Lincoln Medieval Bishops' Palace — Attraction in Lincoln

I turned up here on a day in Lincoln expecting it to be a nice half an hour, 45 minutes or so. No - I spent a good 2 to 2 and a half hours looking around the ruins. The little museum inside was interesting with the video tour voiced by a monk who sounded far too drunk - very amusing. The ruins aren't extensive but very interesting. The tracery of a buffet in one part is superb, as is that of an adjacent window. The barrel vaults of part of it are very long and although quite ruined, very beautiful. The restoration and cutaway-like roof of the kitchens is very interesting - parts look almost like they're new because of the restoration work. The new gardens are interesting and have a good idea and even better views - I liked the vineyard even if it was small and the wrong time of year. The garden could do with some trees however to complete the vision. One final thing to look out for is the tower by the entrance. The vault at the bottom is very impressive and modern-looking despite its age. The best part is that there is a small, almost hidden door from where you climb up to two rooms above and get nice views of adjacent rooftops through...

Good historical site in a very historic city. The information section next to the gift shop feels a bit tired, and the documentary video, which you can watch on a 21" screen in this area, with it's Jackanory style acted narration may be suitable for a school group of 10 year olds, but then you'll only get 8 kids in the area to view it. And the doc goes on too long.

Info boards at the entrance to each room would be welcome. There are some audio points around the site, but we did not test this facility.

The site has just been re-opened following 3 years of renovation. It doesn't quite feel ready for the public somehow. Also the entrance facing onto the cathedral is locked. This being open will entice in more punters.

Sorry for the slightly negative sounding review, but this is a very interesting site with wonderful views and I do think it could be better presented. EH member for 8 years and...

Thank you English Heritage - worth 10 stars, brilliant 'hard hat' tour of this amazing building. The information we received on this tour with the 3 (EH, Architect, builder/stone mason) was exceptional. I would highly highly recommend booking this. We learnt more about archeology and renovating ruins than ever we could wandering round on our own. This is a working site, having started 18 mths ago with 6 months left. Remarkable work, painstakingly taken care. I think its the opportunity to be with 3 hugely professional guides that make this tour quite unique. If you're an English Heritage member then don't miss this opportunity. ...