| By Author | [ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | Other Symbols ] |
| By Title | [ A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z | Other Symbols ] |
| By Language |
|
Download this book: [ ASCII | HTML | PDF ] Look for this book on Amazon Tweet |
Title: Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Lichfield - A Description of Its Fabric and A Brief History of the Espicopal See
Author: Clifton, A. B.
Language: English
As this book started as an ASCII text book there are no pictures available.
*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Lichfield - A Description of Its Fabric and A Brief History of the Espicopal See" ***
[Illustration: LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL FROM THE WEST.]
THE CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF LICHFIELD
A DESCRIPTION OF ITS FABRIC AND A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE EPISCOPAL SEE
BY A. B. CLIFTON
WITH FORTY ILLUSTRATIONS
[Illustration]
LONDON, GEORGE BELL & SONS, 1900
_First published February 1898_
_Second Edition revised February 1900_
W. H. WHITE AND CO., LTD.
RIVERSIDE PRESS, EDINBURGH
GENERAL PREFACE
This series of monographs has been planned to supply visitors to the
great English Cathedrals with accurate and well illustrated guide-books
at a popular price. The aim of each writer has been to produce a work
compiled with sufficient knowledge and scholarship to be of value to
the student of Archaeology and History, and yet not too technical in
language for the use of an ordinary visitor or tourist.
To specify all the authorities which have been made use of in each case
would be difficult and tedious in this place. But amongst the general
sources of information which have been almost invariably found useful
are:--(1) the great county histories, the value of which, especially
in questions of genealogy and local records, is generally recognised;
(2) the numerous papers by experts which appear from time to time in
the Transactions of the Antiquarian and Archaeological Societies; (3)
the important documents made accessible in the series issued by the
Master of the Rolls; (4) the well-known works of Britton and Willis on
the English Cathedrals; and (5) the very excellent series of Handbooks
to the Cathedrals originated by the late Mr John Murray; to which the
reader may in most cases be referred for fuller detail, especially in
reference to the histories of the respective sees.
GLEESON WHITE,
EDWARD E. F. STRANGE,
_Editors of the Series_.
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
Concerning any old Cathedral the mass of information is very great,
and the authorities to be consulted many; and perhaps the almost total
absence--as in this case--of a documentary history of the
building of the fabric, makes for a larger bulk of pamphlets and of
communications to the antiquarian journals. Whether or no theory be wiser
than fact, it is certainly more voluminous. Besides the books and papers
mentioned in their place, I have especially to express my indebtedness to
the work on Lichfield by the Rev. William Beresford, one of the "Diocesan
Histories" Series, and to the "Handbook of Lichfield Cathedral" by the
late John Hewitt, the well-known antiquarian. I have also to thank Mr
R. R. Redmayne of Lichfield for much valuable information, as also Mr
C. Harradine, the Principal Verger, whose interest in and knowledge of
the Cathedral are well known in Lichfield; and the Photochrom Co. Ltd.,
Messrs S. B. Bolas & Co., and Mr F. G. M. Beaumont, for the excellent
photographs they have allowed me to reproduce.
A. B. CLIFTON.
CONTENTS
PAGE
CHAPTER I.--History of the Cathedral 3
CHAPTER II.--Description of the Exterior 30
The Close 33
Bishop's Palace 34
Spires 35
West Front 39
North Doorway 48
Lady Chapel 50
South Transept 51
Bells 52
CHAPTER III.--Description of the Interior 54
Nave 54
Pulpit, Lectern, etc. 64
North Aisle of Nave--Monuments and Glass 64
South Aisle of Nave--Monuments and Glass 67
Transepts 67
Organ 71
Choir 75
Screen and Stalls 84
Reredos 87
Sedilia and Pavements 88
Monuments and Glass in the Choir 91
Lady Chapel 99
Sacristy and Chapel of St. Chad's Head 106
Chapter-House 110
Library 113
CHAPTER IV.--History of the See 117
DIMENSIONS 136
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
Cathedral from the West _Frontispiece_
Arms of the See _Title page_
South Prospect of the Cathedral (Old Print) 2
Cathedral from Stowe Church (Old Print) 13
Ancient Gateway in the Close 17
South Transept in 1813--Exterior 23
Cathedral from the South 31
Cathedral from the Minster Pool 37
Great West Doorway in 1813 42
Great West Doorway 43
Southern Doorway in West Front 46
Bay of the Nave--Exterior 48
North Entrance in 1813 49
Bay of the Choir--Exterior 50
Doorway of South Transept 51
Bay of the Nave--Interior 55
Bay of the Choir--Interior 56
Nave in 1813--Interior 57
Nave, looking East 59
Nave, looking West 61
North Aisle of Nave, looking East 64
Arcade with Semi-Effigy 68
Detail of Semi-Effigy 69
Choir in 1820--Interior 77
Choir, looking East 79
South Choir Aisle 80
Choir, looking West 81
Under the Central Tower 85
Reredos 89
The Sleeping Children 95
Fresco in South Choir Aisle 97
Brackets in Lady Chapel 99
Lady Chapel 101
Brackets in Lady Chapel 104
Capital in Chapter-House 108
Chapter-House 109
Arcade in Chapter-House 111
The Gospels of St. Chad 115
Monument to Dr Johnson 136
PLAN OF THE CATHEDRAL 137
[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL AT THE END OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.]
CHAPTER I
THE HISTORY OF THE CATHEDRAL
The cathedral of Lichfield, as we now know it, was built at various times
in the thirteenth century and the early part of the fourteenth; and but
for some comparatively slight and obvious alterations, it is therefore
entirely in the styles known as Early English and Decorated. Unhappily
nearly all the early archives and documents belonging to the cathedral
are lost, having been destroyed in the time of the Civil Wars by the
soldiery who sacked the place after the siege of the close by the forces
of the Parliament. The absence of all documentary evidence as to the
dates of the various parts of the cathedral has been much regretted by
antiquarians, since it would be hard to find a better example of the
gradual change which English church architecture was undergoing during
the very busy period when this cathedral must have been built. Here we
have the rigid simplicity of the Early English style in the transepts,
giving place in the nave to the luxury of the Early Decorated, with its
geometrical tracery; while in the Lady Chapel and presbytery we find an
example, in some respects unique, of the gorgeousness of the completely
evolved Decorated style. To know exactly when each part was built would
be to add to our knowledge of architectural chronology; but instead,
we must employ what knowledge we already possess, and by a process the
very converse of what we could wish to have been able to use, we can
arrive at an approximate history of the structure of the cathedral.
Not so long ago Oswy had the credit of having built the cathedral, and
later it was set down to Roger de Clinton. Modern criticism as easily
disposes of the claims of the latter as of the former, and there can be
no doubt that no part of the present cathedral is of earlier date than
1200 A.D.
Much valuable information as to the cathedral, which Clinton may have had
a part in building, was obtained in 1860, when, for the alterations which
were then in progress, excavations were made in the choir. The result
of his investigations Professor Willis published in an article in the
_Archaeological Journal_ for 1861, entitled "Memoir on the Foundations
of Early Buildings recently discovered at Lichfield Cathedral," and the
theory which he there set out as to the history of the cathedral has been
generally accepted by antiquarians. Nothing can be more interesting than
this article, but it is too full of detail for anything beyond the bare
results of Professor Willis's reasoning to be given here: these are set
out in their place.
Of the early Saxon church which was erected on this site practically
nothing is known, but it is supposed to have been built by Bishop Hedda
at the close of the seventh century, and of stone taken from Roman ruins
in the neighbourhood, though there is really no evidence to support this
theory. The desire to find another instance of the waste material and
sites once dedicated to a pagan religion being used by the victorious
Christian church may have something to do with such a legend. Nothing
except tradition is left of this church, to which it is said the bones
of St. Chad were removed from Stowe. Probably in the four or five
hundred years which elapsed before the Norman cathedral was built,
several churches succeeded one another on or about the present site:
whatever happened, we know nothing.
Our real knowledge commences with the Norman cathedral. The excavations
already spoken of laid bare small portions of its foundations, and from
these Professor Willis decided that the Norman choir had a semi-circular
apse, and extended from the central tower to about the middle of the
fifth bay of the present choir; while the exterior line of its side walls
nearly corresponded with the interior line of the present aisle. The
Norman building probably possessed transepts, but these certainly had
no aisles; the rest is conjecture, but from other Norman cathedrals and
churches which are in existence we can fairly well imagine what it was
like. The altar probably stood over the centre of the semi-circle of
the apse, while the bishop's throne was behind it, facing west, with
the canons' stalls spreading out down the choir, and the choir stalls
continuing them right down under the tower into the nave: or perhaps
there were no seats for the choir in those days--we do not know; but
there must have been a processional path round the altar. We can imagine,
too, the massive masonry of the pillars with their heavy capitals and
circular arches. To think of a Norman church is to think possibly of
Peterborough; and Lichfield Cathedral, no doubt, was like that minster,
but on a very much smaller scale.
There is no record as to when the Norman church was built, but Robert
de Lymesey, the bishop, is said in 1088 to have used a large quantity of
silver, which he took from the church at Coventry, in extensive buildings
in Lichfield; and Roger de Clinton is declared to have exalted the church
as well in building as in honour, so he may have erected, or helped to
erect, the Norman cathedral. Nothing whatever remains above ground of this
building, which was probably taken down gradually while the cathedral
which now stands in its place was being erected. Before this was done,
however, there was added a rectangular chapel to the east of the Norman
apsidal choir, which, with it, must have extended nearly to the end of the
seventh bay of the present choir. Nothing is known of it beyond the fact
that the foundations were discovered and examined by Professor Willis,
who decided that it was probably built late in the twelfth century,
and that its existence, if it was ever finished, must have been short.
Very early in the thirteenth century the first part of the present
building was begun by erecting a rectangular choir just outside the
walls of the Norman choir, which must have been then removed. This
new Early English choir (including the presbytery) extended from the
central tower to the end of the seventh bay of the present choir. It
will be found that the eastern portion of this was subsequently removed,
but the western half still remains, and can readily be distinguished
from the Decorated part. The high altar of this period must have stood
just to the west of the space between the fifth piers, thus leaving the
space between the fifth and sixth piers as a processional path between
the two side aisles; while against the eastern wall were four altars,
one at the end of each aisle and two between them. At the same time that
this choir was built, was also built on the south side the sacristy,
with the room adjoining it: these both remain.
The next alteration took place about 1220, and was the erection of a new
south transept in place of the Norman one, which, as has been said, almost
certainly had no aisle; then followed in about twenty years the north
transept and the chapter-house, with its vestibule, all these buildings
being in the Early English style, though the difference in their times
of erection is clearly marked in their details. Two royal licences to
dig Hopwas stone for "the new fabric of the church at Lichfield" in 1235
and 1238 are evidence that work was going on about this time; and the
desire of Henry III. (which is more fully set out in the description
of the interior of the transept) to have a roof at Windsor like that
of Lichfield gives an almost documental certainty to the architectural
theory that the transepts were built at the time above stated.
No historical document exists that can apply to the building of the nave;
but that must have come next, and have been in progress almost before the
north transept could have been finished. The west front was commenced
somewhere about the beginning of the last quarter of the thirteenth
century, and, including the two towers which form such an important part
of it, must have taken a very long time to complete. From the thorough
examination made when the recent restorations were in progress, it was
decided that these towers were built in three distinct stages--the lowest,
which just included the row of kings, being assigned to about 1280; the
next stage to 1300; and the upper part, including the belfry windows,
to about 1330, while the spires were not finished till some time after.
Walter de Langton became bishop in 1296, and of him it is distinctly
recorded that he commenced the Lady Chapel. From an old register in the
Salt Library at Stafford, it appears that Langton left £80, 13s. 3d. for
the building of the chapel. He died in 1321. And, in 1323, there is
another entry showing that the chapter came to some agreement with his
executor by which each party should pay half the cost of finding a quarry
for the stone; so that it does not appear that building operations had
proceeded very far at his death. It is interesting to note, as the same
source shows us, that the money left by the bishop was partly on loan
to King Edward II. for the expenses of his wars with Scotland, which
wars had ended so disastrously at Bannockburn. In the following reign,
Edward III. was asked by the chapter to repay what was still owing of
this money.
The Lady Chapel was probably erected beyond the eastern end of the
church as it then stood; and while this was being done, the Early English
presbytery was taken down and rebuilt in the Decorated style to match the
new Lady Chapel, and the old clerestory of the choir was also rebuilt
in the same style. The main idea was to obtain uniformity; but as it
apparently was not proposed to take down the sacristy on the south,
nor the chapter-house on the north, it was not considered necessary to
pull down the choir--_i.e._ the last three western bays--any lower than
the triforium; for the lower parts would be hidden by these buildings
from the outside, and inside various shifts were resorted to to obtain
uniformity. The work almost certainly grew from east to west gradually,
as the clerestory of the choir end is lighter than that of the eastern
or presbytery end; so that no doubt the pulling down of the old choir
clerestory was only done after the building of the eastern end made it
seem better to alter the rest into uniformity. With regard to the inside
effect, Professor Willis says: "The front half of their pier arches
(those belonging to the three western bays), however was removed and
mouldings given them corresponding to those of the new presbytery. Their
piers also were slightly altered, although partially concealed by the
choir stalls. By these arrangements the aspect of the whole interior
of the choir and presbytery was made uniform." How far this theory is
sound will be seen when the alterations early in the present century
are considered in their place.
Bishop Langton also erected the shrine of St. Chad at an expense of
£2000. This shrine stood behind the high altar in the most eastern
bay of the retro-choir, and, as was usual, had on its western side an
altar dedicated to the saint. A similar arrangement can still be seen
in Westminster Abbey, where the shrine of Edward the Confessor stands
behind the reredos. The space behind the reredos, with the corresponding
bays of the aisles, were in the past called the lady choir. This portion
was separated from the rest of the choir by the reredos in the centre,
and by screens in a line with the reredos in the aisles; there was a
chapel in the lady choir at the end of each aisle, but to whom they were
dedicated is doubtful. Stukeley, writing in 1715, says: "In St. Peter's
Chapel, which is now a place to lay scaffolding and ladders, etc.,
was painted upon the wall St. Peter crucified with his head downwards,
and two other apostles, etc. And in this place is the noted St. Chad's
tomb, though defaced, removed from the lady choir to be put here since
the Restoration." The same writer also tells us that: "Over across the
middle of the said choir was a rood loft, finely carved and gilded,
and St. Chad's shrine, but destroyed in time of war."
Professor Willis has pointed out the singular parallelism between the
development of this cathedral and that of York. "The Norman Cathedral
of York was built in 1080, and that of Lichfield at an uncertain
date. Between 1154-1181, Archbishop Roger substituted for the original
chancel at York a long, square-ended choir, with the aisle carried
behind the end. At Lichfield, during the same period, the large chapel
was built at the end of the Norman apse; and about the beginning of the
thirteenth century the whole Norman eastern termination was, as at York,
replaced by a long, square-ended choir with the low aisles behind. Next,
at York the Norman transepts were rebuilt in Early English: the south
transept, 1230-1241; followed by the north transept, 1241-1260. Also at
Lichfield the Norman transepts were rebuilt in Early English, beginning
with the south and ending with the north. The Early English work of this
cathedral is shown by the licences to dig stone to have been in progress
in 1235 and 1238. York nave and Lichfield were next rebuilt in Early
Decorated--the first in 1291-1324. Lastly, at Lichfield, the elongation of
the eastern part was begun at the extreme east, beyond the existing choir
by the Lady Chapel, in late Decorated under Bishop Langton, 1296-1321,
and followed by taking down the choir, and continuing the same work on
its site westward. The works at York followed in the same order, but
forty or fifty years later, by first erecting the presbytery outside the
existing choir, and then taking down the latter and continuing the work
of the presbytery to form the new choir. The plans of the two cathedrals
rival each other in the simplicity of their proportions."
One other important thing which Bishop Langton did was to fortify, or
at any rate to add greatly to the fortifications of the cathedral.
He surrounded the close with a high stone wall and constructed "two
beautiful gates" on the west and south sides of the close. Truly, had
he been able to see the result of his fortification, he might have said
with the Preacher: "All is vanity and vexation of spirit"; for if there
was one thing which brought down on the cathedral the extremities of
hatred and violence in the Civil Wars, it was that it proved able to be
held as a fortress against those who came up against it.
Bishop Langton built also the palace, which for so long, with its towers
and turrets, stood in the north-east corner of the close. It must have
been a magnificent building, and we know that its hall was decorated
with frescoes of scenes in the recent wars. It was destroyed after the
siege of the close in 1643, and Fuller, writing about that time, speaks
of it as the "invisible castle now vanished out of sight."
Roger de Norburg completed the Lady Chapel and the new presbytery, and
was succeeded by Robert de Stretton, who (as we discover from a document
dated 1390, four years after his death) completed St. Chad's shrine;
for that is the only meaning which can be given to the wording of the
bond, that the vicar's choral should offer prayers for, amongst others,
"Robert Stretton, bishop, for making St. Chadd's shrine, and for giving
them £24 to continue amongst them."
