A most precious Christmas
Steffie Shields shares festive sparkle and excitement.
Come December, London’s famous Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square is overshadowed by a towering Christmas tree twinkling with lights.
The people of Oslo, these past 80 years, have continued to send this annual gift, a Norwegian Spruce, Picea abies, usually 50 to 60 years old, in gratitude for Britain’s aid during World War II.
Nevertheless, the most magical Christmas tree I ever saw was at Lincoln Cathedral.
Since the mid-1990s, I have visited countless times, always coming away with a warm heart, despite shivering temperatures. That epic West Front restoration took forever… some say 35 years! Extensive scaffolding hampered any appreciation of its astounding semi-circle arch, a tour de force of lace patterns etched in limestone by skilled masons nine centuries ago.
Escaping the city hubbub below, early one evening, December 2022, I remember discovering Castle Hill transformed into a more powerful realm than ever before experienced. Peace reigned, despite hordes of visitors heading towards the holy place from all directions, as though drawn by magnets.
Above them the early English parade of slim columns, window tracery and intricately carved, mitre-clad bishops, saints of old raised up in haunting dark alcoves.
I paused to take in the minster’s awe-inspiring forms, dramatically emphasised by carefully considered spotlighting. Amongst the team of lighting engineers responsible, there must have been one real artist channelling his inner Caravaggio.
A festive, living pyramid stood guard, softening the view. A single glorious Christmas tree matched the ancient Gothic geometry and its trinity of tapering towers reaching to the sky, an example of the famous gardeners saying, “Right tree, right place”.
Its generous welcoming boughs, hanging with dark green needles, were simply draped with garlands of white lights, like strings of shimmering pearls, swaying in a gentle chilly breeze. A single significant ornament shone out against shadowed carvings, as if fallen from the velvet heavens above: the bright star of Bethlehem.
Feeling festive
Good news! This year Lincoln Cathedral is hosting its first Christmas Tree Festival – from Saturday 28th November, just before Advent Sunday, until Epiphany on Wednesday 6th January 2027, the cloisters will be extra festive.
Forty living Christmas trees lit by dazzling fairy lights will be sponsored by local businesses and decorated individually with chosen ornaments, to help support the life of Lincoln Cathedral. Imagine their Christmas fragrance in that hallowed place! Might there be the odd imp among the angels?
Should you venture beyond the vaulted nave, look up at the amazing Angel Choir carved in the spandrels between the arches, plus all the people and animal bosses that architectural historian Pevsner considered the finest of their date in England.
Mary, the young bride of James Yorke, Dean of Lincoln, 1762-1781, on coming to live “up the hill” described this medieval masterpiece, once acclaimed as the world’s tallest building, in English landscape terms. She named it in a family letter, the ‘Temple of the Winds’.
A century later, the well-travelled Victorian art critic John Ruskin concluded that the cathedral of Lincoln was “… out and out the most precious piece of architecture in the British Isles, and roughly speaking, worth any two other cathedrals we have.”
Christmas symbols
Since medieval times plants and trees have been pondered over as symbols for the meaning for life. Here’s a Christmas list for readers who love gardens:
P is for Picea abies, poinsettia and peace. Queen Victoria set a new trend by bringing the evergreen Christmas tree indoors to decorate. How appropriate that in 2007 Lincoln Cathedral was used for filming The Young Victoria, starring Emily Blunt. Legend has it that Franciscan friars in Mexico brought the beautiful native poinsettias into their churches. Its vivid star-shaped bracts symbolised the star of Bethlehem. A houseplant here, the start of our Christmas decorations, for the first time, it became a gift that kept on giving, flourishing outside in this summer’s heat.
R is for robin, reindeer and Christmas rose. The sprightly, red-breasted bird, loves to accompany gardeners digging over flowerbeds. The evergreen shrub or small tree named Photinia ‘Red Robin’ would make an ideal Christmas gift for any garden-loving relative or chum.
E is for energy and electricity. These valuable commodities enable us to live and spread enchantment and excitement in city centres, town squares and on village greens and in our own gardens!
C is for the beloved Christ Child, angelic choirs and for every cathedral and church crafted over centuries and conserved by devoted Christians to spread His word and the story of the first miracle birth.
I is for inspired coupling of ivy and red berried ilex, better known as holly, in the much-loved carol.
O is for ‘O Come, All Ye Faithful’, Christmas ornaments, and “Oh!” exclamations of wonder at winter festivals lighting up country house gardens and, hopefully, when presents are unwrapped!
U is for “unforgettable” reunions with family, or old friends, cosy Ugg boots, and a new-to-me plant: an evergreen shrub with fragrant white flowers and edible red berries, native to Chile and Argentina, and sometimes known as strawberry myrtle or New Zealand cranberry. Ugni molinae is now on my list for Father Christmas to magic under tree!
S is for Santa, star, snow, Christmas stockings, sparkling smiles, and sleeping on the sofa!
Life has not been easy recently. I hope a traditional focus on celebration, whatever that may mean to your family, will bring respite and perspective. The tradition of the Christmas tree transcends hard times and unites us all.
Let’s celebrate too when nature and the weather gods align to create extraordinary hoar frost, when every berry, branch, leaf and twig is decorated with crystals overnight.
Should this rare magic happen, be sure to wrap up with hat, scarf, gloves and boots, before heading outside to explore – even for a brief five minutes! Walking in a winter wonderland is a memory to cherish.
On first moving to our “forever home”, we planted a fast-growing curly willow, Salix ‘Tortuosa’, where its striking winter silhouette was on view from the house. Imagine the thrill when Jack Frost once painted frost on its russet branches, and among its many contorted corkscrew leaves, I discovered the initial S for Steffie!
Wishing every reader, and your much-loved family and friends a most precious Christmas!
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What’s On: Hugh Cornwell, 26 November, Stamford Corn ExchangeIn his final solo acoustic tour, The Stranglers frontman will perform classics along with new songs from his forthcoming studio album, Succubus, the follow-up to Moments of Madness. There will also be an open Q&A during the show, giving the audience the chance to ask Hugh questions. Tickets £36.50. Call the box office today on 01780 766455 or visit stamfordcornexchange.co.ukFor more events around the county this month, pick up a copy of our November issue, available online at www.lincolnshirelife.co.uk/product/lincolnshire-life-november-2026-digital-copyPhoto credit: MP Promotions