, famous for its scarlet cloth in the 13th century, Lincoln had a few years of great prosperity, but with the transference of the staple to Boston early in the reign of Edward III., its trade began to decrease. The craft gilds remained important until after the Reformation, a pageant still being held in 1566. The fair now held during the last whole week of April would seem to be identical with that granted by Charles II. in 1684. Edward III. authorized a fair from St Botolph's day to the feast of SS Peter and Paul in 1327, and William III. gave one for the first Wednesday in September in 1696, while the present November fair is, perhaps, a survival of that granted by Henry IV. in 1409 for fifteen days before the feast of the Deposition of St Hugh.

See _Historical Manuscripts Commission, Report_, xiv., appendix pt. 8;
John Ross, _Civitas Lincolina, from its municipal and other Records_
(London, 1870); J. G. Williams, "Lincoln Civic Insignia,"
_Lincolnshire Notes and Queries_, vols. vi.-viii. (Horncastle,
1901-1905); _Victoria County History, Lincolnshire_.

LINCOLN, a city and the county-seat of Logan county, Illinois, U.S.A., in the N. central part of the state, 156 m. S.W. of Chicago, and about 28 m. N.E. of Springfield. Pop. (1900) 8962, of whom 940 were foreign-born; (1910 census) 10,892. It is served by the Illinois Central and the Chicago & Alton railways and by the Illinois Traction Interurban Electric line. The city is the seat of the state asylum for feeble-minded children (established at Jacksonville in 1865 and removed to Lincoln in 1878), and of Lincoln College (Presbyterian) founded in 1865. There are also an orphans' home, supported by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and a Carnegie library. The old court-house in which Abraham Lincoln often practised is still standing. Lincoln is situated in a productive grain region, and has valuable coal mines. The value of the factory products increased from $375,167 in 1900 to $784,248 in 1905, or 109%. The first settlement on the site of Lincoln was made in 1835, and the city was first chartered in 1857.

LINCOLN, a city of S.E. Nebraska, U.S.A., county-seat of Lancaster county and capital of the state. Pop. (1900) 40,169 (5297 being foreign-born); (1910 census) 43,973. It is served by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, the Union Pacific, the Missouri Pacific and the Chicago & North-Western railways. Lincoln is one of the most attractive residential cities of the Middle West. Salt Creek, an affluent of the Platte river, skirts the city. On this side the city has repeatedly suffered from floods. The principal buildings include a state capitol (built 1883-1889); a city-hall, formerly the U.S. government building (1874-1879); a county court-house; a federal building (1904-1906); a Carnegie library (1902); a hospital for crippled children (1905) and a home for the friendless, both supported by the state; a state penitentiary and asylum for the insane, both in the suburbs; and the university of Nebraska. In the suburbs there are three denominational schools, the Nebraska Wesleyan University (Methodist Episcopal, 1888) at University Place; Union College (Seventh Day Adventists, 1891) at College View; and Cotner University (Disciples of Christ, 1889, incorporated as the Nebraska Christian University) at Bethany. Just outside the city limits are the state fair grounds, where a state fair is held annually. Lincoln is the see of a Roman Catholic bishopric. The surrounding country is a beautiful farming region, but its immediate W. environs are predominantly bare and desolate salt-basins. Lincoln's "factory" product increased from $2,763,484 in 1900 to $5,222,620 in 1905, or 89%, the product for 1905 being 3.4% of the total for the state. The municipality owns and operates its electric-lighting plant and water-works.

The salt-springs attracted the first permanent settlers to the site of Lincoln in 1856, and settlers and freighters came long distances to reduce the brine or to scrape up the dry-weather surface deposits. In 1886-1887 the state sank a test-well 2463 ft. deep, which discredited any hope of a great underground flow or deposit. Scarcely any use is made of the salt waters locally. Lancaster county was organized extra-legally in 1859, and under legislative act in 1864; Lancaster village was platted and became the county-seat in 1864 (never being incorporated); and in 1867, when it contained five or six houses, its site was selected for the state capital after a hard-fought struggle between different sections of the state (see NEBRASKA).[1] The new city was incorporated as Lincoln (and formally declared the county-seat by the legislature) in 1869, and was chartered for the first time as a city of the second class in 1871; since then its charter has been repeatedly altered. After 1887 it was a city of the first class, and after 1889 the only member of the highest subdivision in that class. After a "reform" political campaign, the ousting in 1887 of a corrupt police judge by the mayor and city council, in defiance of an injunction of a federal court, led to a decision of the U.S. Supreme Court, favourable to the city authorities and important in questions of American municipal government.

