Editing Lincoln Cathedral (section)

== Modern history ==

[[File:LincCathplanDehio.jpg|thumb|Floor plan]]
[[File:MK17998 Lincoln Cathedral.jpg|thumb|upright|Interior view of the crossing tower vaulting]]

=== Wartime history ===

Sometime during the later stages of the Second World War, the accomplished RAF pilot and future Black British civil rights leader, [[Billy Strachan]], almost crashed his aircraft into Lincoln Cathedral. Strachan credited this experience with ending his piloting career, as he found it psychologically impossible to continue flying combat missions.<ref name=":16">{{Cite book |last=Horsley |first=David |title=Billy Strachan 1921–1988 RAF Officer, Communist, Civil Rights Pioneer, Legal Administrator, Internationalist and Above All Caribbean Man |publisher=Caribbean Labour Solidarity |year=2019 |location=London |pages=11 |language=en |issn=2055-7035}}</ref>

Lincolnshire was home to many [[RAF Bomber Command|Bomber Command]] airfields during the Second World War, giving rise to the nickname of "Bomber County".<ref>{{cite web|last=Halpenny|first=Bruce|title=The Airfields of 'Bomber County'|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/lincolnshire/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8321000/8321216.stm|publisher=BBC Lincolnshire|access-date=13 December 2011|date=29 October 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120804122656/http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/lincolnshire/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8321000/8321216.stm|archive-date=4 August 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> The station badge for the nearby [[RAF Waddington]] depicts Lincoln Cathedral rising through the clouds.<ref>{{cite web|title=RAF Waddington History|url=http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafwaddington/aboutus/history.cfm|publisher=Royal Air Force|access-date=13 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111206234437/http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafwaddington/aboutus/history.cfm|archive-date=6 December 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> Until the opening of the [[RAF Bomber Command Memorial]] in 2012, the cathedral had the only memorial in the United Kingdom dedicated to Bomber Command's large losses of aircrew in the Second World War.<ref>Antiques Roadshow, from Lincoln Cathedral</ref><ref name="BBC20060824">{{cite news|title='Bomber county' to get memorial|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/5281590.stm|work=BBC News|access-date=13 December 2011|date=24 August 2006}}</ref>

During the war, "priceless British treasures" were placed in a chamber sixty feet beneath the cathedral for safekeeping.<ref name="treas1943">{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article82006595 |title=Planted Under Lincoln Cathedral. |newspaper=[[The Singleton Argus|Singleton Argus (NSW : 1880–1954)]] |location=NSW |date=18 January 1943 |access-date=12 November 2013 |page=1 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> This did not include the cathedral's copy of [[Magna Carta]] as it was on loan in the [[United States]].<ref name="treas1943" />

=== 21st century ===

[[File:Lincoln Cathedral detail 2013-1.jpg|thumb|A gilded crown installed on one of the towers]]
[[File:Lincoln Cathedral detail 2013-7.jpg|thumb|Stonework commemorating the end of [[fox hunting]] – a fox can be seen hiding in the foliage.]]
A major renovation of the West Front was undertaken in 2000. It was discovered that the [[flying buttress]]es on the east end were no longer connected to the adjoining [[stonework]], and repairs were made to prevent collapse. Additionally, the stonework of the Dean's Eye window in the transept was crumbling, meaning that a complete reconstruction of the window has had to be carried out according to the conservation criteria set out by the [[International Council on Monuments and Sites]]. There was a period of great anxiety when it emerged that the stonework needed to shift only {{convert|5|mm|2|abbr=on}} for the entire window to collapse. Specialist engineers removed the window's tracery before installing a strengthened, more stable replacement. In addition to this the original stained glass was cleaned and set behind a new clear isothermal glass which offers better protection from the elements. By April 2006 the renovation project was completed at a cost of £2&nbsp;million.

It was announced in January 2020 that since 2016, archaeologists had found over 50 burials during the renovations, including a priest buried with a chalice and paten. Among the artifacts recovered was a coin depicting [[Edward the Confessor]], who was king from 1042 to 1066. During the dig, sections of some extensively decorated Roman buildings and related artifacts were also discovered. Some of the Roman, medieval and Saxon objects were to be displayed at the visitor centre which was expected to open later in 2020.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-51221874 |title=Lincoln Cathedral: Medieval priest's items 'rare find'  |date=24 January 2020 |work=BBC News |access-date=24 January 2020 |quote=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news/local-news/skeleton-medieval-priest-among-more-3768331 |title=Skeleton of 'medieval priest' among more than 50 skeletons found in grounds of Lincoln Cathedral |date=23 January 2020 |publisher=Lincolnshire Live |access-date=16 January 2020 |quote=}}</ref> In 2022 the scaffolding of the Lincoln Cathedral was removed from its west front after 36 years.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://thelincolnite.co.uk/2022/12/flashback-2022-lincoln-cathedral-west-front-scaffolding-free-for-first-time-in-36-years/ |title=Flashback 2022: Lincoln Cathedral west front scaffolding-free for first time in 36 years |date=24 December 2022 |access-date=25 February 2023}}</ref>

