Lincoln from the south-west, mid-eighteenth century

Showing the spires on the W. towers of the cathedral, built c.1370-1400. The spires were removed for structural reasons in 1807: for other illustrations and contemporary comment on their removal, see www.rodcollins.com/wordpress/how-lincoln-cathedral-has-ch... . For a period, the cathedral also had a spire on the crossing tower, added when the tower was heightened in the early 1300s, but this was blown down in the late 1540s. The cathedral lays claim to having been the tallest building in the world while the central spire was standing, although the margin over other buildings is not that great (only three feet, according to one source, which might lie within the margin of error in the measurements, I would have thought - I have seen no indication of when, how or by whom the spire was measured!) [ easterncathedrals.org.uk/members/lincoln-cathedral.php ; en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_and_struc... ]

Scanned from a mid-C18 print, drawn and engraved by J. Ryland, in my possession, probably originally published in England illustrated, or, A compendium of the natural history, geography, topography, and antiquities ecclesiastical and civil, of England and Wales. With maps of the several counties, and engravings of many remains of antiquity, remarkable buildings, and principal towns (1764)..