There has recently been discovered among the muniments of the chapter,
an indenture dated in 1345 or 1346, and made between the sacrist on the
one hand, and the dean and chapter on the other, for the safe custody
of the goods in the sacristy. The "goods" are too numerous for a list
of them to be given, but they include "the head of Blessed Chad, in a
certain painted wooden case; also an arm of Blessed Chad; also bones
of the said saint in a certain portable shrine." Then follows a list of
the bones and relics of a large number of saints, including part of the
sepulchre of Our Lord, and part of St. Peter's cross. There were also
crosses, gold, and silver, and jewelled--a large number of many kinds,
all set out separately--mitres, jewels, chalices, copes, and every kind of
vestment of the most gorgeous description. Bishops and kings and queens
had apparently showered their wealth and valuables upon the cathedral;
and with the subscriptions of the diocese, known as Chad's Pennies,
and the offerings of pilgrims, the riches of the cathedral seem to have
been enormous. These "goods," in many cases with their donors' names,
are all set out in the roll, which, it is interesting to notice, is dated
in the year of the Black Death; possibly the enormous mortality of the
time may have made it seem necessary that the mere memory of man should
not be depended upon when so few seemed likely to survive. To read the
list is to get some notion of the magnificence of the services; and it
is no wonder that pilgrims came from all parts of the diocese, and of
England, to worship where so many relics were collected. The mid-Sunday
in Lent was originally the time, afterwards Whitsuntide, for the crowds
to attend the cathedral. They were shown the head of St. Chad, probably
from the little gallery in the south aisle of the choir, and then they
laid their offerings at the great shrine, on which were lying the other
relics of the saint.
No doubt the early part of the fifteenth century was the period when the
cathedral was most glorious within and without. Fuller, in his "Church
History," published in 1655, from which quotation has already been made,
after giving an account of the building of the cathedral, says: "But now
in the time of the aforesaid William Heyworth, the Cathedral of Litchfield
was in the verticall height thereof, being (though not augmented in the
essentials) beautified in the ornamentals thereof. Indeed, the West front
thereof is a stately Fabrick, adorned with exquisite imagerie, which I
suspect our age is so far from being able to imitate the workmanship
that it understandeth not the Historie thereof. Surely what Charles
the Fifth is said to have said of the citie of Florence, that it is a
pittie it should be seen save only on Holy-dayes; as also that it was
fit that so fair a Citie should have a Case and Cover for it to keep it
from wind and weather, so in some sort, this Fabrick may seem to deserve
a shelter to secure it. But alas! it is now in a pittiful case--indeed,
almost beaten down to the ground in our civil dissensions. Now, lest the
Church should follow the Castle--I mean quite vanish out of view--I have,
at the cost of my worthy friend here exemplified the Portraiture thereof;
and am glad to hear it to be the design of ingenious persons to preserve
ancient churches in the like nature (whereof many are done in this,
and more expected in the next part of Monasticon), seeing when their
substance is gone, their verie shadows will be acceptable to posteritie."
In the fifteenth century a library was built outside the door of the
north transept, but a little to the west; it was quite separate from the
cathedral. This was one of the gifts of Dean Heywood (1457-1493). It is
recorded that he gave £40 towards the building of it, but died before
it was completed, and this was done by his successor, Dean Yotton,
who also contributed to its erection. According to the statement in
"_Anglia Sacra_" it was finished in the year 1500. It is marked in the
plan of Browne Willis, 1727, and was taken down about 1750.
Some time in this century saw a change in the tracery of many of the
windows. It may be that the introduction of printing was responsible
for this change, and that the greater amount of light admitted by the
windows of the Perpendicular style made their insertion advisable; or
it may be that the tracery of windows being naturally fragile, in many
cases a renewal became necessary, and the new Gothic style was naturally
considered the best. Whatever the reason, the new Perpendicular tracery
was inserted in many of the windows just as it was in a large number
of cathedrals and churches all over England.
In reading the history of the building of this fabric, we cannot
help noticing that even the great Gothic builders could not leave well
alone. Then, as now, Fashion was the ruling power. Having a Norman church,
they altered it into an Early English one; then they pulled down a good
deal of this to get a more Decorated building; and finally they changed
the windows in order to give the whole a Perpendicular appearance: side
by side with other reasons that actuated them, they did their best to
keep their cathedral in the fashion.
In the sixteenth century, Henry VIII., the great destroyer of religious
houses, made but little difference to the fabric of this cathedral, but
he laid his hands on the valuables. The shrine of St. Chad was denuded
of its jewels, and everything which could be turned into money was taken
away, much of it was fortunately returned for the "necessary uses" of the
cathedral, but the services and ritual must have been much impaired and
their beauty diminished. During that century, however, the cathedral
gradually recovered, and we know that early in the next the services
were again very much on the same scale of magnificence as they had been
when the good bishops Patteshull and Weseham directed the diocese.
The next event in the history of the building is one which is necessarily
referred to many times in this book. The siege of Lichfield Cathedral
is probably the most famous incident in its long career; not only
on account of the immense injury done to the fabric itself, to its
monuments and its decorations, but also on account of the "miraculous
intervention" on behalf of the holy building, an intervention which,
viewed with nineteenth-century scepticism, does not appear to have done
the cathedral any obvious good, but which at the time appears to have
been treated with all the deference due to a genuine miracle.
The great Civil War began on August 22, 1642, when Charles I. set up his
standard at Nottingham. At Lichfield, as everywhere else in England,
there were partisans of both sides. The cathedral group was naturally
for the king, while others, for one reason or another, joined either the
Royal Party or the Parliamentarian. After Edgehill, which was fought
in the autumn, matters became more and more serious in the Midlands;
and finally, in February 1643, the Royalists at Lichfield, hearing that
at any moment an outbreak might take place, garrisoned the close, which
ever since the days of Walter de Langton had been strongly fortified. They
hoisted the king's flag on the great steeple, and waited the result. They
had not long to wait. With March Lord Brooke, one of the fiercest of
anti-churchmen, arrived in command of a strong body of Roundheads,
and on the 2nd the siege commenced.
[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL FROM STOWE CHURCH.]
Lord Brooke was a fanatic, and ever fierce against cathedrals: he had,
according to the diary of Archbishop Laud, two years before, as he was
passing in a boat upon the Thames, said he hoped to see St. Paul's
with not one stone left upon another. It was in this spirit that he
set about the siege of the cathedral, and of his fate there are many
accounts. Perhaps the following, taken from Dugdale's "View of the Late
Troubles in England," is as good as any:--"This lord (Lord Brooke)
being strangely tainted with fanatic principles, by the influence of
one of his near relations, and some schismatical preachers (though
in his own nature a very civil and well-humoured man), became thereby
so great a zealot against the established discipline of the Church,
that no less than the utter extirpation of Episcopacy, and abolishing
all decent order in the service of God, would satisfy him; to which end
he became leader of all the power he could raise for the destruction
of the cathedral of that diocese of Coventry and Litchfield. In order
whereunto, when he had marched within half a mile of Litchfield, he
drew up his army, and then devoutly prayed a blessing upon his intended
works; withal earnestly desiring that God would, by some special token,
manifest upon them His approbation of that their design: which being done,
he went on and planted his great guns against the south-east gate of the
close, himself standing in a window of a little house near thereto, to
direct the gunners in their supposed battery; but it so happened that,
there being two persons placed in the battlement of the chiefest steeple
to make shot with long fouling guns at the cannoniers, upon a sudden
accident, which caused the soldiers to give a shout, this lord, coming
to the door (completely harnessed with plate armour _cap-à-pie_) was
suddenly shot into one of his eyes; but the strength of the bullet, so
much abated by the glance thereof on a piece of timber which supported
a pentiss over the door, that it only lodged in his brains, whereupon he
suddenly fell down dead; nor is it less notable that this accident fell
out on the second day of March, which is the festival of that sometime
famous Bishop S. Chad, to whose memory Offa, King of the Mercians, first
erected this stately church and devoutly dedicated it."
Tradition has always asserted that the shot which killed Lord Brooke
was fired by one of the sons of Sir Richard Dyott, who, with the Earl of
Chesterfield, was commanding the cathedral garrison. This son was deaf and
dumb, and was known as "Dumb Dyott." The gun is preserved in the family,
and they are supported by other historians, disagreeing with Dugdale,
in their account that the shot was no accidental one, but that Dyott,
who was an accomplished marksman, recognising Lord Brooke, aimed at him
and killed him.
In those days--and indeed even to the present day--it was believed that
one who was afflicted with dumbness, idiocy, or any natural disease
which showed God's hand, was especially His agent. Dumb Dyott was looked
upon as being the agent of divine vengeance, and the fact of its being
St. Chad's Day strengthened the belief. Here is an extract from a very
courtly letter written a few days afterwards by a young cavalier to Lady
Dyer; in it the feeling that a miracle had been performed is clearly
shown. The writer says: "We have had the honour in these parts to bring
my Lord Brooke to a quiet condition. That enemy of our Church (March 2)
was slain in his quarrel against our Church, by the God of our Church,
with a shot out of the Cathedral, by a bullet made of Church lead, through
the mouth which reviled our Church; and (if this be worth your reading)
this Cathedral was dedicated to the memory of an old Saxon holy man
(called Ceadda, commonly Chad); the blow of death came from St. Chad's
Church upon St. Chad's Day. This, being a verity, is fit for a lady
of rare worth." The incident is constantly referred to in contemporary
literature, where the miracles claimed on behalf of the Royalist party are
worthy of a better result. One more quotation will suffice. The celebrated
preacher, Dr South, in his sermon on the text, "God hath loved the gates
of Sion more than all the dwellings of Jacob," says: "Nor is that instance
to be passed over of a commander in the Parliamentary army, who, coming
to rifle and deface the cathedral at Lichfield, solemnly, at the head of
his troops, begged God to show some remarkable token of His approbation
or dislike of the work they were going about. Immediately after which,
he was shot in the forehead by a deaf and dumb man; and this was on St.
Chad's Day, the name of which saint that church bare, being dedicated to
God in memory of the same: where we see that as he asked of God a sign,
so God gave him one in the forehead, and that with such a mark as he is
like to be known by all posterity."
The house in which Lord Brooke was killed is in Dam Street, at a distance,
it is said, of about 185 yards from the central spire of the cathedral;
the late Mr Green caused the following inscription to be put up over
the doorway:--
"_March 2, 1643._--Lord Brooke, a general of the Parliament forces
preparing to besiege the Close of Lichfield, then garrisoned for King
Charles the First, received his death wound on the spot beneath this
inscription by a shot in the forehead from Mr Dyott, a gentleman who
had placed himself on the battlements of the great steeple to annoy
the besiegers."
The death of Lord Brooke was kept a secret as much as possible, for
fear the soldiers should indeed take it for a sign; Sir John Gell was
appointed in his place, and the siege continued. Under his direction
"all such townsmen that had any sons, apprentises, or other servants
within the close, and likewise all citizens' wives that had their husbands
there, whether magistrates or other persons whatsoever," were collected
together and put in the front of the soldiers against the close, but
after a while, it not appearing to make much difference, they were all
sent home again. The close meanwhile had been bombarded with cannon, and
finally there arrived from Coventry a new engine, called a mortar, which
cast burning shells. Most of these fell into the mill pool or went over
the close altogether; but it is said to have caused so much fright, no one
there having seen such an engine before, that the Earl of Chesterfield,
knowing also that his provisions could not last another day, and that
there was little likelihood of their being reinforced, decided to yield
the close on the best terms he could. These included free quarter to all,
and on the 5th March, after a siege of three days, the close was yielded.
The damage that had been done was terrible; not only was the whole
fabric much injured, and all the stained glass destroyed, but the great
steeple had been blown down and had in its fall broken in the roof of
the church in several places. But even now the work of desecration was
not complete. The close having been taken, the Parliamentary forces and
their prisoners were all housed in and round the cathedral, and the most
sacrilegious conduct is attributed to the former. The wanton soldiers
pulled down the curious carved work, and battered in pieces what was
left of the beautiful old stained glass; they stripped the gravestones
of their brasses, and destroyed the ancient records which were stored
in the cathedral. These acts of destruction were no doubt due to the
religious mania of the Roundheads against any form of ceremony or beauty
in the House or Service of God; but their passion became keener when they
found what rich spoils were ready to their hands. It happened during
their riotous proceedings that one of the soldiers raised the covering
of the tomb containing the remains of Bishop Scrope, and found in it
a silver chalice and a crozier of considerable value. This discovery
naturally excited the soldiers, and every tomb was at once taken to
pieces and its contents scattered; it is not wonderful therefore that
the tombs that remain to the present day are few in number and these
terribly mutilated. The crozier was afterwards sold to Elias Ashmole,
the antiquarian, who took so great an interest in Lichfield. Nor was
the sacrilege confined to destruction and spoliation. Dugdale tells
us that "every day they hunted a cat with hounds through the church,
delighting themselves with the echo from the goodly vaulted roof; and
to add to their wickedness, brought a calf into it, wrapt in linen;
carried it to the font, sprinkled it with water; and gave it a name in
scorn and derision of that holy sacrament of baptism."
[Illustration: ANCIENT GATEWAY FORMERLY IN THE CLOSE.]
Not for long, however, did the Roundheads remain in possession. Prince
Rupert was sent from Oxford, the headquarters of the Royalist party at the
time, to retake Lichfield. Having taken Bromicham on the way, he arrived
at Lichfield with a strong force, and history repeated itself. The town
offered no opposition, and Rupert had to lay siege to the close, which now
was better garrisoned. The Royalists erected batteries on the north side,
and kept up a heavy fire; they also attempted to undermine the walls,
and finally succeeded in blowing up one of the towers of the close, and
a fierce encounter took place, in which many men were slaughtered on both
sides. At length, after ten days' siege, the close was surrendered to the
king by the governor, who probably got better terms than he expected,
as Rupert was required at Reading. The articles of capitulation are
referred to by Clarendon as being most honourable, and are as follow:--
"It is consented by Colonel Hastings, by the authority given him by
his highness Prince Rupert, that, in consideration of the delivery
and yielding up of the Close of Lichfield, Lieutenant-Colonel Russel,
and all the Captains and Officers with him, shall march out of the said
Close, to-morrow being the one and twentieth day of this instant April,
by ten o'clock in the morning, with fourscore men and musquetts, with
flying colours, and fourscore horsemen, with arms belonging to them, and
all other persons within the said Close to be at liberty to goe whither
they please; and for their better and safe conveyance, a free pass or
convoy from his highnesse, and eleven carts to convey away such goods as
belong to any of the officers or soldiers, with themselves, to the City
of Coventry; and that all prisoners shall be released on both sides,
which have been taken in the City of Stafford since the coming down of
the Right Honourable Lord Brooke. In witness whereof, we have hereunto put
our hand and seal, this twentieth day of April A.D. 1643. H. HASTINGS."
Russel did not leave empty-handed, as he is said to have taken away
the communion plate and linen, and whatever else was of value. He was
succeeded in command of the close by Colonel Bagot, who held it until
1646, when in the general ruin of the king's affairs the close was
again taken.
In "_Mercurius Aulicus_" there is an interesting anecdote which shows the
state of feeling between the two parties. A certain Captain Hunt, who
had a command in the neighbouring town of Tamworth, sent Colonel Bagot
the following challenge:--"Bagot, thou sonne of an Egyptian ... meete
mee half the way to-morrow morning, the half-way betwixt Tamworth and
Litchfeald, if thou darest; if not, I will whippe whensoever I meete
thee. Tamworth, this December 1644.--THOMAS HUNT." Colonel Bagot did
not neglect the challenge, and though he did not succeed in taking him
prisoner, he "whipped" him home to Tamworth.
During the time Colonel Bagot was governor the post can have been no
sinecure, for although there was no regular siege to be compared to the
two just described, yet, lying as it did with so many Parliamentary
strongholds in the immediate neighbourhood, this period cannot have
been one of peace; and Dr Harwood, in his "History of Lichfield," goes
so far as to say that the close was frequently in a state of seige at
this period. The battle of Naseby was fought on the 14th June 1645, with
disastrous effect to the king. Colonel Bagot was present with 200 men,
and no doubt escorted the king back to Lichfield, for he lay there for
at least one night, and received an address from his faithful citizens,
which, from its wording, shows that there was little hope left in his
side. The king came again later in the year, and about March in the
following year, 1646, the last siege commenced. It was a desultory affair
compared to the first two, and only ended when the Royalists, in July,
finding that the king had practically no real army in the field anywhere,
surrendered again on terms which were most honourable to both sides.
