The city of Lincoln is all about claiming and keeping the high ground: it stands on a high edge of limestone, overlooking and dominating the flat surrounding countryside, and its strategic and psychological advantages have not been lost on successive invaders, from the Romans onwards.
The great landmark of the cathedral, visible from nearly 30 miles away, was started by the Normans, who were always quick to exploit the lie of the land: William the Conqueror sent the warrior-bishop Remigius to set up a diocese here, and the building he erected looked as much military as ecclesiatical.
"It was a statement of power to the Saxon peasants," says the Very Rev Alec Knight, Dean of Lincoln Cathedral. "What it said was 'just you watch it, we're in command here now.' And that feeling has bedevilled relations between the uphill and the downhill parts of the city ever since - the nobs living up on top and the peasants down below."
While "downhill" Lincoln nowadays is all commerce and industry and traffic, "uphill" is an enclave of quiet streets, historic buildings and boutiques gathered around the huge, honey-coloured bulk of the cathedral, with its wide west front and three tall towers. The link between the two is Steep Hill, which is exactly what it says on the sign.
If you reach the top of it at dusk, breathless from the climb, the cathedral suddenly comes into view, like a great cliff bathed in pale orange light; and if at that moment the bells begin pealing, making the air move and hairs rise on your neck, it's possible to feel you really have moved from a lower to a higher sphere.
Everyone will try to persuade you that there's much more to Lincoln than the cathedral - it's got a Roman arch still used by traffic, Edward I thought of making it his capital, there's a hotel room where the first tank was designed, a flat where TE Lawrence lived, and the Brayford Pool on the River Witham has been compared to Copenhagen (by whom is unclear). All that may be true, and it's got a decent Guildhall and an original copy of Magna Carta in the Castle Museum. But, at the end of the day, it's the cathedral that matters and which draws people to the place: the Victorian critic and aesthete John Ruskin called it "the most precious piece of architecture in the British Isles".
For 150 years, the cathedral was even more impressive - it was claimed to be the tallest building in the world, with a timber-built spire that doubled the height of the central tower to 460ft. But this spire crashed down in a high wind in 1548, and the smaller twin western spires were eventually dismantled in 1807 for fear the same would happen to them.
The damage to the roof timbers of the nave when the spire collapsed is pointed out by Don Simpson, one of the guides who takes visitors up the tight stone spiral staircases into the roof space - a dim and pungent forest of ancient timbers supporting nearly 500 tons of lead sheeting. Some oak beams are 46ft long, and each one has been carbon-dated and its place of origin established.
A few years ago, you could go through a doorway from the roof space and sidle round a vertiginous stone platform 120ft up the inside of the central tower, but it's now banned for safety reasons. But you can still peer through the doorway to the nave below and imagine the perilous working life of medieval stone masons and carpenters with their rudimentary scaffolding.
The highlights of the cathedral at ground level are described by Dave Hardwick, a Lincoln guide with a greying pony tail and an unquenchable fund of local stories. His favourite place is the 10-sided Chapter House with its slender central pier and eight flying buttresses, where the Victorian stained-glass windows tell the history of the cathedral, including the fire in 1141 which gutted Remigius's original cathedral-fortress.
Hardwick guides you into a corner for a stone carving of a cat playing with a mouse, and takes you into the Angel Choir to point out the famous Lincoln Imp on a pier above the shrine of St Hugh, who rebuilt and extended the cathedral after an earthquake in 1185. The imp is a little, leering, feathered figure with horns and claws, one leg crossed nonchalantly over the other.
"The story is that all the demons except this one left when the extension was complete, and he was turned into stone by the angels," says Hardwick. "Then in 1907, the jeweller James Usher gave Edward VII a little gold or silver replica, and he took it to the races and won his bets all day. That's why it's come to be considered lucky and a mascot for the town's football team."
But the most exquisite piece of stone carving is the hollow arch over the entrance to the south choir aisle: at one end is the head of the Green Man, symbol of life and fertility, spewing out a trail of foliage which forms the arch and, at the opposite end, bowls a demon on to his back and crushes him. It's one piece of craftsmanship among thousands, but on its own it would justify the visit.
What to see on a stroll round Lincoln
Westgate: Roman remains, including a high wall behind the Castle Hotel, and a well. It used to be a popular spot for watching prisoners being hanged from the north-west corner of the castle.
Bailgate: the position of pillars for the Roman forum are marked in the road. Full of smart shops and the White Hart, a 14th-century coaching inn, where Guy Gibson of Dam Busters fame drank with his squadron.
Castle Hill: a fine square with a 1543 half-timbered building (now the Tourist Information Centre) next to a Queen Anne house (now an antique shop) and the Georgian Judges Lodgings. At one side is Exchequergate, the 14th-century entrance to Minster Yard.
Minster Yard: elegant houses for dignitaries, and an impressive view of the cathedral's west front, including the newly-restored romanesque frieze.
The Castle: the old prison within the castle walls is now a museum, including a horrifying chapel with coffin-like individual pews which prevented inmates seeing anyone but the preacher. Another room displays the Magna Carta.
Steep Hill: The link to downhill Lincoln, past the Wig and Mitre, Brown's Pie Shop, two Norman buildings (one now selling wine from Lincoln's twin town in Germany), second-hand bookshops, art galleries and jewellery shops.
Stonebow: a 16th-century arch at the bottom of the hill next to the Guildhall. Leads into High Street, full of shops and restaurants, and crosses High Bridge over the River Witham.
Brayford Pool: reached from High Street along Guildhall Street. This is Lincoln's "port" - the junction between the Witham and the Fossdyke canal. The university is here, as well as a £100 million waterfront development.
Waterside: the stretch along the river east of High Bridge, with the Waterside Shopping Centre and the Central Market, a listed building.
Broadgate: the route back up the hill, using the Greestone Steps for the final pull into Minster Yard. From here, examine the side and back of the cathedral, including the buttresses and pinnacles of the Chapter House and the statue of Alfred Lord Tennyson, the Victorian Poet Laureate born near Lincoln. Nearby is the ruined Bishop's Palace, where a new garden is being created.
Way to go
Lincoln is less than two hours by road or rail from London: National Rail Enquiries 08457 484950. For full travel and accommodation information and a brochure, phone Lincolnshire Tourism on 01522 526450, www.lincolnshiretourism.com. Nearby attractions include Bateman's Brewery at Wainfleet (01754 882009, www.bateman.co.uk ), 62 rural churches (Church Tourism Network, 01522 529241), and the airfield trail round more than 50 second world war air bases (Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, 01790 763207, www. lincsaviation.co.uk).