FOOTNOTE:

[1] Lincoln was about equally distant from Pawnee City and the Kansas
border, the leading Missouri river towns, and the important towns of
Fremont and Columbus on the N. side of the Platte.

LINCOLN JUDGMENT, THE. In this celebrated English ecclesiastical suit, the bishop of Lincoln (Edward King, q.v.) was cited before his metropolitan, the archbishop of Canterbury (Dr Benson), to answer charges of various ritual offences committed at the administration of Holy Communion in the church of St Peter at Gowts, in the diocese of Lincoln, on the 4th of December 1887, and in Lincoln cathedral on the 10th of December 1887. The promoters were Ernest de Lacy Read, William Brown, Felix Thomas Wilson and John Marshall, all inhabitants of the diocese of Lincoln, and the last two parishioners of St Peter at Gowts. The case has a permanent importance in two respects. First, certain disputed questions of ritual were legally decided. Secondly, the jurisdiction of the archbishop of Canterbury alone to try one of his suffragan bishops for alleged ecclesiastical offences was considered and judicially declared to be well founded both by the judicial committee of privy council and by the archbishop of Canterbury with the concurrence of his assessors. The proceedings were begun on the 2nd of June 1888 by a petition presented by the promoters to the archbishop, praying that a citation to the bishop of Lincoln might issue calling on him to answer certain ritual charges. On the 26th of June 1888 the archbishop, by letter, declined to issue citation, on the ground that until instructed by a competent court as to his jurisdiction, he was not clear that he had it. The promoters appealed to the judicial committee of the privy council, to which an appeal lies under 25 Henry VIII. c. 19 for "lack of justice" in the archbishop's court. The matter was heard on the 20th of July 1888, and on the 8th of August 1888 the committee decided (i.) that an appeal lay from the refusal of the archbishop to the judicial committee, and (ii.) that the archbishop had jurisdiction to issue a citation to the bishop of Lincoln and to hear the promoters' complaint, but they abstained from expressing an opinion as to whether the archbishop had a discretion to refuse citation--whether, in fact, he had any power of "veto" over the prosecution. The case being thus remitted to the archbishop, he decided to entertain it, and on the 4th of January 1889 issued a citation to the bishop of Lincoln.

On the 12th of February 1889 the archbishop of Canterbury sat in Lambeth Palace Library, accompanied by the bishops of London (Dr Temple), Winchester (Dr Harold Browne), Oxford (Dr Stubbs) and Salisbury (Dr Wordsworth), and the vicar-general (Sir J. Parker Deane) as assessors. The bishop of Lincoln appeared in person and read a "Protest" to the archbishop's jurisdiction to try him except in a court composed of the archbishop and all the bishops of the province as judges. The court adjourned in order that the question of jurisdiction might be argued. On the 11th of May the archbishop gave judgment to the effect that whether sitting alone or with assessors he had jurisdiction to entertain the charge. On the 23rd and 24th of July 1889 a further preliminary objection raised by the bishop of Lincoln's counsel was argued. The offences alleged against the bishop of Lincoln were largely breaches of various rubrics in the communion service of the Prayer Book which give directions to the "minister." These rubrics are by the Acts of Uniformity (1 Elizabeth c. 2, and 13 & 14 Car. II. c. 4) made legally binding. But it was argued that a bishop is not a "minister" so as to be bound by the rubrics. The archbishop, however, held otherwise, and the assessors (except the bishop of Salisbury, who dissented) concurred in this decision. At this and subsequent hearings the bishop of Hereford (Dr Atlay) took the place of the bishop of Winchester as an assessor, and the bishop of Rochester (Dr Thorold), originally appointed an assessor, but absent from England at the outset, was present.