The damage done to the cathedral in these times was estimated at £14,000,
which was for those days a very large amount. Some of the losses are
thus particularised:
For a pair of organs broke in pieces £200
The destruction of the vicars' seats 600
The defacing of Lord Paget's tomb, which was executed in Italy 700
But enough has been said to show that the cathedral was in a most ruinous
state, and so it remained until a twelvemonth after the Restoration. From
a manuscript in the Ashmolean Collection at Oxford, it appears that Elias
Ashmole had an interview with the king in June 1660 as to the condition
of the cathedral. The memorandum reads: "16 June 1660. This morning Mr
Rawlins of Lichfield tould me that the Clearke Viccars of the Cathedrall
Church had entered the Chapter-house and there said service; and this
when the Vestry was the only place in the Church yt had a roof to shelter
them. This very afternoon, I, having an opportunity to waite on the Kg,
and being in his Closet, tould him that the aforesaid remaining number
of poore Clearks Vicarrs had assembled in the aforesaid place, and there
kept their Canonicall houres and prayd for his Maty, which he was pleased
to heare. Upon further discourse, I acquainted him with the desolacion
of the place, which he much lamented, and said he had been informed that
Winchestre Cathedrall had exceedingly suffred in these late tymes, and
that they had turnd it into Brewhouses, Malt-houses, etc." And again, on
"July 18, 1660, Mr Dugdale moved Dr Sheldon to become an instrument for
the repair of Lichfield Cathedral; and proposed that the prebends, etc.,
that were admitted should part with one-half of their profits towards the
repair of the fabrick, which would be no great burden to them; and by this
example the gentry would be invited to join with them in some considerable
contribution. _N.B._--I find this method succeeded accordingly."
The see was vacant for nearly a year after the Restoration, as Bishop
Frewen, who had been appointed to the see by Charles I., was almost at
once made Archbishop of York. At last, in December 1661, John Hacket,
Doctor of Divinity of Trinity College, Cambridge, was appointed, and
he at once set himself to the repair of the dilapidated cathedral; on
the very morning of his arrival at Lichfield he is said to have set his
carriage-horses and servants to the work of clearing out the rubbish,
and with his own hands to have set them an example at the start. The work
to be done must have appeared to be almost impossible of completion, for
the central spire was still lying in ruins over the chapter-house and
choir, the roof was broken in, and the pavements completely destroyed:
everything was ruinous, for the Parliamentary folk had during the
Common-wealth seized all materials which seemed to be of use for the
repair of the dwelling-houses in the close and neighbourhood. However,
the work progressed; the bishop was so energetic that he was able to
collect in the surrounding country about £8000, and so generous that he
subscribed himself a sum of £1683, 12s.: and in eight years he succeeded
in restoring the beauty of the cathedral.
The service at which it was re-consecrated was of great solemnity and
ceremony: "His lordship, being arrayed in his episcopal vestments,
attended by the dean, dignitaries, prebendaries, and other members of
the Church, accompanied by many of the nobility and gentry, the bailiffs,
citizens, and other public officers of the city and county of Lichfield,
with an immense concourse of people, entered at the great west doors of
the Cathedral. The vicars, choristers, etc., first walked up the south
aisle of the Church, where the bishop with a loud voice repeated the
first verse of the 144th psalm. Afterwards the whole choir alternately
sang the psalm to the organ. In the same order they proceeded to the
north aisle. The bishop sang the 100th psalm, which was repeated by the
whole company. Then the train passed to the body of the Church, where the
bishop began the 102nd psalm, which when the vicars choral had concluded,
he commanded the doors of the choir to be opened, and in the same form,
first encompassed the south side. The bishop began the first verse of the
122nd psalm; the company finished it, and with the like ceremony proceeded
to the north side, and sang the 131st psalm." The procession over,
the bishop knelt down in the centre of the choir and prayed silently;
and then with a loud voice called on all the people to join with him in
the Lord's Prayer, which was followed by other prayers suitable to the
occasion. He then pronounced a solemn benediction on the act in which
they were engaged, and upon all that were present. The usual service of
morning prayer followed, with two special anthems, and a collection--not
for the cathedral--but for the poor of the parish. The bishop also gave
three magnificent banquets--to the cathedral clergy, to the nobility of
the neighbourhood, and to the principal citizens of the city.
Thus concluded the ceremony of re-consecration, a work which left the
cathedral, not, unhappily, as it was when the first siege took place,
but still a very beautiful edifice, with more of the Perpendicular
style about the windows than previously, and with grievous signs here
and there of the terrible misfortunes it had weathered. Sir Christopher
Wren is said to have designed the new central spire, and to have acted
as architect to the re-builders; but this is almost certainly not the
case: his advice may have been asked, but probably at the most he gave
it with regard to rich altar-piece in the Corinthian style which was
erected in front of the old screen behind the high altar. At any rate,
his signature appears on one of the sixteen papers on this matter still
preserved among the muniments of the cathedral.
The king gave 200 fair timber trees out of Needwood forest, and his
brother, the Duke of York, afterwards King James II., gave the money
for the tracery of the great west window. This window remained until the
recent alterations, when it was replaced by one more in accordance with
the original thirteenth century style. The Duke of York's window, with
its ill-proportioned geometrical tracery, need not be regretted any more
than the removal of the heroic statue of his Majesty King Charles II.,
which occupied the central niche above it. The statue was principally
remarkable for its ugliness, and for the history of the stonemason who
hewed it; he afterwards married a rich wife, and finally arrived at the
dignity of knighthood. Bishop Hacket adorned the church with new stalls
and with an organ which cost £600; and he also made arrangements for
new bells worthy of the cathedral. He ordered six, and three of them were
delivered in his life-time. Only one--the tenor bell--however, was hung
in time for the good bishop to hear it. His biographer, Dr Plume, says:
"The first time it was rung, the bishop was very weak; yet he went out
of his bed-chamber into the next room to hear it: he seemed well pleased
with the sound, and blessed God, who had favoured him with life to hear
it; but at the same time observed that it would be his passing-bell,
and retiring into his chamber, he never left it till he was carried
to his grave." He died in October 1670.
[Illustration: THE SOUTH TRANSEPT IN 1813.]
For some time the cathedral has no history to be recounted. In 1750
we know that the ancient library outside the north aisle, built by
Deans Heywood and Yotton, was removed, and the churchyard levelled;
we also know that the roof became very defective, and the rain came in,
so that a new roofing was required. Pennant tells us that the dean and
chapter were obliged to substitute slates instead of metal, on account
of the narrow revenues left to maintain this venerable pile; and after
the strictest economy, they were under the necessity of contributing
from their own income in order to complete their plan.
A few years later it was found that the fabric itself was in so
dilapidated a condition that much more extensive repairs were necessary,
and so Mr Wyatt, the celebrated architect, as Britton calls him, came to
Lichfield and began that scheme of alteration which has been the object
of so much ridicule and contempt. To lovers of church architecture at the
end of the nineteenth century it seems astounding that the splendid and
inimitable cathedrals and churches of this country should have been handed
over every one to be destroyed and debased in the way Wyatt destroyed and
debased them. But there is no doubt that Wyatt represented the spirit
of the time, just as Sir Gilbert Scott represented the spirit of the
middle of this century. Then it was a love of "vistas" which actuated
the alterations, and caused the destruction of anything which came in
the way of what was considered a fine view. In those days "vistas" were
the all-absorbing consideration and the subject of discussion amongst
those who considered themselves cultured, as may be seen in the novels
of Jane Austen, and in "Mansfield Park" in particular. Later, the passion
for replacing what was old or worn by time with something new, something
which was supposed to be a reproduction of the old, has caused endless
destruction. The later passion has not yet disappeared, unhappily; but
thankfully we may note the signs of the times, and feel sure that in a
few years neither a Wyatt with his vistas and Roman cement, nor others,
who, having more knowledge, are therefore the less excusable, will be
permitted under any circumstances to lay a finger on what it has here
and there graciously pleased their forerunners to leave unspoiled. How
little this is, can be judged by a visit to any cathedral church from
Worcester downwards.
The achievements of Wyatt are recounted by Britton, who does not appear
to have entirely decided whether he approved or not. Some of them, no
doubt, were necessary; and it would be unfair to indiscriminately blame
any architect who had to deal, however violently, with a building which
had deteriorated, not merely in the pass of time, but also by the shock
of war. Also a great deal of what Wyatt did was done for the sake of
warmth, though the object in view, it is said, was not attained. Britton
says that not only was there a general restoration of doors, windows, and
flooring throughout, but also "two of the spires were partly rebuilt, the
ends of the transepts were strengthened by new buttresses, the external
roofs of the aisles were raised, and five divisions of the stone roof in
the nave were taken down and replaced with plaster. The Lady Chapel was
united with the choir by removing the screen which had been erected by
Bishop Hacket. On taking this away, the workmen discovered the beautiful
old screen which formed in all probability the original partition when
the Lady Chapel was completed by the executors of Walter de Langton. This
elaborate piece of architecture was in a very mutilated state; but Mr
Wyatt, having restored it by the assistance of Roman cement to a very
perfect condition, appropriated part of it to the new altar-piece, and
the remainder to the organ screen or partition which divides the nave from
the Choir," and which took up the whole of the western bay of the choir.
Since Britton's time it has been thought necessary to take another tone
and to try to justify these alterations. Mr James Potter, the son of Mr
Wyatt's chief assistant, who was afterwards architect to the cathedral,
has endeavoured to prove that some of the alterations were unavoidable,
and that the others were not made under Wyatt's advice, but in spite
of it. Incidentally, in the course of a letter to the _Staffordshire
Advertiser_, he speaks of the "unsightly and incongruous work of Wren's,"
in referring to the wooden reredos, and states that Wren had previously
closed the arches of the four most western bays of the choir in order to
receive the stalls. He also says: "But so completely did Wren perform
his work of blocking-up that he took care to conceal every vestige of
moulding, both of the piers and the archivolts, leaving only in view
the clustered shafts from which the vaulting of the roof sprang. I have
before noticed that Mr James Wyatt's death occurred in A.D. 1813, and
that this western portion of the choir remained in the state in which Sir
Christopher Wren left it up to the following year. In the early part of
that year the architect to the fabric, the late Mr Potter, was instructed
by the dean and chapter to cause the entire removal of the old stall work
and unmask the three arches (then concealed), this being the space on
either side of the choir occupied by the stalls in question. The arches
being much dilapidated and past restoration, Dean Woodhouse decided
to have them made to correspond with the decorated bays in an easterly
direction. This work was executed, as also the canopy of the new stalls,
in Roman cement. I cannot myself think that Dean Woodhouse exhibited
any degree of bad taste in adopting the existing decorated arches as his
model for the new ones; and, as regards the canopies of the new stalls,
they were exact resemblances of the old reredos, and surely no modern
architect will presume to find fault with them. I must here observe
that the choice of material was not confined to the architect employed
to carry out the work, but was chosen by the dean and chapter, the state
of the fabric fund, out of which the whole of the expenses were defrayed,
being insufficient to meet the outlay of a more costly material."
The above account is most interesting, and, assuming that the writer was
correct in the facts as to what was done by Wyatt and by his father,
we are confronted with a difficulty. From Professor Willis's account,
already quoted, it is obvious that he was of opinion that the alteration
in the style of the front of these pier arches was made in Gothic
times. Mr Potter says it was done in the nineteenth century. It is,
of course, possible for some alteration to have been made at both these
times; but it looks as if the harmony was not complete until recently,
probably because the height of the old stalls prevented the variations
from being easily seen. As to Wren, Mr Potter probably was only repeating
the recognised tradition that Wren was responsible for the rebuilding by
Bishop Hacket, and no argument can be deduced on this point, the latest
and best opinion being that there is, as already stated, no evidence
to prove that the great Sir Christopher had much to do with the cathedral.
Soon after Wyatt's death the policy of Roman cement, which he had
inaugurated, was continued, and the whole of the west front become
one mass of stucco and paste. The row of kings was replaced in this
way, as also the statues in the great porch, and all the mouldings and
decorations were covered with cement, and practically the whole cathedral
from end to end had its deficiencies added to in this way. This work was
completed about 1822. From then to 1856 the cathedral did not receive
much alteration; but in the latter year Sir Gilbert, then Mr. Scott
was called in, and the extensive alterations were commenced, which
may be said scarcely to have finished in this year of 1897. It is not
necessary to discuss here this restoration. It is sufficient to say that
it has been the aim of those in authority to restore the cathedral to
the appearance and arrangement it presented at the beginning of the
seventeenth century. Wyatt's alterations received scant courtesy,
and the cathedral as we now see it may be declared to be a triumph
for the restorer--so great a triumph, indeed, that in many parts the
unsuspicious admirer might be led to conclude that he was looking at a
brand new edifice. Still, the cathedral has some of its old work left,
and perhaps in the nave we are confronted with more of the work of the
original Gothic builders than in any other part. What has been done in
the last forty years is specifically discussed in the description of
the exterior and interior in the two next chapters; but here it will
be well to show what the condition of the cathedral was in the middle
of the century, just before the recent restoration. Canon Lonsdale has
given us a splendid description in his "Recollections," and if anything
can reconcile us to the wholesale renewal which then took place, it
will be found in the account which he gives in this little pamphlet,
from which are now quoted the following sentences. He says: "The Nave
and Transepts were absolutely empty of furniture of any kind, except
that the South Transept contained the fittings of the Dean's Consistory
Court (since abolished), and in the North Transept, on the spot where
the organ now is, stood the statue of Bishop Ryder, raised on a high
pedestal, and looking as if it were about to tumble forward. The walls,
arches, and pillars were one uniform, dead, yellowish whitewash, many
coats thick; as also the Choir from end to end, and from top to bottom,
and indeed the whole of the interior.... The Nave was quite unused;
indeed, except during service hours, the Verger's Silver Key alone gave
admission to any part of the church.... The two parts of the building
were altogether separate from each other. The Choir was entered by a
door under a high partition, composed of remains of the original High
Altar, fourteenth century screen, and of other materials. This partition
filled the whole of the first bay of the present Choir. On each side of
the entrance were Vestries for the Lay Vicars and the Choristers, and
above these was placed the organ; the rest of the space up to the Roof
being filled in with glass, so that the separation of Nave and Choir
was complete.... In the Choir itself the remains of the Reredos, which
stood at the spot where the present one is now fixed, had been removed
by Wyatt at the end of the last century, and the Holy Table was carried
to the extreme East of the Lady Chapel. On either side, from the screen
up to the very entrance of the Lady Chapel, were pews made of oak lined
with green baize and studded with brass nails. The Choir Aisles on either
side were entirely shut out from the Choir, the arches being filled in
by plaster, in order, as was imagined, to help towards warmth. In the
three bays eastward from the screen--the second, third, and fourth, as
they are now--stalls were fixed, composed of plaster, wood, rope, nails,
and much else, with canopies of the same material over them, which the
old Verger of that day used to call 'beautiful Tabernacle work.' The
Dean and Canons' Residentiary had stalls facing eastward in the screen
under the organ.... The Choir Aisles, shut out from the Choir, were long,
narrow passages, never used, ending on the North side in a blank wall,
and on the South with the monument of the 'Sleeping Children.'"
This was the inside of the Cathedral: the outside was stucco. Such facts
as these will have to be borne in mind when the next century passes
judgment on Sir Gilbert Scott. For us, it should be sufficient that we
have judged Wyatt.
CHAPTER II
THE EXTERIOR
Of all the cathedral churches of England, Lichfield may be said to be the
most lovely. Other cathedrals are larger--indeed, this is the smallest of
them all--grander, or more magnificent; but for simple beauty, for charm,
for delicacy of construction and appearance, Lichfield may rightly claim
to take the foremost place. Peterborough, when we stand inside the west
door and look down its line of enormous columns, fills us with awe at
its immensity and strength: a feeling which is perhaps a little impaired
by the present position of its stalls. Salisbury appeals to us with its
perfect simplicity and symmetry, and York with its unequalled grandeur
and splendour; but after viewing all the cathedrals of England, it is
Lichfield which is most likely to be remembered among them for something
which may be most aptly called charm. What can be more delightful than the
view which confronts the traveller who, approaching from the town, pauses
to look across the sparkling water of the pool at the three graceful
spires standing out amid a wealth of green trees and shrubs. Truly a
picture to be long remembered. Here is, indeed, the precious jewel set
in a silver sea.
[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL FROM THE SOUTH.]
