page_title: Lincoln Medieval Bishop's Palace
section_title: History and architecture
hierarchical_section_title: Lincoln Medieval Bishop's Palace / History and architecture
caption_attribution_description: English: Bishop's Palace, Lincoln 1726
context_page_description: The Old Bishop's Palace is a historic visitor attraction in the city of Lincoln, Lincolnshire. When it was first built, in the late 12th century, it was at the centre of the vast Diocese of Lincoln, which stretched from the Humber to the Thames. The Palace was one of the most impressive buildings of medieval England, reflecting the power and wealth of Lincoln's bishops. It is situated on a spectacular hillside site, just below Lincoln cathedral, providing extensive views over the city. The site lies immediately to the south of the Roman wall which had become the medieval defensive wall of the Bail, which enclosed both Lincoln Castle and Lincoln Cathedral. The palace was damaged during the Civil War and subsequently largely abandoned. During the period that followed the Bishop's main residence was Buckden Palace in Huntingdonshire. In 1841, following the reduction in size of the Diocese of Lincoln, the Bishop moved to Riseholme, to the north of Lincoln. This proved inconvenient and Riseholme was sold. In 1886 an older building on the western side of the Palace enclosure was substantially rebuilt and enlarged in a Tudor revival style by the architect Ewan Christian.
context_section_description: Research on the Bishop's Palace is very dependent on the work of Edward James Willson, who was surveyor to the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral. Willson produced detailed surveys of the ruins as they stood in the 1840s and related them to architectural fragments from the site. From this Willson,  together with his son Thomas who was also an architect,  drawings were constructed to show how the palace had appeared in Medieval times.
  Willson also made extensive use of documents in the Lincoln Cathedral Library and particularly the  detailed  survey  of the Palace produced during  English Civil War by the Parliamentary Commissioners in 1647. When taken in conjunction with the engraving made by Samuel Buck in 1726 of the Palace, a good idea can be formed as to the extent of destruction that occurred to the building during this period. Willson presented his findings to The Archaeological Institute of Britain and Ireland on the occasion of their visit to Lincoln in 1848.
caption: Bishop's Palace, Lincoln by Samuel Buck, 1726
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