Maintaining the cathedral costs £5.86&nbsp;million a year (as at 2016).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://issuu.com/lincoln-cathedral/docs/lc_ct__w2_|title=Cathedral Times from Lincoln Cathedral|date=20 October 2016 |publisher=Lincoln Cathedral|access-date=30 October 2017}}</ref> Between 2006 and 2009, 200,000 to 208,000 people visited Lincoln Cathedral annually. In 2010 the figure dropped to 150,000, making it the 16th-most visited attraction in the East Midlands.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.visitengland.org/Images/Final%20report_tcm30-27368.pdf |title=Visitor Attractions Trends in England 2010: Annual Report |publisher=VisitEngland |year=2011 |page=51 |access-date=29 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120504165341/http://www.visitengland.org/Images/Final%20report_tcm30-27368.pdf |archive-date=4 May 2012 |url-status=live }}</ref> The fall in visitor numbers was attributed to the cancellation of the [[Lincoln Christmas Market]] that year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://thelincolnite.co.uk/2011/08/lincoln-cathedral-visitor-numbers-plummet/ |title=Lincoln Cathedral visitor numbers plummet |first=Daniel |last=Ionescu |publisher=The Lincolnite |date=17 August 2011 |access-date=29 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120106095617/http://thelincolnite.co.uk/2011/08/lincoln-cathedral-visitor-numbers-plummet/ |archive-date=6 January 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The cathedral website states: "Everyone is free to enter and gaze at the glory of the nave; you can sit in the peace of the Morning Chapel or visit the shop. If you want to explore further, we do ask you to pay."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lincolncathedral.com/visit-us/planning-your-visit/|title=Planning your visit|work=Lincoln Cathedral|access-date=5 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150501030751/http://lincolncathedral.com/visit-us/planning-your-visit/|archive-date=1 May 2015|url-status=live}}</ref> The cathedral offers tours of the cathedral, the tower and the roof. The peak of its season is the Lincoln Christmas Market, accompanied by an annual production of [[George Frideric Handel|Handel's]] [[Messiah (Handel)|''Messiah'']].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://lincolncathedral.com/forthcoming-events/handels-messiah-5/ |title=Handel's Messiah |date=11 March 2017 |publisher=Lincoln Cathedral |access-date=7 March 2020 |archive-date=5 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211105144539/https://lincolncathedral.com/forthcoming-events/handels-messiah-5/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Cathedral stone ===

Lincoln Cathedral is one of the few English cathedrals built from the rock on which it stands.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Buckler|first1=John Chessell|title=A description and defence of the restorations of the exterior of Lincoln Cathedral: with a comparative examination of the restorations of other cathedrals, parish churches|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=gri.ark:/13960/t0zp6403r;view=1up;seq=75|via=HathiTrust Digital Library|year=1866|publisher=HathiTrust|access-date=27 January 2017}}</ref>  It is mostly built from [[Lincolnshire Limestone Formation|Lincolnshire Limestone]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.heritagelincolnshire.org/learn-with-us/hes-case-studies/religious|title=Religious • Heritage Lincolnshire|website=www.heritagelincolnshire.org}}</ref> The cathedral has owned the existing quarry, on Riseholme Road, Lincoln, since 1876.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://lincolncathedral.com/new-lease-life-cathedral-quarry/|title=New Lease of Life for Cathedral Quarry – Lincoln Cathedral|date=20 October 2016|work=Lincoln Cathedral|access-date=25 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126070951/https://lincolncathedral.com/new-lease-life-cathedral-quarry/|archive-date=26 January 2018|url-status=live}}</ref> As of 2016, the quarry was expected to run out of stone in 2021.<ref name=bbclincolncath>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-36203373|title=Stone 'running out' at cathedral quarry|date=4 May 2016|work=BBC News|access-date=30 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171130141107/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-36203373|archive-date=30 November 2017|url-status=live}}</ref> The cathedral's stonemasons use more than 100 tonnes of stone per year for maintenance and repairs.<ref name=bbclincolncath />