Well this was a surprise … I was drawn here to follow in the footsteps of William Marshall Earl of Pembroke and I was very happy to have made the time to visit here. Lincoln has both a cathedral and the remains of a castle.

The cathedral has direct connections to William the Conqueror. A priest name Remigus managed to suply one ship and twenty knights and horses plus everything the ship and knights would need to help William in his conquest. Needless to say William won and Remigus was made Bishop and sent to Lincoln to build the cathedral.

It has several phases of building due to earthquake and fire. The central part of the West door (three large round arches) survives from the original building from 1089. Katherine Swynford is also buried here ... she was the third wife of John of Gaunt and was the ancestor of the Tudor dynasty.

The castle is just across the road.

While the motte is still there the keep is in ruins … the curtain walls however are complete.

Where does William Marshall come into this story ...

Well in 1216 he was Regent of England for Henry III (King John’s son) … Louis from France had invaded (invited in by the Barons who fought against John and demanded the Magna Carta) and was camped in town around the Castle at Lincoln besieging the castle. William came to relieve the castle and at 70 years of age lead the cavalry charge through the West gate and defeated the French.  The original Roman gate … the one William charged through is still there ….Yes I walked through it and down Westgate.

Great town, great guides, great time.

Enjoy

Today we visited St Kentigern’s Church at Crosthwaite near Keswick. This is where our Dunglison story begins at the moment. 

Gawine Dunglison had his son John Dunglison baptised in this church in 1696. John married Tamar Thomas in this church in 1725 and he was buried from this church in 1756.

I wandered around the graveyard to see if I could find a Dunglison headstone. I found one for William Dungleson (yes the spelling changes all of the time) who was buried here in 1804 … he is the grandson of John and the father of Robely Dunglison (Doctor to Thomas Jefferson). William would be my 5^th great uncle … his brother Thomas would be my 5^th great grandfather.

This church played a large part in our family history from about 1610 to about 1780.

Enjoy the photos

This Cathedral was originally founded in the 600’s by Etheldreda who became a saint. So St Etheldreda was the reason for the big church as it became a place of pilgrimage and a source of income for the monks. The church is beautiful … but of course Henry VIII destroyed the tomb of the saint during his reformation … The monks had to go but because it was a well-known place of learning Henry gave the monastery buildings back to some of the cannons and they continued to educate. A king’s school still operated here in Ely.

Enjoy

We arrived at Colchester, found our hotel and checked in … big surprise the room was barely big enough to fit us … pictures tell the story ... needless to say stern words were exchanged.

Colchester is where Claudius came with his elephants when he invaded Britain so this an early Roman site. It also has a remarkably preserved Norman keep that was built on the Roman foundations. It is also where Boudicca rebelled against the Romans burning the city to ground then going on the burn London also. Unfortunately she was captured and she committed suicide.

The keep was really interesting … hope you enjoy the photos.

Talk soon

This town has both a cathedral and Norman Castle … The cathedral is unusual in that there was never a monastery attached to it so there was no money for upkeep … leaving it untouched … you can still see a lot of the original Norman stone work and you can see the moment in time in the building when the architecture changes from Norman to Gothic (round to pointed arches). The crypt was also in original condition. Amazingly William the Conqueror ordered this Cathedral and the Castle across the road to be built within two years of the Battle of Hastings.  

Castle - best example of Norman castle with a moat on three side and river on the other … it is a bit of a ruin but the sheer size of it and Romanesque arches that are still standing in the great hall are amazing.