Lincoln

City in E England; the county town of Lincolnshire. The Romans founded the city as Lindum Colonia. As one of the five boroughs of the Danelaw, Lincoln thrived on its wool trade until the 14th century. In the 19th century, the draining of surrounding fenland revived the local economy. The castle was begun (1068) in the reign of William I, and houses one of the original copies of the Magna Carta. Lincoln Cathedral (begun c.1073) has a central tower 83m (271ft) high. Industries: farm machinery. Pop. (1997) 83,000.
Lincoln was a legionary fortress, then the colonia of Lindum, where the river Witham flows east through the ridge of the Lincoln Edge. The gates, including the surviving Newport Arch, were impressive. In the 4th cent. Lincoln may have become a provincial capital; a bishop may have attended the Council of Arles in 314. After five centuries of near-desertion Lincoln was revived by the Vikings as a river port. The Normans planted a castle and cathedral in the upper city (the Roman site); the commercial centre spread downhill, where it still is. Lincoln's heyday was the 12th and 13th cents., when it was one of the six largest English towns, with 47 parish churches and a thriving textile industry. It declined spectacularly in the 14th and 15th cents., and revived only modestly as a social centre in the 18th cent. and as an industrial town in the 19th.

A Dictionary of British History. Ed. John Cannon. Oxford University Press, 2001.
World Encyclopedia. Philip's, 2005.