Charges and decisions.

The case was heard on its merits in February 1890, before the archbishop and all the assessors, and the archbishop delivered his judgment on the 21st of November 1890. The alleged offences were eight in number. No facts were in dispute, but only the legality of the various matters complained of. I. The bishop was charged with having mixed water with wine in the chalice during the communion service, and II. with having administered the chalice so mixed to the communicants. It was decided that the mixing of the water with the wine during service was illegal, because an additional ceremony not enjoined in the Prayer Book, but that the administration of the mixed chalice, the mixing having been effected before service, was in accordance with primitive practice and not forbidden in the Church of England. III. The bishop was charged with the ceremonial washing of the vessels used for the holy communion, and with drinking the water used for these ablutions. It was decided that the bishop had committed no offence, and that what he had done was a reasonable compliance with the requirement of the rubric that any of the consecrated elements left over at the end of the celebration should be then and there consumed. IV. The bishop was charged with taking the eastward position (i.e. standing at the west side of the holy table with his face to the east and his back to the congregation) during the ante-communion service (i.e. the part of the communion service prior to the consecration prayer). The rubric requires the celebrant to stand at the north side of the table. A vast amount of research convinced the archbishop that this is an intentionally ambiguous phrase which may with equal accuracy be applied to the north end of the table as now arranged in churches, and to the long side of the table, which, in Edward VI.'s reign, was often placed lengthwise down the church, so that the long sides would face north and south. It was therefore decided (one of the assessors dissenting) that both positions are legal, and that the bishop had not offended in adopting the eastward position. V. The bishop was charged with so standing during the consecration prayer that the "Manual Acts" of consecration were invisible to the people gathered round. It should be stated that the courts (see _Ridsdale_ v. _Clifton_, L.R. 1 P.D. 316; 2 P.D. 276) had already decided that the eastward position during the consecration prayer was legal, but that it must not be so used by the celebrant as to conceal the "Manual Acts." The archbishop held that the bishop of Lincoln had transgressed the law in this particular. VI. The bishop was charged with having, during the celebration of holy communion, allowed two candles to be alight on a shelf or retable behind the altar when they were not necessary for giving light. The archbishop decided that the mere presence of two altar candles burning during the service, but lit before it began, was lawful under the First Prayer Book of Edward VI., and has never been made unlawful, and, therefore, that the bishop was justified in what he had done. VII. The bishop was charged with having permitted the hymn known as _Agnus Dei_ to be sung immediately after the consecration of the elements at a celebration of the holy communion. The archbishop decided that the use of hymns in divine service was too firmly established to be legally questioned, and that there was nothing to differentiate the use of this particular hymn at this point of the service from the use of other hymns on other occasions in public worship. VIII. The bishop was charged with making the sign of the Cross in the air with his hand in the benediction and at other times during divine service. The archbishop held that these crossings were ceremonies not enjoined and, therefore, illegal. The judgment confined itself to the legal declarations here summarized, and pronounced no monition or other sentence on the bishop of Lincoln in respect of the matters in which he appeared to have committed breaches of the ecclesiastical law.

The promoters appealed to the judicial committee. The bishop did not appear on the appeal, which was therefore argued on the side of the promoters only. The appeal was heard in June and July 1891, before Lords Halsbury, Hobhouse, Esher, Herschell, Hannen and Shand and Sir Richard Couch, with the bishop of Chichester (Dr Durnford), the bishop of St Davids (Dr Basil Jones) and the bishop of Lichfield (Dr Maclagan) as episcopal assessors. The points appealed were those above numbered II., III., IV., VI., VII. Judgment was given on the 2nd of August 1892, and the appeal failed on all points. As to II., III., IV., and VII. the Committee agreed with the archbishop. As to VI. (altar lights) they held that, as it was not shown that the bishop was responsible for the presence of lighted candles, the charge could not be sustained against him, and so dismissed it without considering the general question of the lawfulness of altar lights. They also held that the archbishop was within his right in pronouncing no sentence against the bishop, who, it should be added, conformed his practice to the judgment from the date of its delivery. (L. T. D.)

