Lincoln Cathedral rises over the Buildings of the Bailgate area. Until 1971 this view would have been hidden. The bushes in the foreground are in a small garden which occupies the site of the former church of St Paul in the Bail which stood on the site of a church erected by Blecca, the Roman governor of the city, who was baptised by St. Paulinus. That original church fell down in 1302 and was rebuilt at the cost of the parishioners. It decayed again and was rebuilt in 1786 to be replaced by a Victorian church 1875, this later church was demolished in 1971. Excavations in 1972 on the site revealed the civic forum which occupied a central position in the Upper City and a Roman well which would have been positioned near the centre of the Roman military fortress and in a room of the east range of the subsequent civic forum.
