We had a very enjoyable visit to Lincoln last weekend. We particularly loved the Cathedral and I was totally blown away by the Gallery of Kings. The frieze of kings has only recently been released from the scaffolding which has covered it for years. The carvings have been wonderfully restored and it is quite amazing to think that they were carved in the Fourteenth Century.
Lincoln Cathedral has eleven statues of seated kings above the main entrance, and six statues in niches on both sides of the main arch: two in the buttresses next to the entrance, two in the spandrels of the top arch and two in the lower part of the gable.
They are thought to represent the English Kings from William the Conqueror through to Edward III. They all wear 14th century costume, and their head type resembles that on the effigy on the tomb of Edward III in Westminster Abbey.
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| John Lackland, 1199 to 1216 |
Kendrick wrote that Edward III was "the sovereign on the throne when the figures were placed there by Treasurer John de Welburne (d. 1380); they are all bearded, very similar to one another, and of the tamest possible character. They were originally coloured and gilt."