The cathedral does not stand on high enough ground for any very fine view
of the entire building to be obtained. But from whatever point in the
neighbourhood of Lichfield we look we can see its three slender spires,
grouping themselves, sometimes so that only two can be distinguished,
sometimes so that they all appear in one cluster as though rising from
one tower, and sometimes spreading out so that two seem to have very
little connection with the third. For years they have been known as the
"Ladies of the Vale"; they have looked down on many changes, and indeed
have suffered changes themselves. They now rise from an almost new
building--new at any rate in appearance. As we approach the cathedral
either from Bird Street and face the west front, or from Dam Street and
confront the south side of the Lady Chapel, the same sad feeling comes
over us that all here is new. Even as these words are written the south
side of the choir is being renovated, and no doubt what little of the
old is still left will soon disappear. The west front, with its niches
and images, is all new; the south side of the nave is new, and indeed
everywhere it is its newness that first strikes one. One cannot help
wondering if this extreme severity of restoration is absolutely essential;
for if not essential, the vague disappointment might well turn to anger
that in days when the art of architecture has become almost non-existent,
it should be thought necessary to carry through such wholesale renewal
of work, never to be replaced, belonging to the grand days of Gothic
building. For this old work can never be replaced: it is a sad thought
that in every art, the early groping days, when the new medium or the new
method is hardly settled, and its limitations but imperfectly understood,
produce the great work. It is so in literature, in music, in painting,
in sculpture, and in architecture; but it is only to the last that we
dare to offer the assistance of our own less artistic age. The cathedral
as we see it to-day has met with many vicissitudes. Of its misfortunes
in the Civil Wars much has already been said; and something of its
sufferings at the hands of restorers. At present, after studying the
west front and contemplating the extreme newness of its every detail,
we can only hope that when age has somewhat staled the infinite variety
of its modern ornament, future pilgrims to the shrine of St. Chad will
not think too unkindly of an age given over to the rigours of restoration.
=The Close.=--The cathedral stands in a close which was once surrounded
by strong walls with bastions and a moat. Nature had supplied the moat
on the south side, and the Cathedral Pool, as it is now called, is still
there. The artificial moat has been drained, but its course can be easily
traced running round the bishop's palace, and its water has been replaced
by lovely gardens and gravel walks. Some bits of the old walls remain,
the north-east bastion in the palace gardens and a turret on a house at
the south corner: the "beautiful gates" of Bishop Langton are gone; but
in the Vicars' Close at the west of the cathedral are two small irregular
courtyards with houses so old that we feel sure that their wooden beams
and plaster were there when the Royalists of the neighbourhood housed
themselves within the fortified close.
The close is not large, and of course, as Lichfield is a cathedral of
the old establishment, there are no monastical buildings, no ruined
cloisters. On the north side the ground rises rapidly in a grassy slope
to a terrace, behind which are some of the canons' houses. Opposite
the north transept is the deanery, a substantial red brick house in the
style of the middle of the last century; next to it, and farther east,
is the bishop's palace.
=The Bishop's Palace= is of stone, and was built by Thomas Wood, the
bishop who succeeded Hacket, and who is said to have been compelled
to erect it as a fine for his neglect of the diocese. It bears on the
front the date 1687. The old palace of Bishop Langton, which occupied
the same position in the close, was swept away in the Civil Wars. The
bishops of Lichfield had another palace at Eccleshall until the time
of Bishop Selwyn, who sold it, and with a portion of the money erected
here the two unsightly wings and the still more unsightly chapel. In the
palace gardens, in the south-west corner, stood the old bell-tower of
the cathedral, of whose destruction in 1315 we have a record. From the
bishop's garden there is a charming view through the trees of Stowe pool
and St. Chad's Church apparently standing at its farther edge: its old
towers stand out finely, and the gravestones in the churchyard remind us
that in far-off Mercian days St. Chad was laid to rest in this very spot.
On the east side of the close is an unsightly white house which rises
a blot on the otherwise beautiful view of the cathedral from Stowe;
next to it is a charming old building with the turret already mentioned.
On the south side is the entrance from Dam Street, with an old house
at the corner. On this side also is the Theological College, a low
ordinary-looking building, said to have been originally training-stables
for race horses; and farther west are more houses of the cathedral
clergy. And behind all these is the pool. One cannot help agreeing with
Britton in thinking what a delightful thing it would be for the close if
all the houses on this side could be pulled down so that the cathedral
might have nothing but grass and trees between it and the pool.
Britton gives an imaginary view of the south side with all the houses
cleared away.
On the west side of the cathedral is another entrance to the close,
which runs between the Vicars' Close already mentioned and the hideous
college built by Andrew Newton for the widows and orphans of clergymen.
=The Cathedral= is built of new red sandstone from quarries in the
immediate neighbourhood of Lichfield itself. On Borrowcop, to the north
(where tradition says two Mercian kings were killed, to be afterwards
buried in the close), is the hole left by the cathedral; and on the
other side, at Wheel Lane, is a quarry from which much stone, both red
and white, has been taken for the recent repairs to the fabric. Its
ruddy colour adds much to the picturesqueness of the building.
Mrs Van Rensselaer, in her interesting account of the English cathedrals,
says: "In any and every aspect, but more especially when foliage comes
close about it, Lichfield's colour assists its other beauties. Grey
is the rule in English churches--dark cold grey at Ely, for example;
light yellow grey at Canterbury, and pale pearly grey at Salisbury;
and although dark greyness means great solemnity and grandeur, and light
greyness great delicacy and charm, they both need the hand of time--the
stain of the weather and the web of the lichen--to give them warmth and
tone; and the work of the hand of time has almost everywhere in England
been effaced by the hand of the restorer. Red stone is warm and mellow
in itself, and Lichfield is red with a beautiful soft ruddiness that
could hardly be over-matched by the sandstone of any land."
The plan of the cathedral shows a simple cross, with a chapter-house
(joined by a vestibule to the choir) on the north side, and a sacristy
on the south side. It may also be noticed that the nave and the choir
(including the presbytery) have each eight bays or severies, and that
if we regard the bay under the central tower as a double one, the two
transepts together have eight bays. Thus the transverse arm of the cross
is nearly of the same length as the eastern and the western arms. There
is a Lady Chapel at the eastern end of the choir, and there are aisles on
each side of the nave and choir and on the eastern side of the transepts.
We have already seen that the cathedral has three =Spires=, and this
is perhaps its most notable characteristic, for Lichfield is the only
church now existing in England with this distinction. The cathedral at
Coventry, so long the sister church of the diocese, and so ruthlessly
destroyed by Henry VIII., had also three spires; as had Ripon Minster,
but these were of lead, and have since been pulled down.
Of the spires, one rises from the central tower and one surmounts each
of the towers which flank the west front. The central spire dates only
from the Restoration, the older spire having been entirely destroyed in
the Civil Wars. There is no doubt that the original spire was different
in appearance to the present one, which is an imitation of the western
spires, carried out in the spirit of the Perpendicular style. What the
earlier spire was really like is doubtful, neither is it quite certain
when it was built, though the central tower was probably rebuilt about
1250, when it is supposed that the intention was to retain the Norman
nave. What the height and pitch of the roof of the old Norman nave must
have been can be seen from the old housing course which remains to this
day above the nave groining. "It was the custom," as Mr J. O. Scott
explained in a lecture on the cathedral, "of old builders, as of modern
builders, to insert in any wall against which a roof abuts a projecting
course of stone, called a 'housing,' following the slope of the roof,
the object being to keep the wet from getting in between the roof and the
wall. And so when the central tower was rebuilt, there was the Norman
nave to which the new work had to be fitted. Hence, at this time the
builders inserted a 'housing course' of masonry into the west wall of
the new tower, to protect the junction of the old Norman nave roof from
the weather." These disused housing courses can constantly be seen in old
churches, sometimes several, one above the other, showing the changes in
the roofing of the church. The present spire is said vaguely to have been
erected from the designs or under the direction of Sir Christopher Wren;
but the tradition which connects this great modern architect with the
cathedral is very uncertain.
[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL FROM THE MINSTER POOL.]
The two western spires were probably built in Bishop Norburgh's time, and
possibly were finished in the time of his successor; but the north-west
spire has been rebuilt from the belfry windows upwards in imitation of the
old work, but, like the central tower, in the Perpendicular manner. The
south-west or Jesus Tower, which is a little higher than the other,
has also had its two upper storeys rebuilt. The spires are octagonal,
and are divided into six compartments. In the western spires the four
lower compartments have windows of two lights each with acute crocketted
pediments. There are only four windows in the lowest compartment;
but in the second, third, and fourth compartments there is a window in
each face; the fifth is panelled between crocketted ribs, and the top
compartment is plain with small windows. All the spires are open all
the way up without any inside supports.
The central spire has the same number of compartments, with windows
in all of them except the top; but there are only four windows in
each compartment, facing north, east, west, and south. The top of the
central spire is about 252 feet from the floor, and of the western spire
about 193.
But if Lichfield's three spires are unique, so also is Lichfield's =West
Front=. It is not, of course, very large, and it is not indeed as large as
it might have been had the same means been employed here as were employed
at Wells, where an exaggerated idea of size is attained by placing
the towers outside the lines of the nave aisles. Here the two towers,
which form so important a part of the front, are in their lowest stage
merely part of the aisles, so that the whole width of the west front is
very little greater than the width of the nave itself. The west front of
Lichfield is noted for the richness of its decorations, covered as it
is with niches holding images and, it might almost be said, with every
available inch covered with decorative work. The whole has a most superb
effect, and at a distance, where the poverty of the modern workmanship
is not easily discerned, its appearance cannot be very different now to
that which it presented at the end of the fourteenth century. Once again
the niches are filled with statuary; but this work is nearly all new,
and it is by some considered doubtful if any of the original remained in
this century. It is, however, generally supposed, and not without good
reason, that the five old statues which form part of the highest row in
the north-west tower may have been original, and have escaped the general
destruction which followed the Puritan capture of the cathedral. Three
of the old statues are represented in the picture of the west front in
Britton's "Cathedral Antiquities"; and in the interesting picture in
Fuller's "Church History," published in 1655, the west front is shewn
with every niche filled; but there can be no doubt that this picture
must have been made before the siege, or else it must have been drawn
with the aid of memory from what remained afterwards.
This west front is flat, with octagonal turrets at each side, and consists
of two towers and a central part. The central part has a doorway, a large
window, and an acute pediment, the top point of the pediment being almost
on a level with the parapet of the towers where the spires commence. These
rise from between square pinnacles, enriched with feathered panels and
crockets at the angles of the towers. The front is in three stages; the
lowest stage contains the three doorways, and is surmounted by a very
elaborate arcading filled with statues of kings. The second is covered
with two storeys of arcading, and is divided into two parts by the large
west window, above which is the pediment. The third stage consists of
the upper part of the two towers; these are surmounted with parapets with
lozenge-shaped mouldings inclosing quatrefoil and trefoil panels. There
are windows to the belfry floors in this stage. Altogether, including
these two belfry windows, there are only three windows in this front;
this is unusual, as there are commonly windows at the west end of the
nave aisles.
It is not easy to give a clear description of this front, or any which
will convey its superb effect. As we see by the frontispiece, it is not
only thickly covered with arcading and statues, but also it is very much
enriched with trefoils, quatrefoils, and cinquefoils, especially in the
spaces over the doors in the lowest stage, and in the pediment above
the great window. The prevalence of the ball-flower decoration should
not escape notice; upon the third stage and the spires it constantly
occurs, although it is not encountered in the first and second stages,
except in the modern tracery of the west window. The ball-flower is
a fourteenth-century ornament: its constant use in the upper parts,
contrasted with its total absence in the lower parts, supplies a
very strong argument that a considerable time elapsed between the
construction of the two lower stages and the upper. The very careful
examination which took place when the whole front was lately restored
revealed the fact that work was not proceeded with continuously; and by
expert opinion the lowest stage is assigned to 1280, the next to 1300,
while the upper stages are still later; and perhaps the whole was not
completed until well on into the last half of the fourteenth century.
As has been stated before, the present appearance of the west front is
that of an entirely new building. In 1820 the front, which is said to
have been then in a very dilapidated condition, was covered with Roman
cement. So thoroughly was this done that the original stone facing only
showed on the eastern side of the north-west tower. Careful drawings of
the tracery there were made by Sir Gilbert Scott, and in 1877 the work
of reconstructing was commenced. It took seven years, and the new west
front was dedicated in 1884. Only five of the old statues remained, and
it was decided to restore the others. There are in all one hundred and
thirteen niches in the west front, including those on the north and south
faces of the side turrets; all but four are now filled, and about one
hundred are in view of any one standing facing the middle of the front.
The large =West Window= has undergone several changes in its tracery;
fortunately we have pictures showing all of them. In Fuller's "Church
History" the tracery, as shown in Hollar's engraving, appears to be
very simple. This tracery was all destroyed in the Civil Wars; and that
which replaced it at the Restoration was provided by James II., when
Duke of York, but it was so ugly and unsuitable to the whole spirit of
the cathedral that it was removed in 1869, and is now replaced by work
which, though greatly differing from the original, yet preserves the
spirit of fourteenth-century work. The Restoration window may be seen
in the beautiful engraving in Britton's "Cathedral Antiquities."
There also is an engraving of the great west door as it was in the
early part of the century, and before the Roman cement era of which
mention has just been made. This doorway, one of the most beautiful
in the country, has much in common with the "Prior's doorway" on the
south side of Lincoln Cathedral. As Britton says: "Both are peculiarly
rich and fanciful and calculated to excite the warmest admiration,"
but in his time the sculptured foliage and the figures running round the
architrave mouldings and between the columns were so much battered and
injured that it was almost impossible to tell the characters of some of
them. This doorway is a recessed porch, the outer arch, in line with the
main walls, being cusped and foliated with elaborate carving; the inner
portion is divided into two arches; the whole being most elaborately
decorated with carvings. The central clustered supports has a figure of
the Virgin and Child, and on either side of the doorway, standing on
clustered pillars beneath canopies, are figures of St. Mary Magdalene
(on the north) with the box of ointment, and on the south, Mary the wife
of Cleophas; farther forward on each side are vacant pedestals, and in
the front are St. John the Evangelist (on the north) and St. Paul (on the
south). Whether these were the characters originally represented is open
to doubt; Stukeley suggested that what was left in his time represented
the Virgin in the centre, and the four Evangelists with Moses and Aaron.
[Illustration: GREAT WEST DOORWAY IN 1813.]
The =bas-relief figures= in the architrave already mentioned have
been restored to represent the two genealogies of Christ as given by
St. Matthew and St. Luke, on the north and south sides respectively,
as follows:--
North side: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Boaz, Jesse, David, Virgin and Child.
South side: Adam, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Shem, Judah, and St. Joseph; the
Virgin and St. Joseph being the two figures at the top of the arch.
There is a very beautiful fourteenth-century bas-relief above the central
pillar of the doorway, representing Our Lord in Glory, with an angel on
each side, having a serpent under his feet.
The doors are covered with fine iron work, which, with the exception of
that on the lowest panel, is supposed to be original.
[Illustration: THE GREAT WEST DOORWAY.]
The two side doorways in the west front are deeply recessed in three
orders with very finely-carved mouldings. These also have bas-relief
figures in the architraves. Those in the northern doorway represent the
principal princes and princesses who promoted Christianity in England,
while those in the southern doorway represent the leading early
missionaries to England.
In the northern doorway, on the north side, are Ethelbert, Edwin, Oswald,
Oswy, Peada, Wulphere; and on the south side, Bertha, Ethelburga, Hilda,
Eanfled, Ermenilda, Werburga.
In the southern doorway, on the north side, are St. Aidan, Finan, Diuma,
Ceollach, Trumhere, Jaruman; and on the south side, Gregory, Augustine,
Paulinus, Theodore, Cuthbert, Wilfrid.
The corbels of the arches of these two doorways are interesting. Those
of the north-west doorway represent Night on one side and the Morning
Star on the other. The former is a female face with a reversed torch,
and the Greek word NYX for night; the latter is a beautiful boy's face
with a burning torch.
Those on the south-west doorway are a blindfolded face and an open face,
representing the Law and the Gospel respectively.
Up to the time of the recent restoration a large statue of Charles
II., who, by gifts of money and also of timber from Needham Forest,
helped Bishop Hacket in the general repair after the Civil Wars,
occupied the principal canopy in the middle of the central gable of
the west front. This statue was the work of a certain stone-mason named
William Wilson, who, by marrying a rich widow, "arrived at knighthood" in
1681. The statue, which certainly was not a work of art from all account
of it, was taken down, and the pedestal is now occupied by a figure
of Our Lord. The two other large canopied niches in the gable being
filled with statues of Moses and Elijah, on the north and south sides
respectively; while the four smaller statues represent, on the north,
St. Gabriel, with St. Uriel underneath; and on the south, St. Michael,
with St. Raphael below.
In giving the list of the statuary on the west front, which now follows,
it is only necessary to say that there is no pretence that the characters
now chosen were those originally represented. All that could be done in
filling the niches was to study the plan of other similar facades, such
as that at Wells, and to imitate the general idea. Tradition, however,
had it that the long row of figures in the top of the lowest stage
represented the Saxon and English kings, with St. Chad in the centre,
and the tradition has been respected.
[Illustration: THE SOUTHERN DOORWAY OF THE WEST FRONT.]
The following is a list of all the statues not already mentioned on
the west front, including these on the north and south faces of the
flanking turrets. The statues are enumerated in rows from the north side
to the south.
