Timeline of Lincoln

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Lincoln, the county town of Lincolnshire in the East Midlands of England.

Prior to 17th century

• 48 – The Romans conquer Lincolnshire and build a fort, which later becomes the site of a town.
• c. 60 – Second fort built for Legio IX Hispana.
• 71–77 – Garrisoned by Legio II Adiutrix.
• After c. 86 – Becomes Lindum Colonia, a settlement for retired soldiers.
• By c. 120 – Probable creation by Romans of the Foss Dyke as a navigable waterway from the River Trent to Lincoln.
• 918 (probable date) – Lincoln surrenders to the Danes, becoming one of the Five Boroughs of the Danelaw.
• 941 (probable date) – Amlaíb Cuarán (Olaf of York), joint King of Jórvík, takes the Five Boroughs from the Earl of Mercia.
• 942 – King Edmund recaptures the Five Boroughs.
• 1068 – The Normans complete the first Lincoln Castle.
• 1072 – Bishop Remigius de Fécamp moves his seat to Lincoln from Dorchester Abbey.
• 1075–88 – Remigius begins construction of the first Lincoln Cathedral.
• 1092 – The first Lincoln Cathedral is consecrated soon after the death in May of Bishop Remigius.
• 1110 – A fire devastates Lincoln.
• 1121 – King Henry I orders the Foss Dyke navigation to be improved.
• 1123 – A fire devastates Lincoln.
• 1141
  • 2 February: The Anarchy: First Battle of Lincoln – Forces of King Stephen, having been besieging Lincoln Castle, are attacked and decisively defeated by Angevins and Welsh supporters loyal to Empress Matilda. After fierce fighting in the streets, Stephen is taken prisoner.
  • Lincoln Cathedral roof severely damaged by fire.
• 1157 – Lincoln is given a charter and authority to elect a council.
• 1157/8 – Second crowning of Henry II of England in Wigford, probably at St Mary’s Guildhall.
• c. 1160 – High Bridge built.
• c. 1180 – Synagogue at Jew's Court completed.
• 1185 – 11 April: The 1185 East Midlands earthquake destroys Lincoln Cathedral.
• 1190 – Anti-semitic violence spreads to Lincoln; Jews are forced to take refuge in the castle.
• 1192 – Reconstruction of cathedral begins under Bishop Hugh.
• 1217 – 20 May: First Barons' War: Second Battle of Lincoln – Forces of Prince Louis of France, claimant to the throne of England, having taken the city but failed to capture the castle, are defeated by an English royal force under William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke, who sack the city.
• 1226 – King Henry III holds a parliament in Lincoln.
• 1231 – Franciscan friars arrive in Lincoln.
• c. 1237 – Central tower of Cathedral collapses.
• 1238 – Dominican friars arrive in Lincoln.
• 1255 – 29 August: "Libel of Lincoln": A small boy, who becomes known as Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln, is found dead, which is blamed on the Jews, leading to the imprisonment of 90 and hanging of 18 in the Tower of London.
• 1266 – "The Disinherited", a band of rebel barons from the Isle of Axholme attack the city and burn the account books of the Jews.
• 1269 – Carmelites arrive in Lincoln.
• 1280 – Angel Choir of Cathedral consecrated.
• 1284 – Cathedral Close walled under royal licence.
• 1290 – 28 November: Eleanor of Castile dies nearby, her viscera are buried in the cathedral and her funeral procession sets out from here for London.
• 1291 – Lincoln becomes a town of The Staple; this moved in 1369 to Boston.
• 1301 – 20 January: Parliament meets in Lincoln to consider papal claims to sovereignty of Scoland, which it rejects.
• 1311 – Central tower and spire of the Cathedral completed.
• 1312 – King Edward II holds a parliament in Lincoln, repeated in 1315, 1316 & 1318.
• 1314 – City’s first mayor appointed.
• 1327 – Edward II holds a parliament in Lincoln, the last in the city.
• 1341 – 10 August: King Edward III holds a Privy Council meeting in Lincoln.
• 1349 – The Black Death devastates Lincoln.
• 1370–1400 – Cathedral west towers and spires erected.
• 1386 – King Richard II presents the city with a sword of state.
• 1390 – Richard II orders the building of a new south gate which becomes the Stonebow.
• 1409 – City chartered as a county corporate.
• c. 1520 – Guildhall and Stonebow completed.
• 1538 – Dissolution of the Monasteries: King Henry VIII closes the friaries.
• 1540 – Lincoln granted city status.
• 1549 – Central spire of cathedral blown down in a storm.
• 1563 – William Byrd appointed organist and master of the choristers at the cathedral, his first professional appointment.
• 1617 – 29 March–5 April: King James I visits.
• 1643 – July: English Civil War: Parliamentary army abandons Lincoln; it is subsequently occupied by the Royalists until October.
• 1644 – March: Civil War: Parliamentary army again abandons Lincoln, returning in May and recapturing it.
• 1648 – Civil War: Parliamentary defenders taking refuge in the Bishop’s palace are forced to surrender by the Royalists.
• 1671–2 – City authorised to improve navigation between the Trent and Boston: work is done on the Foss Dyke, wharves on Brayford Pool and on the Witham through High Bridge.
• 1674 – New Lincoln Cathedral Library designed by Christopher Wren for Dean Honywood begun.
• 1695 – Lincoln is granted an additional annual fair.

