Lichfield : Britain

Lichfield : Britain
Lichfield is a small city in Staffordshire, 110 miles northwest of London and 14 miles north of Birmingham. Famous for its three-spired Cathedral, Lichfield lies in a pleasant country, on a small stream draining eastward to the Trent, with low hills to the east and south. It is the main town in the Lichfield district. Its population according to the 2001 census is 93,237.

Places of interest in Lichfield
-Lichfield Cathedral – England’s only medieval Cathedral with three spires.
The present building was started in 1195, and completed by the building of the Lady Chapel in the 1330s. It replaced a Norman building begun in 1085 which had replaced one, or possibly two, Saxon buildings from the seventh century. -The Bishop’s Palace (built 1687) and a theological college (built 1837) are adjacent to the cathedral.
-Milley’s Hospital dates back to 1504 and was a women’s hospital.
-St.John’s without the Bars is a distinctive Tudor building with a row of seven tall brick chimneys. This was built outside the city walls (bars) to provide hostel accommodation for travellers arriving after the gates were shut. It now provides home for elderly Gentlemen and has an adjacent Chapel.
-The Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum is a museum to the Good Doctor’s life, work and personality.
The Lichfield Heritage Centre is an exhibition of 2000 years of Lichfield’s history.
-Darwin House was once home to Erasmus Darwin and restored to created a museum in the late 1990s.
-The Church of St Chad is ancient though extensively restored; on its site St Chad or Ceadda is said to have occupied a hermit’s cell.
-Christ Church is an outstanding example of Victorian ecclesiastical architecture and a grade II* listed building. It was founded in 1847 by Ellen Jane Hinckley, the mother of “The Sleeping Children� – subject of a famous monument in the south choir aisle of Lichfield Cathedral. The choir ceiling is gloriously decorated with a recently restored tempera picture by John Dixon Batten of the Birmingham pre-Raphaelite school (1897).
The Market Square contains two statues, one of Dr Johnson overlooking the house in which he was born, and one of his great friend and biographer, James Boswell.
-Lichfield Canal is a popular route running from Ogley Junction on the northern Birmingham Canal Navigations, continuing close to the city and on to Huddlesford Junction, on the Coventry Canal.
Other items of interest
-Legend has it that a thousand Christians were martyred in Lichfield around AD 300, during the reign of the Roman Emperor Diolectian, and that the name ‘Lichfield’ actually means ‘field of the dead’. There is however, no evidence to support this legend.
-In 1553 Queen Mary made Lichfield a county separate from the rest of Staffordshire. It remained so until 1888.
-In 1291 Lichfield was severely damaged by a fire, which destroyed many buildings. In 1690 thatched roofs were banned in Lichfield because of the risk of fire.
The last person in England to be burnt at the stake for heresy was in Lichfield. Edward Wightman from Burtonupon-Trent was burnt at the stake in the Market Place on 11 April 1612.
-The motto on Lichfield’s coat of arms quotes Samuel Johnson’s tribute to his native city in his Dictionary, “Salve, magna parens� – “Hail great Mother�.
-The Lichfield Diocese covers all of Staffordshire, most of Shropshire and part of the Black Country and West Midlands
-Each year there is an International Arts Festival based primarily around the cathedral. Spin off events include a fringe festival, jazz, blues and Real Ale Festival and a Medieaval Market.
Lichfield Cricket Club nicknamed after the cathedral: ‘Three Spires’, is a thriving club which plays at Collins Hill.