LINCOLNSHIRE, an eastern county of England, bounded N. by the Humber, E. by the German Ocean and the Wash, S.E. for 3 m. by Norfolk, S. by Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire, S.W. by Rutland, W. by Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire and N.W. by Yorkshire. The area is 2646 sq. m., the county being second to Yorkshire of the English counties in size.

The coast-line, about 110 m. in length, including the Humber shore, is generally low and marshy, and artificial banks for guarding against the inroads of the sea are to be found, in places, all along the coast. From Grimsby to Skegness traces of a submarine forest are visible; but while the sea is encroaching upon some parts of the coast it is receding from others, as shown by Holbeach, which is now 6 m. from the sea. Several thousand acres have been reclaimed from this part of the Wash, and round the mouth of the Nene on the south-east. The deep bay between the coasts of Lincolnshire and Norfolk, called the Wash, is full of dangerous sandbanks and silt; the navigable portion off the Lincolnshire coast is known as the Boston Deeps. The rapidity of the tides in this inlet, and the lowness of its shores, which are generally indistinct on account of mist from a moderate offing, render this the most difficult portion of the navigation of the east coast of England. On some parts of the coast there are fine stretches of sand, and Cleethorpes, Skegness, Mablethorpe and Sutton-on-Sea are favourite resorts for visitors.

The surface of Lincolnshire is generally a large plain, small portions of which are slightly below the level of the sea. The south-east parts are perfectly flat; and about one-third of the county consists of fens and marshes, intersected in all directions by artificial drains, called locally dykes, delphs, drains, becks, leams and eaux. This flat surface is broken by two ranges of calcareous hills running north and south through the county, and known as the Lincoln Edge or Heights, or the Cliff, and the Wolds. The former range, on the west, runs nearly due north from Grantham to Lincoln, and thence to the Humber, traversing the Heaths of Lincolnshire, which were formerly open moors, rabbit warrens and sheep walks, but are now enclosed and brought into high cultivation. The Wolds form a ridge of bold hills extending from Spilsby to Barton-on-Humber for about 40 m., with an average breadth of about 8 m. The Humber separates Lincolnshire from Yorkshire. Its ports on the Lincolnshire side are the small ferry-ports of Barton and New Holland, and the important harbour of Grimsby. The Trent forms part of the boundary with Nottinghamshire, divides the Isle of Axholme (q.v.) from the district of Lindsey, and falls into the Humber about 30 m. below Gainsborough. The Witham rises on the S.W. border of the county, flows north past Grantham to Lincoln, and thence E. and S.E. to Boston, after a course of about 80 m. The Welland rises in north-west Northamptonshire, enters the county at Stamford, and, after receiving the Glen, flows through an artificial channel into the Fosdyke Wash. The Nene on the south-east has but a small portion of its course in Lincolnshire; it flows due north through an artificial outfall, called the Wisbech Cut. Between the Wolds and the sea lie the Marshes, a level tract of rich alluvial soil extending from Barton-on-Humber to Wainfleet, varying in breadth from 5 to 10 m. Between the Welland and the Nene in the south-east of the county are Gedney Marsh, Holbeach Marsh, Moulton Marsh and Sutton Marsh.

The Fens (q.v.), the soil of which has been formed partly by tidal action and partly by the decay of forests, occupy the Isle of Axholme on the north-west, the vale of Ancholme on the north, and most of the country south-east of Lincoln. The chief of these are the Holland, Wildmore, West and East Fens draining into the Witham; and the Deeping, Bourn, Great Porsand, and Whaplode Fens draining into the Welland.

The low lands adjoining the tidal reaches of the Trent and Humber, and part of those around the Wash have been raised above the natural level and enriched by the process of warping, which consists in letting the tide run over the land, and retaining it there a sufficient time to permit the deposit of the sand and mud held in solution by the waters.

