A couple of decades ago, Lincoln was in the doldrums — its economy was in decline, the Norman castle was crumbling, the waterfront was little more than a stagnant pond, the university was the butt of jokes, transport links were lamentable and even the immense medieval cathedral wasn’t drawing the tourist crowds the way it used to.
Now the castle has reopened following a £22m renovation, the Brayford Pool waterfront has been transformed into an attractive marina, lined with restaurants, a Hilton hotel and a multiplex cinema, and the university has undergone what The Sunday Times Good University Guide calls “the most dramatic transformation of a university in modern times”. There’s even a direct fast train to London — only one a day, but there are plans to boost this to six by 2019.
This all adds up to a “big deal for Lincoln”, according to Neil Murray, a member of the Labour-led city council, who recalls that “it’s not long since the only restaurants here were a KFC and a couple of steakhouses”.
“In the past, there hasn’t been a lot of ambition for Lincoln,” adds Murray, the council’s portfolio holder for planning policy and economic regeneration. “There are still pockets of deprivation, which we are addressing — work on the area around the station, for example, is set to begin next spring — but we have got people to invest in the city and we’ve been successful in diversifying the economy.”
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Once a centre for engineering and agricultural machinery, where William Foster & Co developed the tank during the First World War, Lincoln saw its manufacturing sector go into almost terminal decline during the 1980s. In recent years, though, factories have been returning. Siemens, the biggest private-sector employer in the city, makes gas turbines here. Bifrangi, an Italian metal-forging company, has invested more than £60m in setting up a new plant and a research and development centre.
Nowhere is the city’s change of fortunes more evident than beside Brayford Pool. Created by the widening of the River Witham, the lake was connected to the River Trent, via the Foss Dyke, by the Romans, and was once used as a port. By the 1980s, Murray says, it was “a shambles — a dirty, smelly place, and most of the boats were half-sunk wrecks”. Today, the shiny new vessels are surrounded by restaurants, bars, the university and a music venue, the Engine Shed.
While much of the shopping and eating is supplied by the usual suspects — Lincoln has a Prezzo, an Ask, a Starbucks and a Wagamama — the city’s unusual topography, as well as many marvellous relics of its past, keep it distinctive. Nestling in a gap in the Lincoln Cliff escarpment, it is divided into two zones, known locally as “uphill” and “downhill”.
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The further you ascend, the more quaint and idiosyncratic your surroundings become, with plenty of independent cafes, boutiques and bookshops to browse. The climb culminates in Steep Hill, a cobbled lane that winds up to, on the left, the castle — home to one of only four surviving copies of the Magna Carta — and, on the right, the cathedral, from which you can look out over the countryside beyond. The Lincolnshire Wolds, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, lie to the east.
Despite its rising fortunes and architectural riches, one of the most appealing aspects of Lincoln and the surrounding area remains its relatively low property prices. “If there was a league of house prices, Lincoln would be placed around where our football club is,” jokes Simon Bentley, senior partner at Mundys estate agency. (For those who don’t follow the lower divisions, Lincoln City FC finished last season a lowly 15th in the Conference.) “But prices have started to nudge up.”
The most sought-after streets are those around the cathedral and just north of the city centre. They offer an eclectic mix of period properties, with prices ranging from about £120,000 for a terraced house to £500,000 for a four-bedder.
West End is an area of largely Victorian terraces around Carholme Road, where prices are slightly lower. “It was popular with students, but as the university has built more accommodation, many families are moving back,” Bentley says.
Hykeham is a desirable suburb to the south, with easy access to the A46, for Newark-on-Trent and its fast train to London. The quickest service to King’s Cross takes 1hr 13min.
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Many affluent buyers look to nearby villages such as Waddington, Coleby, Harmston, Nettleham and Welton. The last of these is home to William Farr C of E comprehensive, the highest ranked secondary school in the Lincoln area in the Sunday Times Parent Power league tables. Four-bedroom modern detached properties in the villages typically sell for £275,000-£325,000.
Jack Shelbourn, 28, recently left London to take up a post as lecturer in film production at Lincoln University. “My girlfriend and I rented a tiny one-bedroom flat in London,” he says. “Now we are spending less than half as much to rent a fantastic two-bedroom house with a small garden.”
The draw wasn’t solely financial, Shelbourn insists. “I like the architecture and energy ‘uphill’, where it can be buzzing with a market or tourists in the day, followed by tranquillity at night — and I love my walk to work.”
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City centre £650,000
You can’t get much closer to Lincoln’s historic heart than grade II listed Castle Moat House — the five-bedroom home is just below the castle wall. Set to be auctioned on October 28, it has three receptions and requires modernisation.
01522 504360, jhwalter.co.uk
Nettleham £425,000
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This sensitively restored stone cottage has five bedrooms, two bathrooms, a roomy kitchen/diner and a large outbuilding. It’s in a village with shops, a health centre and four pubs; the city centre is a 15-minute drive away.
01522 304442, humberts.com