Priory Gate, Lincoln

Priory Gate

A very short distance from the east end of Lincoln Cathedral stands Priory Gate, which marks the location of one of the old medieval gates that gave access to the cathedral close. The current gateway, surmounted with battlements as if it still served a defensive purpose, straddles the north end of Pottergate.

It is a Victorian replacement for the medieval gates on this site, assembled from the original medieval building material. A similar gateway arch stands at the south end of Pottergate, and Exchequer Gate, a true medieval survivor, stands near the cathedral west front. A few short steps away from Priory Gate is a statue of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, a Lincolnshire native.

The Grade II listed gateway has a central pointed arch flanked by a pair of small pedestrian arches. The top of the gateway is crenellated in the fashion of a medieval castle parapet. The original gate was one of a pair over the road on the east side of the Cathedral grounds.

Both gates were torn down in 1815, and the solitary Priory Gate erected in 1825 using as many of the original stones as possible.