Steep Hill Markets

Steep Hill Markets. . On certain days of the week in medieval times, Steep Hill was bustling with street markets. They had earlier been held in churchyards, until ordered out into the street. Permission had to be obtained from the monarch to hold them, and traders paid for this privilege., The markets on Steep Hill specialised mostly in foodstuffs. Fish was sold closest to the top, the meat and corn markets were near the bottom, and poultry was in the middle. The skin market was close by. Lincoln's wealth in this period was based on wool; although most cloth was exported, a small amount was sold in the city. There was a cloth market nearby, in the parish of St Michael on the Mount., The Harlequin , Lincoln's first theatre opened in nearby Drury Lane in 1744, for William Herbert's Company of Comedians. The Harlequin became the theatre inn. The inn sign can still be seen on the wall of this half-timbered building, built in the 15th century, at the junction of Steep Hill and Michaelgate., Bluecoat School and Chad Varah House , St Michael's was also the site of The Christ's Hospital Bluecoat School, founded in the early 17th century. Its name derived from the long blue cassock that the boys wore. The school moved to new premises in the late 1800s. The buildings have now been taken over by the University of Lincoln., Across the way in Wordsworth Street stands Chad Varah House. The county hospital opened here in 1777, which later became the Lincoln Theological College. The building is now part of the University of Lincoln., The most famous theology graduate was Chad Varah, a native of Lincolnshire. He studied here under Michael Ramsay, later Archbishop of Canterbury When Varah was a parish priest in Lincoln, he was so moved by the suicide of a young girl that he founded the Samaritans. This has grown into a worldwide organisation to help the suicidal.,