_Geology._--The geological formations for the most part extend in
parallel belts, nearly in the line of the length of the county, from
north to south, and succeed one another in ascending order from west
to east. The lowest is the Triassic Keuper found in the Isle of
Axholme and the valley of the Trent in the form of marls, sandstone
and gypsum. Fish scales and teeth, with bones and footprints of the
_Labyrinthodon_, are met with in the sandstone. The red clay is
frequently dug for brick-making. The beds dip gently towards the east.
At the junction between the Trias and Lias are series of beds termed
Rhaetics, which seem to mark a transition from one to the other. These
belts are in part exposed in pits near Newark, and extend north by
Gainsborough to where the Trent flows into the Humber, passing thence
into Yorkshire. The characteristic shells are found at Lea, 2 m. south
of Gainsborough, with a thin bone-bed full of fish teeth and scales.
The Lower Lias comes next in order, with a valuable bed of ironstone
now largely worked. This bed is about 27 ft. in thickness, and crops
out at Scunthorpe and Frodingham, where the workings are open and
shallow. The Middle Lias, which enters the county near Woolsthorpe, is
about 20 or 30 ft. thick, and is very variable both in thickness and
mineralogical character; the iron ores of Denton and Caythorpe belong
to this horizon. The Upper Lias enters the county at Stainby, passing
by Grantham and Lincoln where it is worked for bricks. The Lias thus
occupies a vale about 8 or 10 m. in width in the south, narrowing
until on the Humber it is about a mile in width. To this succeed the
Oolite formations. The Inferior Oolite, somewhat narrower than the
Lias, extends from the boundary with Rutland due north past Lincoln to
the vicinity of the Humber; it forms the Cliff of Lincolnshire with a
strong escarpment facing westward. At Lincoln the ridge is notched by
the river Witham. The principal member of the Inferior Oolite is the
Lincolnshire limestone, which is an important water-bearing bed and is
quarried at Lincoln, Ponton, Ancaster, and Kirton Lindsey for building
stone. Eastward of the Inferior Oolite lie the narrow outcrops of the
Great Oolite and Cornbrash. The Middle Oolite, Oxford clay and
Corallian is very narrow in the south near Wilsthorpe, widening
gradually about Sleaford. It then proceeds north from Lincoln with
decreasing width to the vicinity of the Humber. The Upper Oolite,
Kimeridge clay, starts from the vicinity of Stamford, and after
attaining its greatest width near Horncastle, runs north-north-west to
the Humber. The Kimeridge clay is succeeded by the Spilsby sandstone,
Tealby limestone, Claxby ironstone, and carstone which represent the
highest Jurassic and lowest Cretaceous rocks. In the Cretaceous system
of the Wolds, the Lower Greensand runs nearly parallel with the Upper
Oolite past South Willingham to the Humber. The Upper Greensand and
Gault, represented in Lincolnshire by the Red Chalk, run north-west
from Irby, widening out as far as Kelstern on the east, and cross the
Humber. The Chalk formation, about equal in breadth to the three
preceding, extends from Burgh across the Humber. The rest of the
county, comprising all its south-east portions between the Middle
Oolite belt and the sea, all its north-east portions between the chalk
belt and the sea, and a narrow tract up the course of the Ancholme
river, consists of alluvial deposits or of reclaimed marsh. In the
northern part boulder clay and glacial sands cover considerable tracts
of the older rocks. Bunter, Permian, and Coal Measure strata have been
revealed by boring to underlie the Keuper near Haxey.

Gypsum is dug in the Isle of Axholme, whiting is made from the chalk
near the shores of the Humber, and lime is made on the Wolds.
Freestone is quarried around Ancaster, and good oolite building stone
is quarried near Lincoln and other places. Ironstone is worked at
several places and there are some blast furnaces.

At Woodhall Spa on the Horncastle branch railway there is a
much-frequented bromine and iodine spring.

