The Watchman in the Vineyard: Historical Traces of Judicial and Punitive Practices in Lincoln

The theme and content of this edited book first took shape at an international conference I co-organised at the University of Lincoln in November 2009. Bringing together eminent architects, philosophers, criminologists, judges, lawyers, urban designers and geographers, the conference provided a unique platform for debating some of the key issues about the role of architecture in the deliberations of justice in both a contemporary and historical contexts. The significance of the conference, and subsequent publication of selected papers, was underlined by Baroness Vivien Stern (international authority on criminal justice and author of the Forward to this book) who recognized the uniqueness of the initiative in bringing together for the first time both academics and practitioners with diverse interests in the field of justice. The setting of Lincoln for the conference was not without significance. Famous for its majestic cathedral, the city is also noted for its medieval castle which was used as a prison, containing one of the last remaining chapels used under the so-called ‘Pentonville’ (or isolation) system. A special visit to the castle was organised as part of the two day event. My chapter in this volume draws upon this aspect of Lincoln’s history, by examining the topographical and political relationships between castle and cathedral in Lincoln. It develops from an ongoing research project on Lincoln Cathedral and its symbolic and topographical significance (originally published as a chapter in my book, Disclosing Horizons: Architecture, Perspective and Redemptive Space – Routledge 2007). In this paper, however, I examine the judicial and punitive practices in the ‘upper town’ of the city from the Middle Ages to the early 19th century. The study highlights how these practices were closely allied to jurisdictional claims of both castle (bailey) and cathedral (minster close), that variously defined territorially the implementation of canon and civil law.