On the northern tower the highest tier commences round the corner with
two of the old figures already mentioned, then Aaron, Samuel, Hannah,
another old figure, Deborah, Rachel, another old figure, Sarah, another
old figure, and Eve.
On the southern tower the highest tier commences with Adam, Abel, Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, Melchisedec, Enoch, Methuselah, Noah, Daniel, Job, and Shem
(these two last being, of course, round the corner on the south side).
Taking next the two rows on the northern tower to the north of the great
west window, there are in the higher row, St. Editha, David, St. Helena,
Solomon, St. Gabriel, Zechariah, Nahum, Amos, Jeremiah; and in the lower
row, Dean Bickersteth, St. Mark, Queen Victoria, St. Luke, St. Uriel,
Malachi, Habakkuk, Obadiah, Daniel (Jeremiah being just above Daniel,
by the window).
Taking next the two rows on the southern tower to the south of the
great west window, there are in the higher row, Isaiah, Hosea, Jonah,
Zephaniah, St. Michael, Bishop Hacket, Bishop Lonsdale, Bishop Selwyn
(the niche round the corner is vacant), and in the lower row, Ezekiel,
Joel, Micah, Haggai, St. Raphael, Bishop Clinton, Bishop Patteshall,
Bishop Langton (the niche round the corner is vacant).
Next again below is the long row of kings with St. Chad in the centre
stretching right across the cathedral, the pre-Conquest kings on the south
side of St. Chad, the post-Conquest on the north, as follows:--William the
Conqueror, William Rufus, Henry I., Stephen, Henry II., Richard I., John,
Henry III., Edward I., Edward II., Edward III., Richard II., St. Chad,
Peada, Wulphere, Ethelred, Offa, Egbert, Ethelwolf, Ethelbert, Ethelred,
Alfred, Edgar, Canute, Edward the Confessor.
Lastly, there is the lowest row, which is broken three times by the doors;
these are St. Cyprian, St. Bartholomew, St. Simon, St. James the Less,
St. Thomas (then the northern door), St. Philip, St. Andrew (then the
central door with its seven niches and five statues already described),
St. Paul, St. Matthew (then the southern door), St. James the Greater,
St. Jude, St. Stephen, St. Clement, St. Werburga.
There is also a small figure of St. Antony over the belfry window on
the south side.
[Illustration: A BAY OF THE NAVE--EXTERIOR.]
A tour of the cathedral, starting by the north side, leads past the nave
with its buttresses and flying-buttresses looking picturesque in their
unrestored state, and there can be seen outside the seventh bay of the
nave the remains of the entrance to Dean Yotton's chantry. Coming to the
front of the north transept, it will be noticed that the doorway has steps
inside leading down into the cathedral, while on the opposite side it will
be found that the steps lead from the south door down outside; the level
of the ground on the two sides of the cathedral being very different.
=The North Doorway= is extremely fine, and is deeply recessed. Like the
other two main doorways of the cathedral,--that at the west end and that
in the south transept--this doorway is double, the main arch being divided
into two. The archivolts of these are lancet-shaped and covered with
foliage, but not foliated as in the west door. Outside the double-arched
doorway proper, the architrave is divided into five principal and
several smaller mouldings; the larger ones being very finely carved,
as to two, the second and fourth, with inter-twisted foliage and scroll
work; and as to the other three, the inner, middle, and outer, with small
lozenge-shaped plaques containing bas-relief figures. These figures in the
inner moulding are angels, in the middle one probably they are patriarchs
and prophets. In the outer one, on the left or eastern side, the figures
show the genealogy of Christ, beginning with Jesse at the springing
stone, and ending with the Virgin and Child near the crown; while on the
right-hand side, opposite Jesse, is the figure of St. Chad baptising
the sons of King Wulphere, and above, the Apostles from St. Matthias to
St. Peter at the crown. The whole architrave is surmounted by a weather
moulding in the form of a gable, with a recently executed cross in the
style of the thirteenth century at the top. The pillars on each side
of the doorway have finely carved capitals, and the outer pillars are
separated by lines of dog-toothing. The central pillar is very graceful,
and consists of four slender shafts with carved capitals. The whole forms
a magnificent example of a doorway in the Early English style, but showing
signs of its derivation from the Norman. There is a niche in the tympanum
which was apparently in Britton's time empty; but it must soon after have
been filled with an image of St. Anne in Roman cement; this has recently
been replaced by a statue of the same saint by Mr W. R. Ingram, while
above some Roman cement work in the top of the gable has been removed,
and a vesica containing a bas-relief of Our Lord in Glory by Mr Bridgeman
reproduces no doubt the original architect's idea. The doorway, though
it has been considerably restored, was not so much injured as a great
deal of the rest of the cathedral, and so contains some very charming
carving of the thirteenth century. There are two figures in Roman cement,
one on each side of the doorway, representing St. Jude with a scroll,
and St. James the Less with a club. No doubt these will both disappear
before long, and their place be filled with modern statues.
[Illustration: THE NORTH ENTRANCE IN 1813.]
Passing by the somewhat plain octagonal chapter-house, where we may
perhaps wonder whether the small niches in the top of the buttresses
which stick up like little turrets ever contained images, we come to
the side of the choir and presbytery, which has not yet been restored,
and then to the Lady Chapel.
[Illustration: A BAY OF THE CHOIR--EXTERIOR.]
The outside of the =Lady Chapel= has recently been very much altered;
and the old buttresses, which but the other day were as left by Bishop
Langton, with only the hand of decay showing on them, are now gone,
and in their place are brand new buttresses, with brand new niches and
saints. Those in the top row are the holy women of the Old Testament,
while below them are the holy women of the New Testament. The lower
row represent Priscilla, Anna, Dorcas, Mary, Martha, Lydia, Phoebe and
Elizabeth; and above are Esther, Ruth, Naomi, Rizpah, Deborah, Miriam,
Rachel, and Rebecca.
On the south side of the Lady Chapel are the curious chapels--known as
the mortuary chapels--with their gabled fronts lying in the three spaces
between the buttresses. These are more fully described in their place
in the next chapter.
From this end of the cathedral can be well seen the arcaded parapet
with its battlements, which runs round the top of the eastern half of
the building and of the transepts, also the turrets of the sacristry
with their high crocketted pinnacles; from here, too, can be seen, what
Professor Willis draws attention to, "that the rebuilt clerestory of the
western part of the choir betrays by the lighter colour of its stone that
it was a work subsequent to the eastern part." On one of the buttresses
of the choir on this side is an ancient image of a female figure, but
it is too much decayed to afford any clue to the character represented,
though it remains a very charming instance of Gothic sculpture. On the
east corner of the sacristry there is a modern figure of Godefroi de
Bouillon, and at the other corner is a figure of St. Chad.
[Illustration: DOORWAY OF SOUTH TRANSEPT BEFORE THE LAST RESTORATION.]
In the gable of the =South Transept= is a very beautiful rose window,
which is hidden by the stone groining from the inside. Mr J. O. Scott,
in a lecture already referred to, declared that "this rose window is so
high up in the gable that it never could have been combined with any
stone groining. But, by referring to York Minster, between which and
Lichfield many curious parallels may be traced, it is seen at once how
a rose window in this position may be brought into the general design.
This is effected by using a particular kind of wooden groining, the
part of which nearest to the gable wall is lifted up so as to exhibit
the window from within the building."
The large doorway in the south transept, which as seen from the outside
is at the top of a flight of steps, very much resembles the doorway on
the north side, but the carving is not so fine; it has been very much
restored, and three shields have been in comparatively recent times carved
in the tympanum. The shields show the arms of the see, of Bishop Lloyd,
and Dean Addison, thus declaring this to have been done about 1700.
To the right of this doorway, outside the southern end of the transept
aisle, is an ancient monument, probably of an archdeacon. A carved figure
lies in a recess surmounted by a stone canopy.
The large heavy buttresses which disfigure the outside of this transept
were the work of Wyatt at the end of the last century. The outside of
the nave on this side presents a very different appearance to the other
side. Here everything is new and uninteresting. The entrance to the bell
tower is on this side, and a winding stair leads to the belfry stage.
There are ten =Bells=, seven of which date from about 1687, and are
therefore of the same age as the bishop's palace. In that year Hacket's
six bells, which can only have been hanging some sixteen or seventeen
years, were found to be useless, and a subscription was raised to replace
them with a peal of ten. There is a letter from the dean and chapter
to Elias Ashmole, in which it is stated that Henry Bagley of Ecton,
the bell-founder, had "so over-sized the eight bells he had cast, that
they had swallowed up all the metal for the ten," and that eighty pounds
more would be required, but that they did not regret the mistake as it
"would make extremely for the advantage and glory of the cathedral (the
bigness of such a ring far more befitting the place)." Only seven of
these bells are now in use; the other three are by Rudhall of Gloucester
and Mears of London. In 1748 the belfry caught fire and the ninth bell
cracked with the heat, but it was recast in the same year, and since
then there has been no change.
The story of the earliest cathedral bells is lost. It was usual in
early days to hang the bells in a separate tower somewhere in the
cathedral precincts. Here, we know that in 1315 the bell tower was burnt
down,--"Combustum fuit campanile cum campanis in clauso Lichfeldensi." The
site of this tower was lately discovered in the bishop's garden. Dean
Heywood, in 1477, gave a large bell to the cathedral--it was known as
the Jesus Bell; the gift is mentioned in the _Cantaria Sancti Blasii_,
where the cost is stated to be one hundred pounds. The bell bore this
inscription:--
_"I am the bell of Jesus, and Edward is our king,_
_Sir Thomas Heywood first caused me to ring."_
This bell was hung in the south-west tower, which thus came to be called
the Jesus-Bell Tower. The bell was destroyed during the Civil Wars. An
ancient writer quoted by Shaw, after detailing the terrible fates
of those who took part against religious houses and churches, says:
"Nor shall I relate what happened to one, Pickins, a pewterer, who on
July 26, 1653, knoct in pieces the fair bell called Jesus, at Lichfield,
he being the chief officer appointed for demolishing that cathedral."
There was also a bell called the "Clocke Bell," which was hung in the
lowest storey of the Jesus spire. It is shown in the south view given
in Fuller's "Church History," and particular attention is there directed
to it. The clock bell and all the others are now hung in the top storey
of the tower.
There is also a small bell in the great central tower called "the
Tantony": it formerly belonged to the Dyott family.
In the south-west tower is also the new =Clock,= which was put up in
1890. The face is underneath, in the west end of the south aisle of the
nave; there is no outside face. The well-known Cambridge quarter chimes
can, it is said, be heard at a distance of three miles.
In the green grass of the close are many tombstones, and round about
the cathedral stone coffins have been dug up; on the north side of the
choir is the traditional burying-place of two Mercian kings.
CHAPTER III
THE INTERIOR
Lichfield is one of the smallest cathedrals in England. In length it only
measures 370 feet from the inside of the west door to the extreme end of
the inside of the Lady Chapel, while the interior of the nave, with its
aisles, is only a little more than 68 feet wide; and yet its smallness
is not the first fact that will strike the visitor on entering the west
door: rather, on the other hand, its immense length in proportion to its
height and width will be noticed, but probably all other feelings will
be forgotten in the beauty of the vista that lies before him. The long
line of arches and the long low roof, with its almost countless bosses,
lead the eye down to the Lady Chapel, where a mass of blue and red shows
that the cathedral has some of the most beautiful glass in the kingdom.
The orientation of the nave and choir are not the same--the choir and
Lady Chapel being considerably inclined to the north. Many have been the
theories raised by the curious discoveries made as to the deflections
of various parts of this cathedral. They are too numerous to quote here,
and it will be sufficient to note that the total deflection of the east
end from the true east is about ten degrees.
[Illustration: A BAY OF THE NAVE--INTERIOR.]
=The Nave.=--The view of the interior of the cathedral from the inside
of the west door is, as we have said, extremely beautiful. This beauty
is much enhanced by the general appearance of unity in the whole
design. There seems to be no mixture of styles, and though a closer
examination of the details of the interior shows that there is a very
marked difference between the style in which the nave is built and that
which was in vogue when the Lady Chapel and presbytery were erected;
yet the whole, having been built at a time when the Early English style
was giving place gradually to the Decorated, or, in the more eastern
portion, when that later style was well established, the general effect of
the cathedral, seen from this aspect, is one of unity. The exact date of
the nave cannot be determined, and there is no direct evidence on which
to base a theory; but it is very clear, from a comparison of its style
with that of churches whose history is known, that it must have been
commenced and carried to a speedy conclusion about the middle of the
thirteenth century. Professor Willis gives the date as 1250, and other
archaeologists at various dates between that and 1280. There is no doubt,
at any rate, that it was built at the transitional period of the Early
English style, and it would be described by some as belonging to the
Early Decorated period, and by others as belonging to the geometrical
period of the Decorated style. The nave, including the western front,
consists of eight bays, having aisles on the north and south sides,
with the same number of bays; but the spaces underneath the two western
towers are considerably larger than the other aisle bays, though not
large enough to be looked upon as western transepts, as is possible in
some churches where there is a similar arrangement. Many writers have
complained of the insufficient height of the nave, and that the general
effect is thereby spoilt, and to a very limited extent this may be true.
Probably the nave roof was at one time of much higher pitch; the course
on the outside of the great tower suggests it, as also does the fact
that the great west window runs into the roof. Probably the roof was
lowered when the presbytery was built, and the whole roofing of the
cathedral brought down to the same level.
[Illustration: A BAY OF THE CHOIR--INTERIOR.]
The piers are large, and consist of clustered shafts, lozenge-shaped in
plan, set on much moulded bases, and having beautifully carved foliated
capitals from which spring architrave mouldings of great variety.
From the base and up the centre of each pier runs a cluster of three
fine columns to capitals, also foliated, at the top of the triforium;
from these spring five vaulting ribs, three of which diverge to an
ornamental central rib, and two to a small similarly decorated transverse
rib. There are finely carved bosses at the intersection of all the various
ribs. The top of each arch touches the string course, above which is
the beautiful triforium. This consists of a row of double arches, each
arch being sub-divided into two lights with geometrical tracery above.
The mouldings are highly decorated with dog-toothing, and the string
course between the triforium and the clerestory, as well as the moulding
enclosing the clerestory windows, has this same ornament, which is
freely used and produces a very rich effect. The clerestory windows
are spherical triangles enclosing three circles with quatrefoil cusps;
the form of these windows is somewhat rare, but similar windows are to
be seen at Westminster, Hereford, Carlisle, and York. The spandrels of
most of the pier arches are ornamented with a large circle with five
cusps, across which the vault shafts pass; this decoration will be seen
again in the choir. A notable feature in these bays is the size of the
triforium in proportion to the size of the pier arches and clerestory;
this gives it unusual importance in the general scheme. At Lincoln, where
there is a similar triforium, a very different effect is produced by its
comparative smallness. The open tracery here is very much like that in
Westminster Abbey. It will be seen that the dripstones of the arches and
windows terminate in small sculptured heads: a usual arrangement at this
period. It may be added that the beautiful capitals have scarcely been
restored at all; so little damage had been done to them, that when the
whitewash was removed during the recent restorations, they were found to
have been hardly touched either by decay, Puritans, or previous restorers.
[Illustration: THE NAVE IN 1813.]
[Illustration: THE NAVE, LOOKING EAST.]
The roof of the nave was greatly damaged at the time of the Civil
Wars--indeed, it has been said that the central spire, in its fall,
completely smashed it in; but this is probably not the case, as the spire
almost certainly fell on the other side of the tower. Still, it is not
difficult, after reading an account of the siege, to understand that the
roof would be much injured. About a century after its repair by Bishop
Hacket, it was found that the great weight of the stone groining was
forcing out the clerestory walls, already much weakened by rough usage,
and, in consequence, Wyatt removed the stone work in several bays,
and replaced it with lath and plaster work made to imitate the rest
of the roofing. Sir Gilbert Scott was urged to restore the old stone
vaulting, but he decided that without great structural alterations,
principally to the buttresses, which he did not feel justified in
making, this could not be done. The vaulting has been coloured so that
the difference between the stone compartments--the most eastern and the
two western ones--and the plaster compartments might not be noticed;
it will easily be seen how much the clerestory walls have been thrust
out. It is also interesting to note that at about the same time Wyatt
restored the roof of the aisles to its old pitch. Originally, as now,
the aisle roof ascended so as to reach to just below the clerestory
windows. In Hollar's picture the upper portion of the triforium windows
can be seen, so that they must have become practically a portion of the
clerestory during this time. Investigation of the windows themselves
proves that they have been glazed, and this confirms what otherwise,
considering the great inexactness of the pictures of the period, could not
be inferred with certainty. There is a view of the cathedral as late as
1781 showing this arrangement; but in Jackson's "History of Lichfield,"
1796, the aisle roof hides the whole of the triforium as at present.
