William the Conqueror's castle on the hilltop beside Lincoln Cathedral, now home to an original 1215 Magna Carta
Open to visitorscheck opening times and admission before you go
Substantial ruinsruined, but plenty survives above ground
Lincoln Castle sits at the top of the hill in the old part of Lincoln, right next to the cathedral. William the Conqueror ordered it built in 1068, a few years after the Norman conquest, on ground the Romans had fortified a thousand years before. It is unusual in having two mottes — the raised earth mounds that Norman castles were built around — rather than the usual one, and you can climb the towers on top of both.
For much of its later life the castle was Lincoln’s courthouse and prison. The Victorian prison building survives inside the walls, along with its unsettling chapel where prisoners were shut into separate stalls so they could not see one another. The real draw now, though, is Magna Carta: Lincoln holds one of only four surviving original copies of the charter sealed by King John in 1215, displayed in an underground vault alongside a copy of the Charter of the Forest.
Lincolnshire County Council runs the castle. The best thing to do is walk the full circuit of the medieval walls, which takes you right round the ramparts with views over the city and out to the cathedral. It is a steep pull up from the lower town, most famously by the cobbled lane called Steep Hill, which is lined with old shops and places to stop.
More at the National Heritage List entry
