Paradoxplace Home Page     Ciaofamiglia Home Page

BELLATROVATA

Adrian Fletcher & Dom Paradox D.O.C.G.

IN BRITAIN SEPTEMBER - NOVEMBER 2011

A day with the little people of Lincoln Cathedral

A sympathetic red traffic light facilitated this dusk photo of the Cathedral from the South on the drive up to Lincoln on Friday evening

Saturday morning and Team Paradox gets diverted on the way to the Cathedral by large crowds and sizzling sausage smells outside the castle.

Inside, the huge lawn ensures plenty of space for the ANNUAL LINCOLNSHIRE SAUSAGE FESTIVAL

Lincoln Castle was a notorious prison for a long time.  The Victorian chapel designers went to bizarre lengths to prevent any contact between prisoners.

MAGNA CARTA

In the area under the chapel is the Magna Carta Exhibition and Lincoln Magna Carta itself - heavily glass plated and unphotographable, but for some unknown reason more "genuine" looking than its Salisbury cousin.

Lincoln Magna Carta - postcard image

More about Lincoln Magna Carta

A few days after our Lincoln visit, a "new" copy of Magna Carta appeared on the scene - in the archives of the North Kent Cinque Port of Faversham.

"Faversham Magna Carta" image from the BBC link above

Link to Paradoxplace Magna Carta page

Nary a bite of Linconshire Poacher Sausage passed our lips before we headed off to the Cathedral, intent on seeing the Lincoln Pilgrim in the sun for the first time.

Our previous visit to Lincoln was accompanied by cloud and rain, so today we were looking forward to seeing the Lincoln Pilgrim in sunshine. 

Sadly however the late autumn sun had already left him in shadow when we arrived.

The Angel trumpeters of the Last Judgement gig are still in foot tapping form in the north transept rose

and Adam and Eve get rehab advice on their new careers as digger and spinner after the unfortunate affair with the serpent and apple.

This little mason's head - possibly one of the cathedral's original master masons -  is to be found amongst the pigs and caricatured bishops in the main screen.

Whilst this miscellany have found a refuge near the old shrine in the east end.

Most of the cathedral's c1200s narrative stained glass was destroyed by Ollie Cromwell's men. 

The two east end side windows contain some rescued scenes ... here Theophilus sells his soul to the devil .....

 ..... whilst here Mary gets it back.

In another old panel, Noah holds out his hands in cricket ball catching style to secure his returning dove.

The little Lincoln Imp, seated in a spandrel over a north arch of the eastern shrine area, looks across to the reconstructed visceral tomb of Eleanor of Castile .... 

Queen Eleanor of Castile (c1240 - 1290 (50)), died at nearby Harby on 28 November 1290 (almost 721 years ago) and her entrails were buried in a so-called visceral tomb in the south east end of the Cathedral, whilst her body undertook the slow journey south to Westminster Abbey.  This subsequently resulted in the building by her grieving King, Edward I, of  the famous stone "Eleanor Crosses" at each of the cortege's overnight stopping points between Lincoln and London.

LINK TO PARADOXPLACE PAGE ABOUT ELEANOR CROSSES

The visceral tomb in Lincoln was also smashed by Ollie Cromwell's men, but the one there now is an exact copy of the original, and the missing gisant (effigy) has been replaced with an (ungilded) copy of its original sister still in Westminster Abbey.  On the side of the tomb are the arms of England, Ponthieu (Eleanor was Countess of Ponthieu, part of the Duchy of Normandy), Leon-Castile (her dad was the first king of both Leon and Castile) and England again. 

The original gisants were made by Master William Torel, and 350 gold florins were purchased from the merchants of Lucca for the gilding.

Sadly, efforts to unravel the narrative secrets of the South Rose window were thwarted by a unilateral decision by Junior Nikon to reset its white light balance.  Here's a rather grainy version of Saint Nicholas calming a storm at sea - it's easy to locate because the crosier stands out

Night view from the Castle car park

Bellatrovata is the original "on the road" site for Adrian (aka Adriano and Dom Paradox) Fletcher's European explorations.  Material relating to explorations in Italy (including Tuscany, Rome and Venice), Spain, France and Britain between 2004 and 2006 has now been transferred to Adrian's main web site - Paradoxplace - and Bellatrovata contains photos and stories from the Autumn 2009 & 2011 road trips in England.   The website Ciao Adriano has illustrated accounts of extensive travels in France, Italy and England over 6 months in 2007.

Material in this site is © Adrian Fletcher 2000-12 unless otherwise stated - the contents may not be hotlinked or reproduced except as explained in the Paradoxplace copyright policy.

Feedback and comments to afletch at paradoxplace dot com