The windows of the aisles agree well with the other windows of the nave,
and have three lights with trefoiled circles in the head, while below
the windows is an arcade resting on a bench, the arches of which are
surmounted with pediments richly carved. There are six of these arches in
each bay, and between the bays rise triple vaulting shafts with carved
capitals of leafage; from these spring three ribs running to a central
rib on which are beautiful bosses like those in the nave.
[Illustration: THE NAVE, LOOKING WEST.]
=The Great West Window.=--The tracery of this window has already been
discussed in the description of the exterior. The present glass was
placed there in 1869, to the memory of Canon Hutchinson, who, perhaps,
of all was most eager for the restoration of the cathedral, and to whose
untiring energy, it is said, is due the wholesale renovation of the
interior by Sir Gilbert Scott. This window was the result of a public
subscription, and is the work of Messrs Clayton & Bell. The six large
figures represent St. Michael, St. Joseph, St. Mary, and the Three Magi,
while underneath are small pictures of the Annunciation, the Angel warning
Joseph, the Nativity, the Journey of the Magi, the Magi inquire of Herod,
and the Flight into Egypt. As to the previous glass in this window, there
seems to be no record of that which must have decorated it before the
Civil Wars. In Shaw's "History of Staffordshire," there are long lists
of the glass to be found in the cathedral; but it is difficult to decide
which window is being described. After the Restoration, we have in a
Bodleian MS. the following record:--"Oct. 6, 1671. Arms in the Great West
Window, Arms of King Charles the Second, Crest and Supporters; Arms of
James Duke of York, his brother, Crest and Supporters. And beneath them,
_Serenissimus princeps Jacobus dux Ebor hanc fenestram. F.F._" Britton
says it was afterwards filled with painted glass, the work of Brookes,
by the legacy of Dr Addenbroke, who died dean of this cathedral in 1776.
Over the great west door in the inside of the cathedral was
formerly inscribed:--
_Oswyus est Lichfield fundator, sed reparator_
_Offa fuit; regum fama perennis erit:_
_Rex Stephanus, rex Heniricus primusque Richardus,_
_Rex et Johannis, plurima dona dabant._
_Pene haec millenos ecclesia floruit annos,_
_Duret ad extremum nobilis usque diem,_
_Daque deus longum, ut floreat hae sacra aedes_
_Et celebret nomen plebs ibi sancta tuum._
_Fundata est ecclesia Merciencis_
_Quae nunc Lichfieldia dicitur_
_Facta Cathedralis_
_Anno Domini_
_DCLVII_
Dugdale, in his "Visitation of Staffordshire," gives us this inscription.
It has long since disappeared. Pennant mentions a curious or, as he calls
it, "droll" epitaph on the floor near the west door, but there is no sign
of it now:--"_William Roberts of Overbury, some time malster in this town
(tells you) for the love I bore to choir service, I chose to be buried
in this place._ He died Decr. 16th, 1768."
From a MS. quoted by Shaw we learn that before the Great War "on a fair
marble gravestone, placed on the right-hand at the entrance into the
choir, is this inscription on a brass plate:--
"_Here lyeth George Bullen lat dean of this church who made his own
epitaph--viz._,
_Lo here in earth my body lyes,_
_Whose sinfull lyfe deserves the rod:_
_Yet I believe the same shall rise,_
_And praise the mercies of my God._
_As for my soule let none take thought,_
_It is with him that hath it bought;_
_For God on me doth mercy take_
_For nothing else but Jhesus sake._"
Bullen or Boleyn was dean during the greater part of the reign of
Elizabeth, who offered him the bishopric of Worcester, which he
refused. Elizabeth, it will be remembered, was the daughter of Anne
Boleyn, whose kinsman the dean was.
=The Font= stands between the first and second pillars from the west
door on the north side of the nave. It is quite modern, and is the gift
of the Honourable Mrs Henry Howard, widow of the late dean. It is made
of alabaster and Caen stone, and is supported on marble pillars. There
are four sculptured panels in relief, representing--"The Entry into
the Ark," "The Passage of the Red Sea," "The Baptism of our Lord," and
"The Resurrection." Between these there are niches containing figures
of St. Mary, St. Peter, St. Chad, and St. Helen.
A curious old font was discovered in 1856 immediately under the place
where the present altar stands. It was very simple in form, being about
a yard and a half square and two feet thick, with a hemispherical cavity
in it. It had been coloured bright red, and was much cracked, as though
it had been subjected to intense heat. How it came where it was is not
known. It may have been discarded as rubbish or hidden as a relic.
=The Pulpit= is in the nave, and is fixed to the north-western pier of the
tower. Its design and execution were by Sir Gilbert Scott and Mr Skidmore
respectively, who were also responsible for the choir screen. The pulpit
is of wrought-iron, brass, copper, enamels, and marble. In the middle
there is a bronze group representing St. Peter preaching on the Day
of Pentecost. There are stairs on each side of the pulpit. The brass
=Lectern= is also modern, and is in the usual form of an eagle. It was
presented by the members of the Lichfield Theological College, and was
executed by Mr Hardman of Birmingham. The =Litany Desk= is by Messrs
Rattee & Kett of Cambridge, the well-known carvers; and the =Bishop's
Chair=, which stands under the great tower, was presented by the clergy
of Derbyshire when that county was transferred from this diocese to the
new diocese of Southwell. The chair is not of striking beauty.
[Illustration: NORTH AISLE OF NAVE, LOOKING EAST.]
In the North Aisle of the Nave there are several monuments and some
modern glass. The window in the north-west tower has recently been
adorned with glass to the memory of Bishop Lonsdale, under whom the
recent restoration commenced. The subject is "The Presentation of Christ
in the Temple," and it is the work of Messrs Burlison & Grylls. Close to
this is a tablet, originally placed in the north transept by order of Ann
Seward, who had considerable fame as a poetess in the last century, to
the memory of her father, Canon Seward, his wife and daughter Sarah. It
also commemorates her own death. The lines are by Sir Walter Scott,
but it is impossible to be enthusiastic over them. They end--
"_Honour'd beloved, and mourn'd here Seward lies;_
_Her worth, her warmth of heart, our sorrows say,--_
_Go seek her genius in her living lay._"
There is a representation of the poetess mourning her dead relatives,
while her harp is hanging neglected on a tree. On the other side is
a memorial tablet to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, who was a native of
Lichfield. In these days of anti-vaccination agitations it is interesting
to read the inscription which runs:--
"_The Right Honourable Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, who happily
introduced from Turkey into this country the Salutary Art of
inoculating the Smallpox. Convinced of its efficacy, she first
tried it with success on her own children, and then recommended
the practice of it to her fellow-citizens. Thus, by her example
and advice, we have softened the Virulence and escaped the
danger of this Malignant Disease. To perpetuate the memory of
such benevolence, and to express the gratitude for the benefit
she hereby has received from this Alleviating Art, this Monument
is erected by Henrietta Inge, Relict of Theodore William Inge,
Esq., and Daughter of Sir John Wrotesley, Baronet. In the year
of Our Lord, 1789._"
Close at hand is a tablet in memory of Mr Gilbert Walmesley, who
was registrar of the diocese, and an early and close friend of Dr
Johnson. Of him the latter wrote, in his life of Edmund Smith (one of
the well-known "Lives of the Poets"), that passage which contains the
celebrated sentence about David Garrick so often quoted. Speaking of
Gilbert Walmesley, he says that he is "not able to name a man of equal
knowledge. His acquaintance with books was great; such was his amplitude
of learning, and such his copiousness of communication, that it may be
doubted whether a day now passes in which I have not some advantage
from his friendship. At this man's table I enjoyed many cheerful and
instructive hours with companions such as are not often found; with
one who has lengthened, and one who has gladdened life; with Dr James,
whose skill in physic will be long remembered, and with David Garrick,
whose death has eclipsed the gaiety of nations, and impoverished the
public stock of harmless pleasure."
There are other monuments in this aisle, but they are scarcely of such
general interest. Here are tablets in memory of Jane and Catherine Jervis
and of Elizabeth and Arabella Buchanan. There is a stained glass window
by Messrs Burlison & Grylls containing three large figures of Joshua,
St. Michael, and the Centurion, with, underneath, pictures of the Angel
appearing to Joshua, the Centurion at the Cross, and the Centurion coming
to Our Lord; above, in the tracery of the window, are angels. This window
was the gift of the officers of the 38th (1st Staffordshire) Regiment;
on one side are their Peninsular, and on the other their Crimean colours,
which the dean and chapter received from the regiment with much ceremony
in 1886 and 1887 respectively. Beneath the window is a brass in memory
of those members of the regiment who died in the Peninsula, first Burmah,
Crimean, and Egyptian (1882) wars, and the Indian Mutiny. There are also
brasses to Lieutenant-Colonels Sinclair and Eyre and the officers and
men of this regiment who fell in the first Soudan war, and also brasses
to Colonel Bromley Davenport and Sir Arthur Scott, Bart. Here, too, is a
window in memory of Canon Madan, his wife and children: the subject being
Faith, Hope, and Charity. In the window next the transept is some quite
new glass in memory of Canon Curteis, the large figures representing
Samuel, St. Paul, and Origen, while below are Samuel teaching the Sons
of the Prophets, St. Paul saying farewell to the Elders at Miletus,
and St. Catherine and the Philosophers of Alexandria.
The famous Dr Stukeley, writing about 1715, says: "As you walk down the
north aisle, by a little doorway, formerly a chapel, where lay several
figures now demolished, yet one remains, who was dean Yotton, his coat
of arms at his head and Yot with a tun by it which shows his name." The
only remaining sign of this chapel is the entrance, which can be plainly
seen from the outside of the cathedral.
In the =South Aisle of the Nave=, at the west end, there is a monument
to Dean Addison, the father of the great essayist and poet; he died in
1703. His memorial slab is now under the Jesus Tower, but formerly it was
on the north of the west door. The glass in the window of the tower is
in memory of Dean Howard, during whose time as dean so much of the work
of restoration was done, and who so munificently aided the work. This
glass, which is by Messrs Burlison & Grylls, represents St. Michael and
the Dragon, and St. Chad. The other glass on this side is the window of
the fifth bay, by Messrs Clayton & Bell, the subjects being Our Lord and
Lazarus, Our Lord and Mary and Martha, and Mary Magdalene washing Our
Lord's feet; in the next bay the glass, by Messrs Ward & Hughes, shows
Faith, Hope, and Charity; in the seventh bay the glass is by Messrs
Clayton & Bell, and has David and Goliath for its subject, and is in
memory of the officers of the 64th (2nd Staffordshire) Regiment who fell
in the Indian Mutiny. There is in the eighth bay a window by Hardman in
memory of Helen, wife of Josiah Spode. Between the aisle and the nave
there is a brass in the floor in memory of the late Earl of Lichfield,
placed there in 1854. There are several other modern brasses and tablets.
In this aisle are two of the three semi-effigies to be seen in the
cathedral. These show only the heads and the feet. Britton says: "They
are said to represent two old canons of the church; and are evidently
of ancient date, as they appear to have been placed in the present
situation at the time of building or finishing the nave." One of these
is in a better state of preservation than the other, and shows in the
drapery the remains of colour.
=The Transepts= are earlier than the nave in style, having been built in
the beginning of the thirteenth century: the south transept first, and
then the north. It must have been for these transepts that Henry III.,
in 1235 and 1238, granted licences to the dean and chapter of Lichfield
to dig stone from the royal forest of Hopwas for the new fabric of the
church of Lichfield. Whether these ecclesiastics did more harm than the
king liked in digging on the first occasion cannot be said, but on the
second occasion they are permitted "fodere petram ad fabricam ecclesiae
suae de Lichefeld in quarrera de Hopwas; ita tamen quod hoc fiat sine
detrimento forestae nostrae"--that is to say, they were to do as little
damage as possible.
[Illustration: ARCADE, WITH SEMI-EFFIGY, IN SOUTH AISLE.]
The transepts have three bays each, with eastern aisles, the aisle
belonging to the north transept being very much the larger. There can
be no doubt that when the Norman transepts were standing there were
no aisles; nor were any contemplated when the choir was built, for, as
Professor Willis says: "The side walls of the choir are continued to the
transepts, and had windows in the part looking into the present transept
aisles. Probably when the choir was built Norman transepts were standing,
and had each an apsidal chapel looking east in the usual manner."
The history of the roof is extremely interesting. We know that "in
1243 King Henry III. issued a commission to Walter Grey, Archbishop
of York, to expedite the works at St. George's Chapel, Windsor, in
which he orders a lofty wooden roof, like the roof of the new work at
Lichfield, to appear like stone work, with good ceiling (_celatura?_) and
painting. The transepts of Lichfield have now stone vaults, considerably
later than the walls, and, therefore, may have had a wooden vault at
first. The date would suit the transepts better than the choir, and it
may be remarked that the early abacus of the vault shaft (at least, in
the south transept) is surmounted by a second abacus in the Perpendicular
style, which shows the later construction of the springing stones of the
present stone vault." The low stone vaulting has destroyed the effect
which the original windows in the north and south ends of the transepts
must have produced. At the south end was probably a large five-light
Early English window, surmounted by a rose window. The rose window still
remains, but, being above the present groining, cannot be seen from inside
the cathedral; the five lights are replaced by a nine-light obtuse-headed
window, which seems much too large for the transept; and this effect is
increased by the extreme whiteness and transparency of its glass. At the
north end, the five-light window is surmounted with three small lights,
but these last again are hidden in the roof.
[Illustration: DETAIL OF A SEMI-EFFIGY.]
The windows in the transepts have seen many changes, and are now mostly
in the Perpendicular manner, the exceptions being in the west wall of the
south transept, and the north window just referred to. Until 1892 this
was a large Perpendicular window--which, though early, and prior to the
Civil War, was a manifest intrusion on the space originally occupied
by an Early English window. The old design, which is not unlike that
of the famous window at York, has again taken its place. Canon Lonsdale
says that this change is "in every sense a restoration: for, on taking
out the Perpendicular window, and removing such of the stone work as was
defective on either side, the headings of the five Early English lights,
which had unquestionably composed the original window, were discovered,
hidden away by the later workmen. The cusps, or headings, of the lights,
as they are now seen from the inside, are, with the exception of six
stones, the very identical material which the Early English builders
carved, and placed in that spot. Of these six missing stones, three have
since been discovered during the work going on in the south transept."
There can be no doubt that some of the Perpendicular work in the cathedral
is due to the general repair at the Restoration; but Professor Willis
declares that many of the changes are earlier, and that they were
perhaps effected in the time between Bishops Heyworth and Blythe,
1420 to 1503. The engravings of Hollar, already referred to, were
published before 1660, and show Perpendicular windows in the gable of
the south transept and in the clerestory; and though from these pictures
nothing can be gleaned about the north transept, the character of the
Perpendicular work was such that it also, as has just been stated,
must have been prior to the Rebellion. It is possible, on the outside
western face of the north transept, to trace the old lancet windows,
which must have been arranged in groups of three, while the lower windows
on the west side of the south transept are still in their old form,
though on this side there are only two lancets to each bay. It may
be mentioned here that underneath these last windows, on the outside,
there is an arcading with simple pointed arches which does not appear on
the other transept. Inside the arcading differs in the two transepts;
in the south and older one the pointed arches are plain, while on the
north they are cusped. This arcading is almost entirely new; what there
was of it until recently was principally of plaster.
From the ground plan of this cathedral published by Browne Willis in 1727,
we see that the whole of the aisle of the north transept is described as
"The Bishop's Consistory Court and St. Stephen's Chapel," while the aisle
of the south transept is divided into two parts, the southern being called
"The Dean's Consistory Court," the northern "The Vicar's Vestry." St.
Stephen's Chapel was in the inner bay of the aisle; and it has been
suggested that "the chantry of St. Anne and the image of Jesus" was in
the rood loft of the same transept.
In the =North Transept= are many memorial tablets, but it cannot
be said that they are of general interest either from their beauty,
age, or on account of the eminence of the persons commemorated. On
the west side of the steps down from the north door is the curious
monument to Dean Heywood, who died in 1492, and whose benefactions are
mentioned in their proper places. The monument is sadly decayed, but
there is a print of it in Shaw's "Staffordshire," taken, says Britton,
from Dugdale's "Visitation." From this we know that the upper part is
now missing; the lower part, which remains, shows the skeleton of the
dean--his body after death--while above was his representation in full
canonical costume. Similar monuments may be seen at St. John's College,
Cambridge, in the chapel, and at Exeter and Lincoln Cathedrals. On the
other side of the door is a large modern monument to Archdeacon Iles,
who died in 1888: the figure is recumbent. Above the door is a marble
tablet to Dean Woodhouse; he gave the glass--now in the Guildhall--which
filled the Perpendicular window recently replaced by the present Early
English window. The new glass, and indeed the new window, was given by
Mr James Chadwick of Hints Hall, near Tamworth; it is known as the Jesse
window, and gives the genealogy of our Lord according to St. Matthew. The
figures beginning from the west side represent (1) Achaz, Asa, Abia; (2)
Ezekias, Solomon, Roboam; (3) the Virgin Mary and Child, Salathiel, David,
Jesse; (4) Josias, Josaphat, Joram; (5) Manasses, Joatham, Ozias; with
angels in the four side lights. The inscription under the window says:
"Hanccine fenestram Jacobus Chadwick de vico Hints reficiendam vitroque
picto ornandam impensis suis curavit. A.D. MDCCCXCIII." Messrs Clayton &
Bell are responsible for this window.