_Climate, Soil and Agriculture._--The climate of the higher grounds is
healthy, and meteorological observation does not justify the
reputation for cold and damp often given to the county as a whole. The
soils vary considerably, according to the geological formations; ten
or twelve different kinds may be found in going across the country
from east to west. A good sandy loam is common in the Heath division;
a sandy loam with chalk, or a flinty loam on chalk marl, abounds on
portions of the Wolds; an argillaceous sand, merging into rich loam,
lies on other portions of the Wolds; a black loam and a rich vegetable
mould cover most of the Isle of Axholme on the north-west; a
well-reclaimed marine marsh, a rich brown loam, and a stiff cold clay
variously occupy the low tracts along the Humber, and between the
north Wolds and the sea; a peat earth, a deep sandy loam, and a rich
soapy blue clay occupy most of the east and south Fens; and an
artificial soil, obtained by "warping," occupies considerable low
strips of land along the tidal reaches of the rivers.

Lincolnshire is one of the principal agricultural, especially
grain-producing, counties in England. Nearly nine-tenths of the total
area is under cultivation. The wide grazing lands have long been
famous, and the arable lands are specially adapted for the growth of
wheat and beans. The largest individual grain-crop, however, is
barley. Both cattle and sheep are bred in great numbers. The cattle
raised are the Shorthorns and improved Lincolnshire breeds. The dairy,
except in the vicinity of large towns, receives little attention. The
sheep are chiefly of the Lincolnshire and large Leicestershire breeds,
and go to the markets of Yorkshire and London. Lincolnshire has long
been famous for a fine breed of horses both for the saddle and
draught. Horse fairs are held every year at Horncastle and Lincoln.
Large flocks of geese were formerly kept in the Fens, but their number
has been diminished since the drainage of these parts. Where a large
number of them were bred, nests were constructed for them one above
another; they were daily taken down by the gooseherd, driven to the
water, and then reinstated in their nests, without a single bird being
misplaced. Decoys were once numerous in the undrained state of the
Fens.

_Industries and Communications._--Manufactures are few and, relatively
to the agricultural industry, small. The mineral industries, however,
are of value, and there are considerable agricultural machine and
implement factories at Lincoln, Boston, Gainsborough, Grantham and
Louth. At Little Bytham a very hard brick, called adamantine clinker,
is made of the siliceous clay that the Romans used for similar works.
Bone-crushing, tanning, the manufacture of oil-cake for cattle, and
rope-making are carried on in various places. Grimsby is an important
port both for continental traffic and especially for fisheries; Boston
is second to it in the county; and Gainsborough has a considerable
traffic on the Trent. Sutton Bridge is a lesser port on the Wash.

The principal railway is the Great Northern, its main line touching
the county in the S.W. and serving Grantham. Its principal branches
are from Peterborough to Spalding, Boston, Louth and Grimsby; and from
Grantham to Sleaford and Boston, and to Lincoln, and Boston to
Lincoln. This company works jointly with the Great Eastern the line
from March to Spalding, Lincoln, Gainsborough and Doncaster, and with
the Midland that from Saxby to Bourn, Spalding, Holbeach, Sutton
Bridge and King's Lynn. The Midland company has a branch from Newark
to Lincoln, and the Lancashire, Derbyshire, and East Coast line
terminates at Lincoln. The Great Central railway connects the west,
Sheffield and Doncaster with Grimsby, and with Hull by ferry from New
Holland. Canals connect Louth with the Humber, Sleaford with the
Witham, and Grantham with the Trent near Nottingham; but the greater
rivers and many of the drainage cuts are navigable, being artificially
deepened and embanked.

_Population and Administration._--The area of the ancient county is
1,693,550 acres, with a population in 1891 of 472,878 and in 1901 of
498,847. The primary divisions are three trithings or Ridings (q.v.).
The north division is called the Parts of Lindsey, the south-west the
Parts of Kesteven, and the south-east the Parts of Holland. Each of
these divisions had in early times its own reeve or gerefa. Each
constitutes an administrative county, the Parts of Lindsey having an
area of 967,689 acres; Kesteven, 465,877 acres; and Holland, 262,766
acres. The Parts of Lindsey contain 17 wapentakes; Kesteven, exclusive
of the soke and borough of Grantham and the borough of Stamford, 9
wapentakes; and Holland, 3 wapentakes. The municipal boroughs and
urban districts are as follows:--

