The north side of the Minster is far less ornate than the south. Of course, the chief features here are the =Chapter-House=, with its curious roof and lovely windows, and the =North Transept=, very fine Early English of 1241-1260. Here we have the famous group of lancets, the Five Sisters (see page 270), and seven beautifully arranged lancets in the gable above--a very fine contrast to the gable of the south transept, with its rose-window. A vestibule leads from the North Transept to the Chapter-House, that splendid octagonal building, perhaps the finest example of Early Decorated in existence. Buttresses, topped with pinnacles, project at each of the eight corners. The strange pyramidal roof is surrounded by a battlement and curious gargoyles; among them bears peer out into space. LINCOLN DEDICATION: ST. MARY. A CHURCH SERVED BY SECULAR CANONS. SPECIAL FEATURES: ST. HUGH’S CHOIR; ANGEL CHOIR; EAST WINDOW; CENTRAL TOWER. Lincoln Cathedral possesses a commanding site and three splendid towers that form a beautiful picture. Distance lends enchantment to the view at all times of the day and seasons of the year. “Throughout a vast district around the city, the one great feature of the landscape is the mighty minster, which, almost like that of Laon, crowns the edge of the ridge, rising, with a steepness well-nigh unknown in the streets of English towns, above the lower city and the plain at its feet. Next in importance to the minster is the castle, which, marred as it is by modern changes, still crowns the height as no unworthy yoke-fellow of its ecclesiastical neighbour. The proud polygonal keep of the fortress still groups well with the soaring towers, the sharp-pointed gables, the long continuous line of roof, of the church of Remigius and Saint Hugh.”--(E. A. F.) Lincoln Cathedral is also a landmark in the history of architecture, for here was developed the first complete and pure form of the third great form of architecture--the architecture of the Pointed Arch. “The best informed French antiquaries acknowledge that they have nothing like it in France for thirty years afterwards; they thought it was copied from Notre-Dame at Dijon, to which there is a considerable resemblance, but that church was not consecrated till 1230, so that the Dijon architect might have copied from the Lincoln one, but the Lincoln could not have copied from Dijon.”--(J. H. P.) To the historian, as well as to the student of architecture, Lincoln makes a strong appeal for many visits. Those whose time is limited will be impatient to inspect St. Hugh’s Choir, and the more beautiful Angel Choir beyond it. We must, however, pause a moment to recapitulate its history before we begin our walk through the Cathedral.