The story of Lincoln Cathedral

The Victorian writer John Ruskin declared that he had always held Lincoln Cathedral to be 'out and out the most precious piece of architecture'. The oldest parts date from 1072, when Bishop Remigius moved his seat here from Dorchester on Thames. The first building was completed in 1092, but in 1185 it was badly damaged by an earthquake.

It was rebuilt over the following centuries in different phases of Gothic style – Early English, Decorated and Perpendicular – and much of that work survives. By floor area, about 5,000 square metres, it is the fourth-largest cathedral in the United Kingdom, after Liverpool Cathedral, St Paul's Cathedral and York Minster. The cathedral also owns one of the four remaining copies of the original Magna Carta, which today is displayed in Lincoln Castle.

Step inside, walk slowly down the nave and look up to see what Ruskin meant.