Our stay in Lincoln

While we were over in the UK visiting family we stayed with them in Lincoln. Lincoln is a beautiful Cathedral & University City, along with an amazing Castle.

Lincoln is built at the point where there is a gap in the Lincoln Cliff (a limestone escarpment running north-south and rising to 200 feet (60 m) in height, also sometimes called the 'Lincoln(shire) Edge' or 'Lincoln Heath').  Lincoln is thus divided informally into two zones, known locally as uphill and downhill.

The uphill area comprises the northern part of the city, on top of the Lincoln Cliff . This area includes the historical quarter, including the Cathedral.

 Lincoln Castle and the Medieval Bishop's Palace, known locally as the Bail (although described in tourist promotional literature as 'the Cathedral Quarter'). It also includes residential suburbs to the north and northeast. The downhill area comprises the city centre and the suburbs to the south and south-west. The aptly named street Steep Hill connects the two (although it is too steep for vehicular traffic, which must take a more circuitous route).

This divide marks out Lincoln from other historic cities in England and elsewhere in Europe. Whereas in most such cities, the chief historical buildings (cathedrals and castles) tend to be centrally located and intermingled with the present-day city centre, in Lincoln they are separate.

The divide was also once an important class distinction, with 'uphill' more affluent and 'downhill' less so. This distinction dates from the time of the Norman Conquest, when the religious and military elite occupied the hilltop. 

We saw this horse drawn carriage that takes you from uphill to downhill.