Lichfield Cathedral
Lichfield Cathedral is one of the most distinctive and beautiful medieval churches in England, and the only medieval cathedral in the country to possess three spires. This stunning Gothic masterpiece rises dramatically above the small city of Lichfield in Staffordshire, its three sandstone spires visible for miles across the surrounding flat Midlands landscape. Known affectionately as the "Ladies of the Vale," these three spires have defined the skyline of Lichfield for centuries and give the cathedral an instantly recognisable silhouette that sets it apart from every other Anglican cathedral in England. The building is dedicated to Saint Chad and Saint Mary, and serves as the mother church of the Diocese of Lichfield, which covers a large swathe of the West Midlands and Staffordshire.
The origins of the cathedral stretch back to the late seventh century, when Saint Chad, a revered Northumbrian bishop, established his episcopal seat at Lichfield around 669 AD. Chad died in 672 and was buried on the site, and his tomb almost immediately became a place of pilgrimage. By the early medieval period, Lichfield had become one of the most important pilgrimage destinations in England, with the shrine of Saint Chad drawing thousands of faithful from across the country and beyond. The present cathedral building was begun in the late twelfth century and constructed primarily between 1195 and 1350, representing a blend of Early English and Decorated Gothic architectural styles. The building suffered grievously during the English Civil War of the seventeenth century, when Parliamentary forces used it as a garrison and subjected it to three sieges, during which the central spire was demolished and much of the fabric severely damaged. A sustained programme of restoration was undertaken in the late seventeenth century under Bishop John Hacket, and the cathedral was further restored and somewhat controversially altered by the Victorian architect George Gilbert Scott, who carried out extensive work there between 1856 and 1878.
The physical experience of approaching and entering Lichfield Cathedral is genuinely arresting. The west front is an extraordinary composition of intricately carved statues set within niches, originally numbering around 113 figures and representing a vast programme of medieval and Victorian religious sculpture depicting saints, bishops, angels, and biblical scenes. The warm reddish-pink sandstone from which the cathedral is built gives the exterior a distinctive warmth and richness that changes character entirely depending on the light, glowing almost amber in afternoon sunshine and deepening to a richer terracotta at dusk. Inside, the proportions are more intimate than many great English cathedrals, and the relatively modest size creates an atmosphere of devotional intensity rather than overwhelming grandeur. The nave is flooded with coloured light from the stained glass windows, and the famous Herkenrode glass in the Lady Chapel — a superb set of Flemish windows dating from around 1530, acquired from a Belgian convent in 1803 — casts extraordinary pools of jewelled colour across the medieval stonework.
The cathedral houses a number of treasures of exceptional importance. Among the most significant is the Lichfield Gospels, also known as the Chad Gospels or the Book of Chad, an illuminated manuscript of the Gospels of Matthew and Mark produced in the eighth century, probably in a Celtic monastery, and one of only a handful of such manuscripts to survive from the early medieval period. The manuscript is kept in the cathedral library and is considered one of the great treasures of early Christian Britain. The cathedral also possesses a remarkable collection of medieval carved stonework, including the famous Lichfield Angel, a carved limestone figure of an angel discovered during archaeological excavations beneath the nave floor in 2003. Dating from around 800 AD and of Mercian workmanship, the Angel is considered one of the finest surviving examples of early medieval sculpture in Europe and is now on permanent display within the cathedral.
Lichfield itself is a small, handsome cathedral city with a population of around 32,000, possessing a well-preserved historic centre that clusters close around the cathedral. The Cathedral Close forms a tranquil precinct of Georgian and medieval buildings immediately surrounding the cathedral, and the city centre beyond is compact and walkable. Lichfield is the birthplace of the great lexicographer and literary figure Samuel Johnson, whose childhood home in the Market Square is now a museum. The city also has strong associations with the naturalist Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of Charles Darwin, who lived and worked there for many years. Two attractive ornamental pools, the Minster Pool and Stowe Pool, lie immediately adjacent to the cathedral and give the whole precinct a peaceful, picturesque quality that makes simply wandering around the exterior of the building and its surrounds a pleasure in itself.
Visiting the cathedral is straightforward and freely open to all, though donations are warmly encouraged. The building is open daily throughout the year, typically from early morning until late afternoon or early evening, with services continuing throughout the day. Choral evensong is sung on most days of the week by the cathedral choir, and hearing the choir perform in such an intimate and acoustically superb space is considered one of the finest ways to experience the building. The cathedral attracts particular visitor numbers during its annual arts festivals, including the Lichfield Festival held each summer, which uses the cathedral as a principal venue. Lichfield is well connected by rail, lying on the Cross-City Line from Birmingham New Street and Redditch, and the city centre and cathedral are only a few minutes' walk from Lichfield City station.
One of the more unusual aspects of Lichfield Cathedral's history is the role it played during the Civil War sieges of the 1640s, when the Close was fortified by Royalist defenders and subjected to bombardment by Parliamentarian forces on multiple occasions. During the first siege in 1643, the Parliamentarians actually managed to mine the cathedral's central tower and blow it up, a remarkable act of destruction that robbed the building of its middle spire for some years. The Royalists subsequently retook the Close, fortified it again, and were themselves besieged by Parliamentarian forces under the command of the young Oliver Cromwell. The cathedral sustained catastrophic damage across these episodes, losing its roof, much of its internal furnishing, and a substantial portion of its medieval fabric. The scale of the subsequent restoration, achieved largely through the extraordinary personal fundraising efforts of Bishop Hacket, who sold his books and personal possessions to contribute to the cost, remains one of the most remarkable stories of individual dedication to cultural recovery in English ecclesiastical history.