1. PARTS OF LINDSEY.--Municipal boroughs--Grimsby, a county borough
(pop. 63,138), Lincoln, a city and county borough and the county town
(48,784), Louth (9518). Urban districts--Alford (2478),
Barton-upon-Humber (5671), Brigg (3137), Broughton (1300), Brumby and
Frodingham (2273), Cleethorpes with Thrunscoe (12,578), Crowle (2769),
Gainsborough (17,660), Horncastle (4038), Mablethorpe (934), Market
Rasen (2188), Roxby-cum-Risby (389), Scunthorpe (6750), Skegness
(2140), Winterton (1361), Woodhall Spa (988).

2. PARTS OF KESTEVEN.--Municipal boroughs--Grantham (17,593), Stamford
(8229). Urban districts--Bourne (4361), Bracebridge (1752), Ruskington
(1196), Sleaford (5468).

3. PARTS OF HOLLAND.--Municipal borough--Boston (15,667). Urban
districts--Holbeach (4755), Long Sutton (2524), Spalding (9385),
Sutton Bridge (2105). In the Parts of Holland the borough of Boston
has a separate commission of the peace and there are two petty
sessional divisions. Lincolnshire is in the Midland circuit. In the
Parts of Kesteven the boroughs of Grantham and Stamford have each a
separate commission of the peace and separate courts of quarter
sessions, and there are 4 petty sessional divisions. In the Parts of
Lindsey the county boroughs of Grimsby and Lincoln have each a
separate commission of the peace and a separate court of quarter
sessions, while the municipal borough of Louth has a separate
commission of the peace, and there are 14 petty sessional divisions.
The three administrative counties and the county boroughs contain
together 761 civil parishes. The ancient county contains 580
ecclesiastical parishes and districts, wholly or in part. It is mostly
in the diocese of Lincoln, but in part also in the dioceses of
Southwell and York. For parliamentary purposes the county is divided
into seven divisions, namely, West Lindsey or Gainsborough, North
Lindsey or Brigg, East Lindsey or Louth, South Lindsey or Horncastle,
North Kesteven or Sleaford, South Kesteven or Stamford, and Holland or
Spalding, and the parliamentary boroughs of Boston, Grantham, Grimsby
and Lincoln, each returning one member.

_History._--Of the details of the English conquest of the district which is now Lincolnshire little is known, but at some time in the 6th century Engle and Frisian invaders appear to have settled in the country north of the Witham, where they became known as the Lindiswaras, the southern districts from Boston to the Trent basin being at this time dense woodland. In the 7th century the supremacy over Lindsey alternated between Mercia and Northumbria, but few historical references to the district are extant until the time of Alfred, whose marriage with Ealswitha was celebrated at Gainsborough three years before his accession. At this period the Danish inroads upon the coast of Lindsey had already begun, and in 873 Healfdene wintered at Torksey, while in 878 Lincoln and Stamford were included among the five Danish boroughs, and the organization of the districts dependent upon them probably resulted about this time in the grouping of Lindsey, Kesteven and Holland to form the shire of Lincoln. The extent and permanence of the Danish influence in Lincolnshire is still observable in the names of its towns and villages and in the local dialect, and, though about 918 the confederate boroughs were recaptured by Edward the Elder, in 993 a Viking fleet again entered the Humber and ravaged Lindsey, and in 1013 the district of the five boroughs acknowledged the supremacy of Sweyn. The county offered no active resistance to the Conqueror, and though Hereward appears in the Domesday Survey as a dispossessed under-tenant of the abbot of Peterborough at Witham-on-the-Hill, the legends surrounding his name do not belong to this county. In his northward march in 1068 the Conqueror built a castle at Lincoln, and portioned out the principal estates among his Norman followers, but the Domesday Survey shows that the county on the whole was leniently treated, and a considerable number of Englishmen retained their lands as subtenants.

