A visit to the minster would not be complete without a climb to the breezy top of the great central tower. The ascent is not difficult, and may be made for a small fee. The clock was made by William Potts & Sons of Leeds, in 1880, and weighs about four tons. It took the place of one made in 1775 by Thwaites, and afterwards improved by Vulliamy. The Cathedral Close, or =Minster Yard=, as old-fashioned Lincoln people still love to call it, was first protected by a wall in the last years of the thirteenth century. The licence from Edward I. to the Dean and Chapter, giving them permission to undertake this work, dates from the year 1285. Edward's successor granted a further licence in the year 1319 to fortify the walls; the two ruined towers in the chancery garden are relics of the fortifications begun about this time. Massive double gateways were erected to protect the approaches, except in one instance, where a steep ascent was considered to justify the erection of a single gateway only. Unfortunately, these gateways were for the most part destroyed early in the present century. The principal one remaining is that opposite the western end of the minster, known as the "Exchequer Gate." Indeed, even when all the gateways were standing, this seems to have been the chief. [Illustration: NORTH SIDE OF THE ANGEL CHOIR. _S. B. Bolas & Co., Photo._] Leland, who was at Lincoln in the latter part of Henry VIII.'s reign, writes thus: "Al the hole Close is environid withe an highe stronge wawle havynge dyvers Gats in it, whereof the principall is the Escheker gate." Of course, when Leland wrote, the companion outer gateway was yet standing, and it remained so until early in the present century. It had then fallen into disrepair, and does not seem to have been considered worth renovating. An idea of the appearance of the Exchequer Gate will be gained from De Wint's picture, reproduced on p. 33. Like its former companion, it has a large archway in the middle and a postern on either side; above are two storeys of rooms, formerly let as dwellings. A guide-book of the year 1810 mentions that a public-house was at that time "kept in the apartment to the north of the southern postern." Another gateway of the same period (early fourteenth century) is still standing near the top of the New Road, at the south-east corner of the close. This was the only single gateway. It is now called "Pottergate Arch." A little westward of this gate, a flight of steps, with a postern at the top, leads up to the minster yard from the New Road. Respecting its name, the "Grecian Stairs," much has been written. It may be sufficient here to remark that the old name appears to have been simply "The Greesen," from the early English _gree_, a step. "a sentence Which, as a grize or step may help these lovers." ("Othello," Act I. sc. iii.).