Close by is the entrance to the Vicars' Court, founded by Bishop Oliver Sutton (1280-99); the work was continued by his successor, John de Dalderby, and taken up again by Bishop John Buckingham (1363-1397), The entrance gateway is the work of Bishop Buckingham, and bears his shield of arms. Some houses on the east side of the court also bear these arms, and date from the same bishop's time. Part of Bishop Button's work is to be traced in a house on the south side. The other buildings are of later date. The residence of the chancellor, on the eastern side of the close, near the south end, may be recognised by its fine old red-brick front, dating from the latter part of the fifteenth century; parts of the house are of earlier date. The precentory stands on the south side of the close, next to the Exchequer Gate. Very little now remains of the ancient building; the present front was designed by J. L. Pearson, R.A. The next house eastward, the sub-deanery, has more extensive remains of early work; a bay window of the fifteenth century should in particular be noticed. In the year 1884, when the eighteenth century railings at the western end of the minster were removed, and the ground round this part lowered, the sub-deanery was considerably altered to allow of the widening of the road.
CHAPTER III
THE INTERIOR, INCLUDING THE CLOISTERS AND CHAPTER-HOUSE
A detailed description of the interior of Lincoln minster may be fittingly preceded by a brief review of its chief features. As regards the Presbytery or Angel Choir, no one, with the exception of a recent American critic, has ventured to lower the just reputation of this lovely work, distinguished for a rare combination of beauty of architecture and sculpture. The next place in point of architectural excellence must be assigned to the Nave, a harmonious and characteristic example of the Early English style. But the unique position the choir of St. Hugh holds in the history of Gothic architecture should not be lost sight of. The principal interior defect, and this rendered all the more conspicuous by the general gracefulness of other parts, is the lowness of the vault. But, after all, there are only four loftier vaults in England, and one of these is only higher by two feet; nevertheless the defect is conspicuous, and is a serious one. Of the windows, the most noticeable are the great east window and the two "eyes," and these are equal to any in their respective styles in the country. The modern coloured glass which fills the former, as well as many lesser windows in the minster, brings out in greater contrast the loveliness of even the wrecks of the early stained glass still remaining in some others.
Considering that Lincoln once possessed the monuments of a queen, of another direct ancestress of our Royal family, and of two bishops whose fame has spread to the farthest limits of Christendom, as well as of others of more local celebrity, it must be confessed that the monuments at present in the minster are disappointing. That of Queen Eleanor is represented by a modern reproduction; Catherine Swynford's is mutilated almost beyond recognition; those of St. Hugh and Grosseteste are gone altogether; and the ancient monuments which are left retain very little of their original splendour.
The Ground Plan illustrates the lengthening process to which the building has been subjected. It is a double cross, with side chapels extended beyond the nave walls at the western end. The lesser transept has four apsidal chapels towards the east, and the great transept has a single eastern aisle divided into six chapels. The symmetry of the presbytery has been disturbed by the addition of projecting chantry-chapels, one on the north side and two on the south. The cloisters are accessible from the eastern transept, and the chapter-house from the cloisters.