The Lincoln Imp is a small stone gargoyle who sits atop a column in the Angel Choir, towards the Eastern end of Lincoln Cathedral. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, local traders forged a profitable industry from selling imp memorabilia, rekindling the magic of this 700 year old legend.

The story goes that one day the devil, being in a mischievous mood, set free a pair of imps to roam free and cause trouble. They were carried to Lincoln on the wind and, spying the majesty of the Cathedral, decided to fly inside. The more troublesome of the two imps knocked over tables, clambered over the altar and mocked the angels inside, shouting “I will knock over his Lordship, [the Bishop] blow up the Dean, organist and singers, knock out the windows and put out the lights!”

As he climbed up high into the Angel Choir and sat at the top of a pillar to survey the chaos, he continued to taunt the angels around him. This caused one of the angels to turn him to stone as a punishment, where he remains to this day. The other imp, who had been cowering beneath upturned tables while the devastation was being caused, escaped by flying through an open door. The wind which howls around the South side of the Cathedral today is believed to be this imp flying around, waiting for his brother to return.

The Imp is now firmly associated with all aspects of Lincoln. As well as featuring on all manner of tourist memorabilia, his image appears in the logos of many local companies, Lincolnshire County Council and Lincoln City Football Club, where a giant imp is the pitch-side club mascot.