18th century onwards

• 1732 – A theatre is built.
• 1744
  • Assembly Rooms are built (in Drury Lane).
  • Foss Dyke navigation deepened.
• 1756 – Turnpike trusts established around Lincoln.
• 1762 – 18 August: Witham Navigation Commissioners (appointed 2 June) first meet.
• 1764 – First Theatre Royal built.
• 1769 – Hospital for the sick poor established.
• 1771
  • Horse racing on the West Common begins.
  • Approximate date: First Stamp End lock on the Witham built.
• 1776 – Lincoln County Hospital moves to new premises.
• 1780 – John Wesley first preaches in Lincoln.
• 1784 – First newspaper published in Lincoln (briefly).
• 1786 – New Road (modern-day Lindum Road) opened.
• 1795 – Deepening of Witham under High Bridge completed.
• 1799 – First post-Reformation Roman Catholic church built.
• 1809 – City gaol and Sessions House completed.
• 1816 – March: First steamboat launched on River Witham.
• 1820 – April: The Lawn is opened as a lunatic asylum.
• 1828 – 9 May: Acts for
  • "Paving, lighting, watching, and improving the City of Lincoln… and for regulating the Police therein", appointing Commissioners.
  • "Lighting with Gas the City of Lincoln", incorporating Lincoln Gas Light and Coke Co.
• 1840 – Ruston (engine builder) originates as Proctor and Burton, millwrights and engineers.
• 1846
  • 4 August: The Midland Railway opens its Nottingham to Lincoln Line to Lincoln St. Marks railway station, the first in the city.
  • Lincoln Waterworks Company established.
• 1848
  • 17 October: The Great Northern Railway opens Lincoln Central railway station.
  • Corn exchange built.
• 1857 – "Old Barracks" built for the Royal North Lincoln Militia in Burton Road.
• 1862 – Bishop Grosseteste University established as the Diocesan Training School for Mistresses.
• 1872
  • June: HM Prison Lincoln opened.
  • The Arboretum, the city’s first public park, is laid out on the former Monks Leys commons.
• 1876 – Municipal sewerage system commenced.
• 1878 – Lincoln County Hospital moves to its modern-day site.
• 1882 – 8 September: Lincoln Tramways Company commences a horse-drawn service.
• 1863 – 2 February: Lincoln College of Art opens.
• 1884 – 4 October: Lincoln City F.C., founded as an amateur Association football club, play their first match, at John O'Gaunts, winning 9–1 against Sleaford.
• 1890 – New barracks built.
• 1892 – 26 November: Explosion and fire destroy 1806 Theatre Royal.
• 1894 – The first public library opens.
• 1898 – The first electricity generating station is built.
• 1904 – November–August 1905: Typhoid fever epidemic kills 130.
• 1905 – 23 November: Lincoln Corporation Tramways commences an electric service, initially using a stud contact system.
• 1915 – 6 September: Little Willie, the prototype military tank developed by William Foster & Co., is first tested by the British Army.
• 1916 – 16 September: Zeppelins targeting Lincoln drop bombs on Washingborough.
• 1919 – 3 February: Éamon de Valera and two other prisoners escape from Lincoln Prison.
• 1927 – 25 May: Usher Gallery (based on the collection left to the city by local watchmaker James Ward Usher (1845–1921)) is opened.
• 1929 – 31 December: Lincoln Corporation Tramways ceases operation, being replaced by motor buses.
• 1931 – 1 September: Ruston (engine builder) despatch their first internal-combustion industrial railway locomotive from the Anchor works (a narrow-gauge petrol-engined example); 6,481 will be built (mainly at Boultham Works) until the last is despatched on 19 February 1969.
• World War II – 11 people are killed by German bombing.
• 1958 – 27 June: Pelham Bridge is opened.
• 1961 – 27 January: Last execution at HM Prison Lincoln.
• 1969 – 29 July: Museum of Lincolnshire Life opens in former Burton Road barracks.
• 1972 – Last commercial (grain) traffic on Foss Dyke navigation.
• 1973 – City Hall is built.
• 1974 – 1 April: City incorporated under terms of Local Government Act 1974.
• 1991 – Waterside Shopping Centre opens.
• 1993 – Lincoln City Transport bus operations are absorbed by those of Lincolnshire Road Car Co.
• 1996 – September: The newly renamed University of Lincolnshire and Humberside opens to students at Lincoln.
• 2001 – October: University of Lincoln adopts this name, moving its main campus from Hull to Brayford Pool at Lincoln in 2002.
• 2005 – October: The Collection opened.
• 2012 – 3 December: Bishop Grosseteste University granted full university status.

Births

• 1560 – William Fulbecke, lawyer (d. c.1603)
• 1815 – 2 November: George Boole, mathematician (d. 1864)
• 1899 – 15 September: Sir Francis Hill, solicitor, local historian and public figure (d. 1980)
• 1916 – 17 December: Penelope Fitzgerald, née Knox, novelist and biographer (d. 2000)
• 1921 – 1 April: Steve Race, popular musician (d. 2009)
• 1923 – 2 March: Sam Scorer, architect (d. 2003)
• 1924 – 15 April: Neville Marriner, orchestral conductor
• 1928 – 15 October: Keith Fordyce, broadcast presenter (d. 2011)
• 1942 – 23 April: Sheila Gish, actress (d. 2005)
• 1949 – 25 April: James Fenton, poet