A demolition order issued in late 1933 was meant to remove a row of ordinary brick terrace houses at the top of Michaelgate in Lincoln. Instead, the first blows from the demolition crew revealed something unexpected: a 16th-century timber-framed building hidden behind the brick exterior. The discovery stopped the demolition of number 40 Michaelgate. Today, the building is known locally as the Crooked House or Wonky House. The Grade II listed property is one of the most photographed historic sites in Lincoln's Cathedral Quarter, behind only Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln Castle and the Stonebow in popularity. Historical records and the Historic England listing for the building document how it narrowly escaped destruction during the slum clearances of the 1930s.
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