Entwined Hearts

Entwined hearts, carved by hand in both Lincoln Cathedral limestone, and Ancaster limestone.

The stones are geologically the same, a Middle Jurassic limestone from the Inferior Oolite Series, formed approximately 165 million years ago. The difference between the two is geographical, although they are both found along the Lincoln Cliff.

The Lincoln Cliff is approximately 50 miles long and stretches from the Humber Estuary to the Leicestershire  border close to Grantham. The Cliff is broken twice by rivers at Ancaster and Lincoln, at it’s at these two locations the stone is found.

Both types of stone were sourced from the now defunct Lincoln Cathedral Quarry, situated on Riseholme Road in Lincoln. The Lincoln limestone was quarried on site, whilst the Ancaster was brought in as rough block and sawn to size at the quarry. The cathedral used Ancaster limestone in situations where the bed heights of Lincoln weren’t sufficient for their needs; the stone quarried at Lincoln was limited to around 11 inches.