Lichfield Cathedral in 1872

LICHFIELD  CATHEDRAL. The original cathedral, built by King Oswy, was restored in 700 by Bishop Hedda, but has left no vestiges. The present cathedral retains portions of the pile as rebuilt by Roger de Clinton; and includes additions and restorations of periods from the 12th century till the present time. The nave, the transept, the aisles, the choir, and the chapter-house, are mainly of dates from 1129 till 1240; the towers and the Lady chapel date from 1296 till 1360; some portions range from 1420 till 1447; numerous portions belong to an extensive restoration, at enormous expense, during the years 1647-1669; the roofs of the aisles and parts of two of the spires date from 1788 till 1795; the W window was restored by James II., and re-glazed in 1776; the glass of the Lady chapel dates from 1530 till 1540, but belonged to a Flemish abbey nearly Liege, and was brought to Lichfield  as late as 1805; other windows are comparatively modern; restorations, to the extent of removing whitewash, renewing stonework, and substituting a light and open screen for a heavy close previous one, were completed at a cost of about £10,000 in 1861; and other restorations, including a new reredos, sedilia, and other features, have since been in a great measure executed, although the restoration is not yet complete.

Vast damage was done to the pile in 1643-6; the royalists and the parliamentarians then alternately held and used its close as the fortalice of the city; upwards of 2,000 shot and 1,500 grenades were fired against it; the lead was torn from it to be cast into bullets; parts of its walls were shattered, and most of its central spire demolished; and so great was the quantity of rubbish from the result of demolition that, in order to prepare for the very costly renovation which followed, the eight carriage horses of the Bishop were employed to assist in clearing the rubbish away. The cathedral is considerably smaller than the chief ones in England, yet it presents an aggregate appearance superior to most.

Its site is advantageously on an eminence; its surroundings are free from cloister or precinct wall, from gate or ancient monastery; its W front is inferior only to the W fronts of Wells and Peterborough; its general architecture is of the best dates, in admirable proportions, with symmetrical arrangement, alike chaste and ornate; its three beautiful spires spring exquisitely aloft from the general mass; its very stone, of a pale rose colour, looks soft and mellow; and, were only some unsightly buildings in the southern vicinity swept away, and a lawn formed down to the lakelet in the neighbouring hollow, the pile would stand out to the view more richly picturesque than almost any other great church in England.

The entire pile is 379 feet long; the nave is 177 feet long, 66 wide, and 60 high; the choir and Lady chapel are 195 feet long; the choir is 37 feet wide; the Lady chapel is 27 feet wide; the transept is 152 feet long and 45 feet wide; the western steeples are 183 feet high; the central steeple is 258 feet high; and the chapter-house is 45 feet long, 28 wide, and 23 high. The W front has three door-ways, a decorated window of six lights, and a gable with trefoiled panels; has, over the whole face, four trefoiled and canopied arcades, once all containing statues; and is flanked with two towers, surmounted by hexagonal spires. The central door-way shows a rich combination of foliated arches, exquisitely wrought mouldings, and canopied statues; and the arcade above it retains the statues originally there, being twenty-five statues of kings, from Venda to Richard II., restored in 1820-1.

The flanking towers have hexagonal stair-turrets on the sides, and are crowned with crocketted pinnacles at the angles; and the spires are delicately banded at intervals, and have four successive tiers of canopied spire lights. The central tower rises one story above the roof, has canopied two-light windows on each face, and is crowned with pinnacled turrets at the angles; and its spire is of the same form as the other two spires, and of similar character, but is crocketted along the sides. The nave is of light bays, with remarkably beautiful aisles; and shows the early English character in a distinctive manner, neither as simply as Salisbury nor as richly as Lincoln, yet more akin than either to decorated English. The four massive piers which support the central tower have clustered shafts, bound with three fillets. The transepts are cooperatively plain, and are not in keeping with the rest of the edifice; yet their doors are very elaborate, and have statues and other decorations such as to make them not very much inferior to the great W door.

The choir is of eight bays, with aisles; shows well the decorated English character; deflects somewhat out of the line of the nave, to emblemize the drooping head of the crucified Saviour; has a hexagonal form in the E end; and is subtended by two sacristies on the S side, and by a vestibule and the chapter-house on the N. The Lady chapel is the gem of the cathedral, and gives it a beautiful termination; has lofty trefoiled three-light windows, rich tracery, and graceful flowering canopies; and contains nine stalls, extending in range beneath the windows, seven of them brilliant with stained glass, and every two paired off with niches, canopies, and brackets. The chapter-house is polygonal, has a single central pier, and is richly ornamented; and the vestibule of it is arcaded. The library is above the chapter-house; resembles it in character, but has less ornament; and contains, among other interesting matters, the manuscript of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales," and a Saxon or 7th century copy of the Gospels, known as the Gospels of St. Chad.

Superb monuments of Lord Basset and two Lords Paget were destroyed at the time of the civil war. The chief monuments now are, in the NW tower, one of Lady Mary Wortley Montague, by Westmacott; in the N transept, a monument of Miss Seward's parents, by the junior Bacon; in the S transept, a bust of Dr. Johnson, a monument of Dr. Newton, and a memorial to the 80th regiment, overhung by three standards taken at Sobraon; and in the choir, effigies of Bishops Langton, Pateshull, and Hacket, an effigies of Sir Humphrey Stanley of the time of Henry VIII., a cadaver of Dean Heywood, a fine altar tomb of Archdeacon Hodson, and the famous figures of the two daughters of the Rev. W. Robinson, known as the "Sleeping Children," by Chantrey. An Episcopal palace is at the NE corner of the close, and was rebuilt by Bishop Wood in 1690: but the palace now habitually occupied by the Bishop is Eccleshall Castle. The deanery stands to the W of the palace in the close; and part of it dates from the 15th century. The prebendal houses are in the SW; and some of them include specimens of ancient brick-work.

[Description(s) from The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72) - Transcribed by Mike Harbach ©2020]