The whole of the aisle of this transept is taken up with the organ,
in front of which a metal screen or gryll was placed in 1881 by the
officers and men of the 80th Regiment, in memory of their comrades who
fell in the Zulu War. The screen is ornamented with imitations of Zulu
shields and assegais. There are many tablets in this aisle, but they
are entirely hidden by the organ.
=The Organ= was presented by Mr Spode of Hawkesyard Park, near Lichfield,
in 1860, and was first used at the reopening in 1861; in 1884 it
needed repair, and was then very much enlarged by Messrs Hill & Son,
the well-known organ-builders of London, the expense being defrayed
by voluntary subscriptions. It was dedicated, at the same time as the
restored west front, in the presence of a vast concourse of people,
on May 29th, 1884. The console of the organ is now behind the stalls
in the first bay of the south aisle of the choir. It is interesting to
learn from Canon Lonsdale that, when it was found necessary to build
an engine-house in the close to supply motive power to the organ, in
digging out the chamber, somewhat to the east of the steps leading to
the north door, two or three cannon balls and the remains of a shell
were unearthed at a short distance from the surface.
The present organ is the successor to many other organs. The first of
which there is any record was given to the cathedral by Dean Heywood,
as is known from this entry in the _Cantaria S. Blasii_, in the
cathedral library: "Magna organa in pulpito. Item cito post festum
nativitatis Sancti Johannis Baptiste. Anno domini MCCCC. octogesimo
secundo. ex providencia et sumptibus magistri Thome Heywode
decani antedicti. conferuntur ecclesi cath lich organa nova magnae
quantitatis. et formae decentis. ad honorem sancti cedde et ornamentirm
ecclesiae precij xxvi. Li. iij.s. iiij.d. totalitur de sumptibus et
expensis predicti decani. Sma xxvj. Li. iij.s. iiij.d."
Dean Heywood also presented another organ, which was known as the Jesus
organ; but it was much smaller presumably, as it cost rather less than
half as much.
The next time there is mention of an organ is in 1634, when, in an account
of their travels by three tourists, they say: "The organs and voices
were deep and sweet, their anthems we were much delighted with, and of
the voyces, 2 Trebles, 2 Counter-tenors, and 2 Bases, that equally on
each side of the Quire most melodiously acted and performed their parts."
The organ here referred to, however "deep and sweet," was not considered
good enough, for in 1636, according to a deed still preserved in the
cathedral, the dean and chapter purchased an organ from Robert Dallam
of Covent Garden, which, no doubt, "was the pair of organs valued at
£200" destroyed by the Puritans. The organ that Hacket set up was
obtained by the subscriptions of ladies; the bishop writes: "An Organ
is bespoke at £600 price, to be call'd the Ladies Organ, because
none but the honourable and most pious of that sex shall contribute
to that sum." The names of the chief subscribers were written on
the organ: "Illustrissima heroina Francisca ducissima Somersetensis.
Honoratissima domina, comitissa Devon: Clarissima domina, Jana, domina
de Gerard Bromley," and many others, as set out by Ashmole, who also
tells us that there were "coats of arms under the organ at the entrance
into the choir," showing that the organ loft was situated between the
two eastern piers of the tower. Harwood, in his "History of Lichfield,"
tells us of another organ "which was removed in A.D. 1740 to the vicar's
hall, and became at length an ornament to Mr Greene's museum," whence it
afterwards found its way to the church at Hamstall Ridware. While in
the vicar's hall it was damaged by soldiers quartered there in the
'45. It is now in the bishop's palace. In 1740 it was replaced in the
cathedral by an organ by Schwarbrook, which in turn, in Wyatt's time,
was superseded by one by Samuel Green--this was much larger, and took
up the whole of the western bay of the choir. The present organ is much
the largest the cathedral has possessed, and, compared to the old one
in the palace, is so large that, according to Mr Hewitt, the whole of
the latter would go inside the pedal pipes of the former.
The south transept has its full share of monuments, two of which are of
great interest. These are the memorials to Dr Johnson and to his friend,
David Garrick, the actor. The busts are both by Sir Richard Westmacott,
R.A. The inscription to the first says:
_The Friends of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. (a native of Lichfield),
erected this Monument as a tribute of respect to the Memory
of a man of extensive learning, a distinguished Moral Writer,
and a Sincere Christian. He died the 13th of December 1784;
Aged 75 years._
The other reads:
_EVA MARIA, Relict of DAVID GARRICK, Esq., caused this Monument
to be erected to the Memory of her beloved Husband, who died
the 20th January 1779: Aged 63 years._
Garrick had not only the amiable qualities of private life, but such
astonishing dramatic talents as to well verify the observations of his
friend, which have already been quoted (p. 66), in reference to the
memorial of Gilbert Walmesley.
Samuel Johnson was born in Lichfield, where his father was a bookseller;
his shop is still standing, scarcely altered, on the west side of the
Market Place, close to the monument of his famous son (see p. 136). David
Garrick came with his parents to live in Lichfield when very young, and he
and Johnson attended the Grammar School together. There was a difference
of several years in their ages, but their life-long friendship must
have begun early, seeing that Johnson wrote the Prologue for Garrick's
performance of Farquhar's comedy, "The Recruiting Officer," which took
place at the Bishop's Palace when Garrick was only eleven years old. Some
years after, when Johnson had left Oxford and had set up a school in
the neighbourhood of Lichfield, Garrick joined him as a pupil; but the
venture did not prove successful, and master and pupil left Lichfield
for London, where each in his own line reached the highest summit of fame.
These memorials stand side by side in the aisle; for some reason, the
busts were removed to the library when the interior was being restored
by Sir Gilbert Scott, but they have once again been replaced in the spot
originally chosen for them. The friendship of Johnson and Garrick was
long and cordial: it is fitting we should see that in their death they
were not divided.
In this aisle, which until recently was used as the Dean's Consistory
Court, is another monument by Westmacott; this is in memory of Andrew
Newton, who was so munificent a friend to his native Lichfield. He
founded the institution on the west side of the close for the widows and
orphans of clergymen, which he also endowed; and on his death, in 1806,
he left a library of books to the cathedral.
In the first bay of the aisle is a monument to the officers and men of
the 80th Regiment (Staffordshire Volunteers). The design is Egyptian, and
is surmounted by a sphinx. Over the monument hang colours taken from the
Sikhs, and on the wall behind are the old regimental colours. At the south
end is a very fine and costly altar tomb--to Admiral Sir William Parker,
who, when he died in 1866, was the last survivor of Nelson's captains. The
slab of Pyrenean jasper is inlaid with a gold cross, and the front is
adorned with stones of porphyry and lapis lazuli. The window above has
some of the Herkenrode glass left over from the Lady Chapel, together with
some modern glass. The great south window, which, as has just been stated,
is in the Perpendicular style, was in 1895 adorned with new glass; this
was the gift of Mr A. P. Heywood-Lonsdale, in memory of his father and
his uncle, Bishop Lonsdale. The subject is "I am the vine, ye are the
branches," and represents Our Lord in the centre surrounded by angels,
with the principal bishops of the Early Christian Church. The six early
British bishops: St. Columba, Scotland; St. Wulstan, Worcester; St. Chad,
Lichfield; St. Augustine, Canterbury; St. Aidan, Northumbria; St. Hugh,
Lincoln, are at the feet of Our Lord. The other bishops are St. Basil,
Caesarea; St. Cyril, Jerusalem; St. Patrick, Ireland; St. Ignatius,
Antioch; St. Polycarp, Smyrna; St. Boniface, Germany; St. Martin, Tours;
St. David, Wales; St. Gregory, Rome; St. Augustine, Hippo; St. Athanasius,
Alexandria; St. Cyprian, Carthage; St. Isidore, Spain; St. Chrysostom,
Constantinople; St. Ambrose, Milan; and St. Vigilius, Aries. This glass
is by Mr C. E. Kempe. On the west side are several brasses and tablets,
including one to John Saville, vicar choral of the cathedral, who died in
1803. The lines underneath are by the Miss Seward whose own memorial is in
the north aisle of the nave; they, like so much of the elegiac poetry of
the period, owe not only their style, but a good many of their phrases,
to the poet Gray.
=The Choir=, with the presbytery and retro-choir--that is to say,
the whole extent of that part of the cathedral between the central
tower and the entrance to the Lady Chapel--has eight bays. The most
noticeable difference between it and the nave, is the absence of a
triforium. Professor Willis says: "The entire height of the severey
(or bay) is divided into two nearly equal parts, of which the lower is
given to the pier arches, the upper to the clerestory. The window-sills of
the latter are high, and there is a passage in front of them immediately
above the tablement or string course over the pier arches. This passage,
the veritable triforium, pierces the great piers of masonry which sustain
the vault. The high sills receive the sloping roof of the side aisles,
and have three plain open arches in each severey to air the roof." These
sills are panelled with a foliated arcading, and in front of the passage
there is an open trefoil work parapet. The effect of the windows inside
is much enhanced by the lovely quatrefoil ornamentation with which
their splays are decorated. In the single window--the east on the
south side--where the original tracery remains, it is very beautiful
and graceful, and is a good example of the Decorated period; but into
the other windows Perpendicular tracery has been introduced.
The vaulting is very much the same as in the nave, but the vaulting shafts
divide into seven instead of five ribs. The bosses, as everywhere else
in the cathedral, are very deeply and richly carved.
On the four eastern sets of piers long slender shafts run up from the
base of the piers in the same way as in the nave, and similarly the
spandrels are ornamented with foliated circles, of which nearly all
trace had disappeared before the recent restoration. This, however,
is not the arrangement on the three western pairs. It was found here
that these shafts did not reach the ground; and so Sir Gilbert Scott,
having discovered a portion of the sculptured wing of an angel just
above the dean's present stall, decided upon finishing the shafts with
corbels in the form of angels occupied in minstrelsy. Above each of
these angels--which were innovations--he placed, under richly crocketted
canopies and standing on very finely-carved brackets, the figures of six
saints. These were not innovations, though no signs of them appear in
the engraving in Britton's "Cathedrals," where, indeed, the incomplete
shafts just mentioned are to all appearance complete. But in Pennant's
"Journey from Chester to London," 1782, the six statues are mentioned,
and he tells us not only their names, but also that they were richly
painted. The new statues represent the same original characters: St. Mary,
St. Mary Magdalene, and St. Peter on the north side; St. James, St.
Philip, and St. Christopher on the south: these with their niches have
been executed partly from the old description of them and partly by
reference to the niches remaining in the Lady Chapel.
An investigation of the roof proved that its bosses had been originally
profusely gilded and painted, and that the ribs had been painted
in tri-colour, though, oddly enough, this apparently had not been
the case in the Lady Chapel. Mr Dyce, R.A., was called in to give an
opinion, and suggested a large scheme, upon which he actually started,
but after having proceeded only a small way, difficulties arose and he
departed. What little paint had been applied to the ribs was removed;
but a few of the more easterly bosses remain gilt to this day, and
afterwards the others were reddened to bring out the sculpture.
[Illustration: THE CHOIR IN 1820.]
The architectural history of the choir and presbytery is very
interesting. There is practically no documentary evidence at all to tell
when and how it was built; and what we know about it now is due to the
antiquarian skill of the late Professor Willis. Nothing can have been more
fortunate than that he should have been able to make an inspection of
the foundations of the choir, for no man had a greater genius for using
the smallest discoveries to the greatest advantage. Numerous stories
are told of his extraordinary gift for divining what was to be found. As
Canon Lonsdale says: "He knew, as it were, by instinct what was hidden
under the soil. 'Dig there,' he said, and the base he wanted came to
light. 'Open out the earth here,' and the solid piece of stone which
he had been looking for to complete his imaginary plan was straightway
disclosed to view." He came here in August 1859, when excavations were
being made in the choir, and on what he saw then he based the theory of
the growth of the cathedral which has found favour with everyone ever
since. The nature of his discoveries here, and the conclusions he drew
from them, have been briefly given in the section of this book devoted to
the history of the cathedral, so that it is unnecessary to further discuss
them, except when they apply to buildings which are now in existence.
The present choir was commenced at the very beginning of the thirteenth
century. Of this choir only the lower portions of the three bays nearest
the tower remain above ground, but there is no doubt that the original
eastern termination had been removed to make way for the beautiful
presbytery which now remains and extends eastward, with its vaulting
at the same elevation as that of the choir. This was done probably
immediately after the Lady Chapel had been built, or at the same time, and
it is supposed that the work proceeded from the east end and the old choir
was gradually pulled down, leaving the three western bays standing, and
that then the clerestory of these bays was replaced by work in uniformity
with that in the new presbytery; at the same time the front half of their
pier arches was removed and mouldings given to them corresponding to
those in the presbytery, their piers were also slightly altered. In this
way the choir and presbytery acquired a uniform appearance, both inside
and out; for the portion of the old side aisle on the south is hidden by
the sacristry, and that on the north by the chapter-house and vestibule.
As has been said, only one of the original Decorated clerestory windows
now remain; the others, it may be supposed, were destroyed in the sieges
of the Civil War, for they have been replaced with Perpendicular tracery
which belongs to a period when this style was only being imitated;
it was probably put in at the Restoration.
The high altar is now placed between the sixth pair of piers (counting
from the west). This is probably the old arrangement, but until the
recent restorations the altar was placed in the Lady Chapel: the pier
arches of the choir were walled up, and a large screen placed in the
eastern tower arch; so that the choir and Lady Chapel were converted
into one long aisleless chapel.
[Illustration: THE CHOIR, LOOKING EAST.]
It is very interesting to note the signs in the choir of the attempt
to combine the two styles which, as has been explained, met here. The
third piers stand on the line of demarcation between the part retained
and the part rebuilt, and consequently carry an Early English arch to
the west and a Decorated arch to the east. The Early English column was
partially cut away and partially used in the new work, as may be seen
on inspection of these piers. It will also be seen that the vaulting in
the aisles is much rougher in the old part than in the eastern bays. The
plaster used to hide this; but Sir Gilbert Scott caused it to be removed,
and is said afterward to have regretted having done so.
[Illustration: SOUTH AISLE OF CHOIR, LOOKING EAST.]
Another interesting junction between two buildings of different dates
is the entrance to the vestibule of the chapter-house. This entrance is
in the third bay of the north aisle, and is obviously a combination of
doorway and window, as may be seen by comparing the window of the first
bay with it.
Again, in the first bays of the aisles there are windows in the Early
English style, but they look only into the aisles of the transepts;
showing, as has before been stated, that the transept aisles were not
originally contemplated, and certainly did not take the place of earlier
Norman aisles.
[Illustration: THE CHOIR, LOOKING WEST.]
The arch at the west end of the north choir aisle is decorated with a
double chevron moulding--evidence that it is one of the oldest pieces
of work left in the cathedral. This arch has at a more recent date been
lined with another arch of the Decorated period, probably in order to
strengthen it.
The arcading in the aisles is very interesting. In the first three western
bays in both aisles the large arcading, with its plain trefoiled arches,
is clearly Early English. The arcading in the other bays is equally
clearly of the Decorated period, and is considerably smaller. In the four
eastern bays in each aisle the arches go right up to the course which
forms the top of the arcading, and the triangular spandrels thus formed
are ornamented each with a curious little head, having queer headgear;
the rest of the spandrel is carved with foliage, and in the plates of the
foliated arches are quaint animals. The arcading in the remaining bay is
similar, but angels' heads with wings take up the whole spandrel. Some
of the arcading, notably that in the three easterly bays of the south
aisle, is unrestored. The inferiority of the modern work in the next
bay is only too patent.
In the south choir aisle the third window from the east has very beautiful
carved work, the splays being covered with two bands of richly-carved
foliage. Under the window is now the tomb of Bishop Hacket, and Dean
Heywood's monument is said to have also been in this place.
