The Historic Houses & Heritage of Lincolnshire

Day 1 – Belton House

Board our private executive coach at your preferred pick up points – stop at a convenient property en route such as the National Trust’s Belton House near Grantham, a crowning achievement of Restoration country house architecture with important collections of paintings, furniture, tapestries and silver – continue to the 3* Holiday Inn Hotel in Lincoln.

Day 2 – Guided tour of Lincoln, Medieval Bishops’ Palace & Tattershall Castle

Guided walking tour of Lincoln incorporates a visit to the Cathedral, a fine Gothic building dating back to 1088 and reputedly the tallest building in the world for 238 years – the Medieval Bishops’ Palace is set dramatically in the shadow of Lincoln Cathedral with a superb contemporary Heritage Garden reflecting its historical setting – the National Trust’s Tattershall Castle, a vast fortified and moated tower built for Ralph Cromwell, Lord Treasurer of England from 1433 to 1443, and restored by Lord Curzon between 1911 and 1914, contains four great chambers with enormous Gothic fireplaces, tapestries and brick vaulting.

Day 3 – International Bomber Command Centre, Workhouse at Southwell & Southwell Minster

Guided tour of the International Bomber Command Centre, created to serve as a point for recognition, remembrance and reconciliation for Bomber Command, includes a 31 metre tall spire and memorial walls with the names of all those who lost their lives serving or supporting Bomber Command during the Second World War – the National Trust’s Workhouse at Southwell survives from hundreds that once covered the country – our final visit of the day is to Southwell Minster, with a majestic Norman nave and glorious 13th century chapter house.

Day 4 – Doddington Hall & Gainsborough Old Hall

Doddington Hall is a much loved family home that has never been sold since it was built in 1595 by Robert Smythson, one of England’s foremost Elizabethan architects – Gainsborough Old Hall, partly brick and partly timber framed, is one of the best preserved medieval manor houses in England and the Old Hall has a kitchen with an enormous fireplace, a noble great hall and an imposing lodgings tower – rest of the day at leisure in Lincoln.

Day 5 – Burghley House

Stop at a convenient property en route home such as Burghley House near Stamford, this largest and grandest house of the first Elizabethan age was completed by William Cecil, Lord Burghley, in 1587.