Lincoln has a rich history from the time when its Iron-Age inhabitants lived on the banks of the Brayford Pool. The Romans established a colonia on the present site of the castle, which gave the town its name. Several churches have Saxon origins and the invading Danes made it the largest of their five boroughs. The Normans built the magnificent cathedral and the castle, and the city prospered in the Middle Ages due to its fine woollen cloth. The reformation and the Civil War led to some decay until the railway brought back the prosperity with fine engineering works.