Ok, so I lied. I forgot that we were going on a British Studies Field Trip to Lincoln before Edinburgh, so you get to read about that first! And yes, the ENTIRE College went on this field trip. There's only like 170 of us or something, so the only needed 3 coaches to get us there. (granted, one was a double-decker.) So we left after breakfast and got there around 10. They had split us off into four different large groups, then those groups into three smaller groups, all alphabetically. So I ended up in group D1 with fellow history major, Jillian. (we have the same last name) Each of the big groups did something different and the smaller groups were just to make it more manageable for tours and such.
The first thing we did was walk around Lincoln with one of our professors, looking at all the Roman remains/ruins. Our professor was Welsh, who is my Marketing professor. He started out by telling us about the four different types of acrchitecture on the Cathedral, as they added on to it or whatever. After that we passed by Alfred, Lord Tennyson's statue (because he was from Lincolnshire). Then it was on to Roman stuff. The first thing we were supposed to look at was actually all covered up with tarps and such! But it was essentially what was left of one of the towers of one of the main gates into their fortress/town. The ground level has actually risen about 8-10 feet since they got there in about 50 a.d., so some of this stuff must have been absolutely massive! We also got to see some old walls and what they think was a water well/tower, since it's near where the Roman Baths were. Another gate/archway. And one wall that remains of their main meeting place, which was originally 3 stories high I think. While it was kinda cool to see this stuff, it really just looked like a bunch of old stones to me. The history is just to old there to hold my interest.
After that we had the time that was the "self-guided" part, which they were hoping you would've done the walking tour that they gave you. If it hadn't been so cold and windy and rainy and miserable I would've been much more inclined to do it. As would the people I was with I'm sure, considering it was 4 history majors. But seeing what the weather was like, we decided to pop in and out of stores instead. We went into this chocolate and sweet (candy) shop. I was looking for this one kind of sweet that Chloe had let me try and it was really good, but I didn't see it there. I did see some really cute little chocolate mice though, so I bought those instead. This free time also coincided with our lunch hour, so some of us were eating out of our lunch that we had picked up in the Refectory (cafeteria) before we left while we were walking. We eventually decided to to into a little tea room though because we wanted to warm up. Most of us just got hot chocolate, which was really good, but Jessica got tea and both of us got toasted cheese scones, which were also very good. We stayed in there awhile before going back out into the weather. By that time it was close to the time we needed to meet and head to the next place on our list, so we meandered back that way.
Our next place was Lincoln Castle. There we had a castle tour guide show our group around. This was probably my favorite part of the day. I just love castles! The castle was originally built by the Normans after their conquest (battle: 1066, castle:1068ish). It was a proper castle, not like Clifford's Tower in York. There's a lot of more (for them) recent history that's really interesting. There used to be a prison inside the castle walls, and they used both the grounds inside and outside, and the top of one of the castle towers, for hanging people. The reason they moved the gallows to the top of the tower was so that the people coming to watch wouldn't interfere with the execution. The main inside area of the castle is currently courtrooms, so we didn't get to go in and look around. We did get to go into the prison though, which was cool. They still have some of the cells set up and they still have the original chapel that is really the only one like it in the world. There's one in someplace like Tanzania I think the tour guide said, but it's a reconstruction of the one that burnt down there, so he says it doesn't really count. This set up was actually taken from an American system. The prisoners each had their own room and were only allowed out for 2 hours a day, one for exercise and one for chapel. Both inside and out they weren't allowed to speak to anyone unless one of the guards/workers spoke to them. So the chapel was set up were everyone had individual cubicles that they went in and the door was shut behind them. The walls and doors were high enough that the prisoners couldn't see each other, only the preacher in the pulpit. Most of the prisoners in Lincoln were either waiting for sentencing or serving out a short-term punishment. This prison system was tested in a London prison first, while Lincoln was getting their set up for it, and it was found out that some 15% of prisoners went crazy from the isolation, so the idea was abandoned and a new prison was built in Lincoln about a mile away from this one before they could change everything back, so the chapel and everything stayed as it was. We also went up to the keep in the castle. It's a stone structure on a high, steep mound and would've been where the defenders would have gone if all three gates into the castle had been breached by the attackers (they never were the two times it was attacked). The steps were originally wooden, so the last defender up would set fire to the steps so the attackers couldn't reach them. The mound was also kept free of growth and covered with clay, which was doused with water from the well at the top to make it harder for the attackers to climb the already steep hill. At the top in the keep would have been where the king or lord had lived during Norman times. In the more recent history that he was telling us, it was used as a burial ground for those who died in prison or were executed. There were two stories that he told us about those executed, one where a woman was hanged for killing her husband (she was innocent. her boarder had done it so he could be with her and confessed on his deathbed. they just pardoned her in 2000, well over 100 years after her death) and a man who was a killed his wife and was the first long-drop hanging in the world (the one with the trap door underneath their feet where the fall was long enough to break their neck and kill them faster, as opposed to the traditional short-drop where they kick a stool from underneath your feet and you were slowly strangled). I find all these stories interesting.
After that was the last stop on the trip, which was Lincoln Cathedral. It's massive! And we actually were allowed to take pictures inside, so that was nice. One of the Assistant Deans, Heather, was the one who gave my group the tour here. It was strange hearing all the stuff from an American for some reason. Anyways, we learned about the history and how all the statues had their heads taken off (many were later put back on in the Victorian Era, though not always how they were originally. for example, the 12 apostles turned into important Lincoln Cathedral bishops). All of the paint on the stone carvings and decorations were taken off too, though you can still see the remnants of some of it in flowers and such. Lincoln Cathedral became a pilgrimage site after miracles were said to occur after touching a murdered boy's body (it was a famous case at the time because he went missing for awhile first), so he was moved into the cathedral. Becoming a pilgrimage site invigorated the Lincoln economy (like tourism does). There are also several other famous people buried there, including a mistress-turned-wife of a noble, a bishop, and a queen (only the innards, the rest of her is in Westminster with all the other kings and queens). It is all very ornate, with lots of carvings and pretty stained glass windows. There's also the Lincoln Imp. He's this stone carving way up on one of the stone poles in the cathedral. The legend is that the devil had him sneak in here and he got stuck and turned to stone. But it was probably just a stonemason having some fun. The last thing we saw in here was the Chapter House, where administrative things took place, where they think parliament was held when King Edward I was in Lincoln, and where they think that Edward I gave his son (Edward, to be the II) the title Prince of Wales (he was the first Prince of Wales and heir-apparent). Also, this is where part of the DaVinci Code was filmed! If I remember correctly, it's where Robert opens up the little capsule or something, right before the Sir guy comes in and eventually gets arrested. But I'll have to watch the movie again to be sure. Which I want to do now! Maybe Hermione read the book?
After that, Jillian and another girl in our group went into the little cafe in the cathedral, where I bought another hot chocolate in an attempt to warm up. We passed our time there until it was time to get back on the buses and go back to Harlaxton, just in time for dinner.
Ok, Edinburgh next time!
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