The origin of the three main divisions of Lincolnshire is anterior to that of the county itself, and the outcome of purely natural conditions, Lindsey being in Roman times practically an island bounded by the swamps of the Trent and the Witham on the west and south and on the east by the North Sea, while Kesteven and Holland were respectively the regions of forest and of fen. Lindsey in Norman times was divided into three ridings--North, West and South--comprising respectively five, five and seven wapentakes; while, apart from their division into wapentakes, the Domesday Survey exhibits a unique planning out of the ridings into approximately equal numbers of 12-carucate hundreds, the term hundred possessing here no administrative or local significance, but serving merely as a unit of area for purposes of assessment. The Norman division of Holland into the three wapentakes of Elloe, Kirton and Skirbeck has remained unchanged to the present day. In Kesteven the wapentakes of Aswardhurn, Aveland, Beltisloe, Haxwell, Langoe, Loveden, Ness, Winnibriggs, and Grantham Soke have been practically unchanged, but the Domesday wapentakes of Boothby and Graffo now form the wapentake of Boothby Graffo. In Northriding Bradley and Haverstoe have been combined to form Bradley Haverstoe wapentake, and the Domesday wapentake of Epworth in Westriding has been absorbed in that of Manley. Wall wapentake in Westriding was a liberty of the bishop of Lincoln, and as late as 1515 the dean and chapter of Lincoln claimed delivery and return of writs in the manor and hundred of Navenby. In the 13th century Baldwin Wake claimed return of writs and a market in Aveland. William de Vesci claimed liberties and exemptions in Caythorpe, of which he was summoned to render account at the sheriff's tourn at Halton. The abbot of Peterborough, the abbot of Tupholme, the abbot of Bardney, the prior of Catleigh, the prior of Sixhills, the abbot of St Mary's, York, the prioress of Stixwould and several lay owners claimed liberties and jurisdiction in their Lincolnshire estates in the 13th century.

The shire court for Lincolnshire was held at Lincoln every forty days, the lords of the manor attending with their stewards, or in their absence the reeve and four men of the vill. The ridings were each presided over by a riding-reeve, and wapentake courts were held in the reign of Henry I. twelve times a year, and in the reign of Henry III. every three weeks, while twice a year all the freemen of the wapentake were summoned to the view of frankpledge or tourn held by the sheriff. The boundaries between Kesteven and Holland were a matter of dispute as early as 1389 and were not finally settled until 1816.

Lincolnshire was originally included in the Mercian diocese of Lichfield, but, on the subdivision of the latter by Theodore in 680, the fen-district was included in the diocese of Lichfield, while the see for the northern parts of the county was placed at "Sidnacester," generally identified with Stow. Subsequently both dioceses were merged in the vast West-Saxon bishopric of Dorchester, the see of which was afterwards transferred to Winchester, and by Bishop Remigius in 1072 to Lincoln. The archdeaconry of Lincoln was among those instituted by Remigius, and the division into rural deaneries also dates from this period. Stow archdeaconry is first mentioned in 1138, and in 1291 included four deaneries, while the archdeaconry of Lincoln included twenty-three. In 1536 the additional deaneries of Hill, Holland, Loveden and Graffoe had been formed within the archdeaconry of Lincoln, and the only deaneries created since that date are East and West Elloe and North and South Grantham in Lincoln archdeaconry. The deaneries of Gartree, Grimsby, Hill, Horncastle, Louthesk, Ludborough, Walshcroft, Wraggoe and Yarborough have been transferred from the archdeaconry of Lincoln to that of Stow. Benedictine foundations existed at Ikanho, Barrow, Bardney, Partney and Crowland as early as the 7th century, but all were destroyed in the Danish wars, and only Bardney and Crowland were ever rebuilt. The revival of monasticism after the Conquest resulted in the erection of ten Benedictine monasteries, and a Benedictine nunnery at Stainfield. The Cistercian abbeys at Kirkstead, Louth Park, Revesby, Vaudey and Swineshead, and the Cistercian nunnery at Stixwould were founded in the reign of Stephen, and at the time of the Dissolution there were upwards of a hundred religious houses in the county.