As early as 1295 two knights were returned to parliament for the shire of Lincoln, and two burgesses each for Lincoln, Grimsby and Stamford. In the 14th century Lincoln and Stamford were several times the meeting-places of parliament or important coun cils, the most notable being the Lincoln parliament of 1301, while at Stamford in 1309 a truce was concluded between the barons, Piers Gaveston and the king. Stamford discontinued rep resentation for some 15o years after the reign of Edward II.; Grantham was enfranchised in 1463 and Boston in 1552. Under the act of 1832 the county was divided into a northern and south ern division, returning each two members, and Great Grimsby lost one member. Under the act of 1868 the county returned six members in three divisions and Stamford lost one member. Under the act of 1885 the county returned seven members in seven divisions; Lincoln, Boston and Grantham lost one member each and Stamford was disfranchised.
Architecture.—At the time of the suppression of the monas teries in the reign of Henry VIII. there were upwards of roo religious houses; and among the Fens rose some of the finest abbeys held by the Benedictines. The Gilbertines were a purely English order which took its rise in Lincolnshire, the canons following the Austin rule, the nuns and lay brothers that of the Cistercians. These houses were at Alvingham, Catley, Holland Brigg, Lincoln, before the gate of which the first Eleanor Cross was erected by Edward I. to his wife, Newstead in Lindsey, Sem pringham, the chief house of the order, founded by St. Gilbert of Gaunt in 1139, of which the Norman nave of the church is in use, Stamford (a college for students) and Wellow. There were nunneries of the order at Haverholme, Nun Ormsby and Tunstal.
The following are a few of the most famous abbeys. Barlings (Premonstratensian), north-east of Lincoln, was founded for 14 canons. The tower, Decorated, with arcading pierced with windows, and the east wall of the south wing remain. The Bene dictine Mitred abbey of Crowland (q.v.) was founded 716, and of ounded in 948. Part of the church is still in use. Thornton abbey (Black Canons) in the north near the Humber was founded in 1139. There remain a fragment of the south wing of the tran sept, two sides of the decagonal chapter-house (1282) and the beautiful west gate-house, Early Perpendicular (1332-1388), with an oriel window on the east. Kirkstead abbey (Cistercian) was founded in 1139. Little remains beyond an Early English chapel of singular beauty.
In the Parts of Lindsey several churches present curious early features, particularly the well-known towers of St. Peter, Barton on-Humber, St. Mary-le-Wigford and St. Peter at Gowts, Lin coln, which exhibit work of a pre-Conquest type. Stow church for Norman of various dates, Bottesford and St. James, Grimsby, for Early English, Tattershall and Theddlethorpe for Perpendicular are fine examples of various styles.
In the Parts of Kesteven the churches are built of excellent stone which abounds at Ancaster and near Sleaf ord. The church of St. Andrew, Heckington, is the best example of Decorated architecture in the county ; it is famed for its Easter sepulchre and fine sedilia. The noble church of St. Wulfram, Grantham, with
one of the finest spires in England, is also principally Decorated ; this style in fact is particularly well displayed in Kesteven, as in the churches of Caythorpe, Claypole, Navenby and Ewerby.
The finest churches are principally in the Parts of Holland although the district is composed wholly of marsh land and is without stone of any kind : the churches of the south part of this district probably owe their origin to the munificence of the abbeys of Crowland and Spalding. The church of Long Sutton, besides its fine Norman nave, possesses an Early English tower and spire which is comparable with the very early specimen at Oxford cathedral. Whaplode church also has fine Norman work; the churches of Kirton-in-Holland, Pinchbeck and Weston have good Early English work; for Decorated those at Donington and Spald ing should be noted, and for Perpendicular, Gedney, together with parts of Kirton church. Of the two later styles, however, by far the most splendid example is the famous church of St. Botolph, Boston (q.v.), with its magnificent lantern-crowned tower or "stump." There are few remains of mediaeval castles. Those of Lincoln and Tattershall are the most noteworthy, and there are also f rag ments at Boston and Sleaford. Country seats worthy of note (chiefly modern) are Aswarby hall, Grimsthorpe (of the 16th and 28th centuries, with earlier remains), Haverholm priory, Nocton hall, Panton hall, Riby grove, Somerby hall, Syston park and Uffington. The city of Lincoln is remarkably rich in remains of domestic architecture from the Norman period onward.