Lincoln Travel by British Railways poster – Kerry Lee – 1953

Poster: Lincoln Travel by British Railways poster – Kerry Lee – 1953

As can be seen in this fantastic vintage travel poster Lincoln is a cathedral city. Lincoln Cathedral towers over the city and dominates the skyline. Construction began in 1072 and when it was completed in 1311 is widely considered to have been the tallest building in the world, standing at 160 meters. This would make the Cathedral the first building to hold that title after the Great Pyramid of Giza. It held the record for 238 years until the spire collapsed in 1548. The spire was never rebuilt. Had the central spire remained intact, Lincoln Cathedral would have remained the world’s tallest structure until the completion of the Parisian landmark, the Eiffel Tower in 1889.

The artist Kerry Lee has included many of the famous landmark buildings in to the city scene. In the foreground, the image starts with a glimpse of River Witham flowing the ‘The Glory Hole’ beneath High Bridge. The bridge was built around 1160AD. It is the oldest bridge in the United Kingdom to still have buildings on it. The black and white, timber-framed buildings on the bridge date back to 1550. The buildings are now shops.

Behind the shops in the centre of the poster is the magnificent Guildhall and Stonebow archway. The Guildhall has been the meeting place of Lincoln Council since Medieval times.  The archway which features the Lincoln Guildhall coat of arms was the gateway to the city for people entering from the south. Several other features such as Lincoln Castle and the East Gate lead the eye up to the impressive Norman West front of Lincoln Cathedral.

Lee has also made a feature of the mischievous Lincoln Imp sent by the Devil to wreak havoc on Lincoln. According to the VisitLincoln website, the Imp is hidden in the upper reaches of the Cathedral. The website explains.

‘Legend has it that one day the Devil was in a frolicsome mood, and let out all his young demons to play.

After having allegedly stopping at Chesterfield, to twist the spire of St Mary and All Saints Church, a group of imps went to Lincoln and planned to wreak havoc in the city’s stunning Cathedral.

Mischievous activities in Lincoln included knocking over the Dean, smashing the stained glass windows, and destroying the lights. To put a stop to any further chaos, an angel appeared from the Bible left on the altar and commanded “Wicked Imp, be turned to stone!”

Some imps managed to escape, one of which is said to be found at St James’ Church in Grimsby.

However, one imp remained, hurling insults and stones at the angel. The angel responded in kind, turning the imp to stone where it sat and it can still be seen there today.

Our posters are carefully and professionally created from vintage originals. Whilst great care is taken in the production of these posters, we also try to maintain a vintage feel, so there may be small imperfections, fold marks, scuffs, tears, or marks that were part of the original poster master. If these do appear they should be visible on the larger views of the item on this listing. The originals of many of the posters we offer can cost many thousands of pounds, so whilst these posters look great, especially framed and mounted on a wall, they are intended as fun, affordable reproductions and not intended fine art prints.

The 50x70cm version has been specially produced to be used in conjunction with Ikea’s 50x70cm Ribba picture frame which currently retails for around £12. So you can bag a bargain of print and poster for just £22.