In the south aisle, over the entrance to the sacristy, there is a
very charmingly-proportioned gallery which is known as the "minstrel
gallery." A gallery of this kind, though not unique, is very rare,
but Exeter Cathedral has two--one in the north transept and another
in the nave. In this case the arcading has been altered to accommodate
this obviously later addition, made probably in the early part of the
fifteenth century. Three shafts from the arcade have been left, which
support a fan-shaped vaulting, upon which the gallery rests. There is
little doubt as to the object of the gallery, though various theories
have been advanced. By some it is supposed that it was used by the priest
whose duty it was to watch the lights burning on the various altars;
others suggest that it was indeed used by the instrumentalists to keep
time during the procession, etc.; but, as it is immediately in front
of the chapel of the Head of St. Chad, it was no doubt intended for the
exhibition of the head to those below in the aisle. However, it may be
said that the raised galleries in mediæval halls were always called
by the name of "minstrel gallery," and so the name came to be used of
galleries generally. This gallery is reached by the staircase in the wall
which leads to the upper floor of the sacristy. Just against the entrance
to this staircase, in the wall of the aisle, is an ancient piscina. Its
presence here is unexplained, as there is no record of a chapel at this
spot; though it has been suggested that the altar dedicated to St. Blaise
occupied a position in this aisle.
It is perhaps worth noticing that in the old days the two bays of the
cathedral between the high altar and the Lady Chapel, together with their
portions of the aisles, were generally spoken of as the Lady Choir, and
are marked as such in old plans; other writers again speak of this part
of the building as "the cross aisle." There were gates across the choir
aisles in a line with the reredos, and these are marked in the plan of
the cathedral published somewhere about 1720. No doubt the eastern ends
of the choir aisles in still earlier days were spoken of as St. Andrew's
Chapel or St. Nicholas' Chapel; but, though it is almost certain that the
east end of the north choir aisle was dedicated to St. Andrew, there is
no certain information as to the dedication of the corresponding chapel
in the south aisle, but it is generally believed to have contained an
altar to St. Nicholas.
=The Choir Screen= was designed by Sir Gilbert Scott and Mr J. B.
Phillips, and executed by Mr Skidmore of Coventry. It is a very
highly-ornamented structure in wrought-iron, copper, and brass, and is
said to have been the first screen of this kind; but other screens of the
same character are now to be seen at Salisbury, Worcester, Hereford, and
other churches. The capitals are of hammered copper; there are imitations
of various fruits in ivory, onyx, and red and white cornelian: on the
upper part, on each side, are eight angels with instruments of music;
the whole is surmounted with a frieze of open scroll work, and a cross
rises from the top of the pedimented gate-way in the centre. The side
iron gates into the choir aisles were also executed by Mr Skidmore.
[Illustration: UNDER THE CENTRAL TOWER.]
=The Stalls= are modern, and are somewhat disappointing. The canons'
stalls have no canopies, and their absence certainly deprives the choir
of a feature generally to be found in cathedrals. Otherwise, the stalls
are a satisfactory instance of modern carving, and were carried out
by Mr Evans of Ellastone in Derbyshire. He is always said to have been
the original of Seth in "Adam Bede," and he certainly was a cousin of
the great authoress. There is much natural foliage in the carving, with
figures of apostles, kings, and bishops, and panels representing scenes
from Old Testament history. The =Bishop's Throne= is by the same artist.
=The Reredos= is a very gorgeous piece of work, but it must be confessed
that the effect is again not wholly satisfactory. It might even be said
that in the endeavour to attain magnificence, over-elaboration has ended
in a tawdry appearance. However, tastes differ, and this reredos has its
admirers. It was designed by Sir Gilbert Scott, and cost £2000, which
sum was raised by the Honourable Mrs H. Howard, the wife of the dean. It
was part of the scheme that all the materials for the reredos should
come from the diocese, and with the exception of the green malachite,
this idea has been carried out. The alabaster came from near Tutbury,
and the marbles from Derbyshire (then in the diocese): and the Duke of
Devonshire was induced to give some of the beautiful red marble, which
bears the name of the "Duke's red," from his quarry, so rarely opened.
In the centre is a bas-relief of the Ascension, with, a figure of "The
Lamb" underneath; on each side are two compartments containing the
emblems of the four evangelists. All five compartments are surmounted
with very highly-decorated pediments, the central one being the largest
and most magnificent; above it rises a very elaborate pinnacle, ending
in a cross. There is an open arcading on each side, extending to the
piers of the presbytery. The pediments have each a head in the centre,
and between the pediments are angels with ivory trumpets.
The reredos has purposely been kept very low, so that the view of the
glass in the Lady Chapel may be intercepted as little as possible. One
cannot help feeling that too much was sacrificed to that idea. One of
the main principles of the Gothic builder, it has been said, was to
suggest an air of mystery. The light screen and the low reredos have the
very opposite effect; and it may be prophesied that the days of their
admiration are rapidly coming to an end.
=The Sedilia= are interesting on account of the canopies, which are old,
and probably formed part of the original high altar screen. Their style
is that known as Perpendicular, but they obviously belong to its early
period. No doubt the screen suffered grievously after the siege; and at
the Restoration of the monarchy and the cathedral a wooden screen was
erected in front of it. Pennant, who saw it in 1780, says: "The beauty
of the choir was much impaired by the impropriety of a rich altar-piece,
of Grecian architecture, terminating this elegant Gothic building."
This arrangement came to an end in 1788, when Wyatt threw the choir and
Lady Chapel into one long chapel, and the old altar screen was utilised
in the choir screen and helped to support the organ. When this screen in
turn was taken down, the old canopies, much battered and largely repaired
with plaster, were examined, and found to be of Bath stone, and in this
the repairs were executed. Six of them were used for the sedilia, and the
other three are to be found just behind, over the effigy of Dean Howard.
=The Pavement= between the stalls is of tiles, made after the pattern
of old tiles which were found in the cathedral. The modern ones are
by Messrs Minton. There is some record of how the cathedral has at
various times been paved, as Dr Plot tells us that "the old floor of
the choir was paved lozengy with cannel coal and alabaster, the former
got at Beaudesert," and at one time the nave and aisles were paved with
brick. Some of the old tiles and two slabs of coal are preserved in the
floor of the consistory court.
The pavement in the presbytery is different, and is made principally
of incised stone, with marble borders. There are four large medallions,
which show scenes in the history of the diocese, and these are surrounded
with representations of kings and bishops who have had some connection
with the see. The general scheme was arranged by Sir Gilbert Scott,
but the medallions were designed by the Rev. J. Pitman, headmaster of
Rugeley Grammar School. The first medallion represents the consecration
of St. Chad as Bishop of York; round it are Oswy, King of Northumbria
and Mercia, who was the principal instrument in introducing Christianity
into Mercia; Diuma, first Bishop; Wulphere, King of Mercia; and Jaruman,
Bishop of Mercia, the immediate predecessor of St. Chad.
[Illustration: REREDOS.]
The second medallion gives the well-known story of Theodore, the great
archbishop, setting St. Chad on a horse; around are Ethelred, king of
Mercia after Wulphere; Sexwulf, the bishop who divided up the diocese;
Offa, King of Mercia, who made Lichfield an archbishopric, and Higbert,
the archbishop.
The third medallion shows the translation of St. Chad's bones from Stowe
Church, where they were buried, to the cathedral; around are Stephen,
who was king when Bishop Roger de Clinton built the Norman cathedral;
Henry III., who gave stone for the transept; and Bishop Langton, who
built the Lady Chapel.
The fourth medallion shows the procession to the chapter-house for
divine service at the Restoration (1660); around are Charles II. and
Bishop Hacket, who then restored the cathedral; Queen Victoria and Bishop
Lonsdale, who was bishop at the time of the recent restorations.
The altar space is covered with encaustic tiles, given by Mr C. Minton
Campbell. In the centre is the Feast of the Passover, and around are shown
Cain and Abel, Melchisedec blessing Abraham, Abraham and Isaac, Joseph
and his brethren, Moses striking the Rock, and the Brazen Serpent--all
Old Testament types of the Divine Sacrifice.
=The Monuments= in the south choir aisle are particularly
interesting. Commencing from the west end, there is on the south side an
altar tomb in memory of Archdeacon Hodson, who died in 1855. The slab is
of Serpentine stone, with a brass cross inlaid, and there are alabaster
plaques representing the Crucifixion, the Entombment, the Resurrection,
and the Ascension. Opposite is a monument to his son, Major Hodson,
known as "Hodson of Hodson's Horse," who played a dramatic part in the
Indian Mutiny, where he received his death wound. The coped top forms a
cross, and underneath are represented the King of Delhi surrendering his
sword to Major Hodson, with allegorical figures of Justice, Fortitude,
Temperance, and Mercy; and at the corners statuettes of Joshua, David,
St. Thomas of India, and St. George of England. Both these monuments
are by Mr G. E. Street, R.A., the well-known architect of the Law Courts
in London.
Close to the gate is a medallion to Erasmus Darwin, "a skilful observer
of Nature," and the author of several books. He died in 1802, and was
the grandfather of Charles Darwin, the celebrated biologist, whose name
is a household word. The memorial to the grandfather directs attention
to the hereditary obligations of the grandson.
In the second bay, between the pier arches, is the monument of Bishop
Langton, who died in 1296. This originally stood to the south of
the high altar. The figure is of Purbeck marble, and is habited _in
pontificalibus_; the head lies on a plain cushion in a kind of frame. The
mitre and shoes were probably once richly jewelled, and the whole,
as we know from Sir William Dugdale's "Visitation," had a pedimented
canopy. Now nothing remains but the mutilated effigy.
In a similar position in the third bay is the effigy of Bishop Patteshull,
who died in 1241. This is also of Purbeck marble, and was probably
jewelled. There are ministering angels outside a pediment at the head;
the figure has the pastoral staff in the left hand, while the right
is obviously raised in benediction, though only the fingers are left,
the second wearing the episcopal ring. Pennant and others have drawn
attention to the fact that this effigy has the "stigmata" or marks of Our
Lord's wounds on his hands and feet. Some antiquarians think that this
is the monument of Bishop Weseham, and not of Bishop Patteshull. There
are engravings and descriptions of these last two monuments in Gough's
"Sepulchral Monuments in Great Britain," 1796, but it is certainly strange
that Langton's monument is described as Patteshull's, and _vice versa_.
Opposite to Bishop Langton is the most curious monument in the
cathedral. It has now been identified as the tomb of Sir John Stanley
of Pipe. The effigy represents a knight naked to the waist, below which
was formerly a deep skirt painted with the arms of Stanley, the legs
being in armour, while under the head is a buck's horn, and a similar
horn is placed beneath the feet. The whole subject of this tomb is
one presenting many difficulties, but they have now been cleared up,
and in a communication to the "Archaeological Journal," vol. 24, Mr J.
Hewitt has given much interesting information. From it the following
account is taken:--The monument was always known as that of "Captain
Stanley," who for some offence had been excommunicated, and who, after
atonement, had been admitted to sepulture in holy ground on condition
that the evidence of his punishment should appear on his sepultured
effigy. The mutilations of the Civil Wars have so defaced the monument
as to make this story extremely doubtful, until among papers belonging
to the Earl of Winchelsea was found a coloured drawing of this effigy,
done by Sir William Dugdale just before the wars for Sir Christopher
Hatton. This sketch showed that the skin was bare, and that the skirt
had the Stanley arms. But this did not clear up the difficulty. Pennant,
in his "Journey from Chester to London," describes the tomb and gives
the story, and then says: "I find a Sir Humphrey Stanley of Pipe, who
died in the reign of Henry VII., who had a squabble with the Chapter
about conveying water through his lands to the close ... so probably
this might be the gentleman who incurred the censure of the church for
his impiety." Shaw, in his "History of Staffordshire," declares that
the arms on the base of the tomb show "the arms of Stanley impaling or,
three chevronels gules (Clare)," which means that the person represented
married a Clare. This Sir Humphrey did not do, and, moreover, he was
buried in Westminster Abbey, where his brass still remains. Further
investigation showed that the arms of Clare are also the arms of Gerard,
and then that Sir John Stanley of Pipe married Margaret, the daughter
of Sir Thomas Gerard. Pipe is a domain about a mile from Lichfield,
so that the family of the dead knight would naturally have desired his
interment in the cathedral of that city.
It does not appear that there was any ignominy implied in scourging as a
public penance. On the contrary, many royal personages have submitted to
it, and everyone will remember that Henry II. underwent a scourging upon
his naked shoulders by the hands of the monks of Canterbury. There is a
stained-glass window in the Bodleian Library at Oxford showing this scene.
Dr Rock, in the same volume of the "Archaeological Journal," says that
to his thinking "this Stanley, of knightly rank, had drawn upon himself
the greater excommunication through the spilling of blood in Lichfield
Cathedral on some occasion, from a blow on the face with his hand or
possibly by a slight stab with his avelace on the person of one with
whom he had quarrelled. He lies bareheaded and naked as far down as the
girdle. His upraised hands, according to the representation given by
Pennant, and copied in Shaw's 'History of Staffordshire,' held a scroll
which must have been the document ... signifying under the bishop's hand
that, having undergone the canonical penance, the offender was again
admitted to all Christian privileges."
Farther east than the "minstrel gallery" there is a window in memory of
Bishop Rawle, who was consecrated Bishop of Trinidad in this cathedral by
Bishop Selwyn. The subjects depicted in the window are Christ's Appeal
to St. Peter, St. Paul's Vision, and The Baptism of the Ethiopian by
St. Philip. Underneath the window is a highly-ornamented altar tomb
designed by Sir Gilbert Scott in memory of Archdeacon Moore, whose
effigy lies on the top. He died in 1876. Opposite, in the next bay,
is the monument of Dean Howard, who died in 1868; the effigy of the
dean, in marble, lies under a triple canopy formed from portions of
the old screen. These last two effigies were the work of H. Armstead,
R.A. It was here that Bishop Langton's monument once stood, and here
also was Bishop Hacket's. This last now stands on the opposite side
under the very beautiful window of the sixth bay of this aisle: it is
in the Jacobean style, and is much painted and gilded. An effigy of the
Bishop lies on an altar tomb under a canopy, while in front is a lengthy
inscription in Latin.
Near this place, with other monuments, is one to the memory of Colonel
Richard Bagot, who received his death wound at the battle of Naseby,
1645, and was buried in the cathedral. His father was Sir Hervey Bagot,
Governor of the Close on behalf of the king.
In the seventh bay is another of the semi-effigies, two of which are in
the south aisle of the nave, but this one is much more damaged; it is
supposed to be the monument of Canon Strangeways. In Jackson's "History
of Lichfield," which was published in 1805, it is stated that the name,
though not then distinguishable, had only recently become obliterated,
and was known and remembered to be Strangeways.
On the south wall, towards the east are, amongst others, brasses to Dean
Champneys, 1875, and Dean Bickersteth, 1892, and above these there is
a monument to Canon Horton, who died in 1728.
Two windows have recently been ornamented with new glass by Mr Kempe,
showing scenes taken from the Acts of the Apostles; one, in memory of
Dr H. W. Hewitt, represents Peter and Paul healing the lame man at the
Beautiful Gate of the temple. The other is in memory of Mr J. T. Godfrey
Faussett, and represents Stephen before the Council, having delivered
his apology, looking up and declaring "Behold I see the heavens opened,
and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God."
At the east end of this aisle, on the spot where probably once stood
the altar of St. Nicholas, is the famous monument known as "The Sleeping
Children." This was executed by Sir Francis Chantrey, R.A., and set up
in 1817. It is said that this monument established his fame. Britton,
in 1820, devotes more than two large quarto pages--a great space for
him--to ecstasies over it, and no doubt the taste of the time demanded
undiluted admiration. Now we may prize it as an early example of the
new style which, in art as well as in literature, was to supersede the
artifice of the eighteenth century: the essence of that new style was,
Mr Walter Pater tells us, "an intimate consciousness of the expression
of natural things."
[Illustration: THE SLEEPING CHILDREN.]
The monument is in memory of the two daughters of the Reverend William
Robinson, Prebendary of the cathedral, and represents the young children
locked in each other's arms.
Behind it is a wall memorial to their father, and to the side is a
piscina, which has at the back of it an old fresco, probably of the
fourteenth century. The subject is the Crucifixion, with figures of
St. Mary and St. John, one on each side of our Lord. The illustration is
from a drawing preserved in the National Art Library, South Kensington
Museum. The window at the end of the aisle contains some of the old
Flemish glass, which has in the centre a curious representation of
the Trinity.
In leaving this aisle it may be noted that tradition has it that between
the pillars of the eighth bay was the monument of Lord Basset: that the
tomb of Bishop William de Corkhull was between the pillars of the seventh
bay, and that, in a similar position in the fifth bay, was buried Bishop
de Molend. The Ashmolean MSS. give a long description of Lord Basset's
monument: "Between the choir and the chapel of the Blessed Mary is the
monument of Ralph, Lord Basset. He is lying in complete armour, his
hands erected, and thereon his gauntlets. On his head, which is laid
upon his helm and crest, viz., a boar, is a steel cap, and on his right
shoulder a square shield of his arms. His dagger is laid by his right
side, and his feet are resting upon a boar." He died in the reign of
Richard II. It is always said that Sir Walter Scott had this monument
in his mind when he described Lord Marmion's monument:--
"Fitz-Eustace care
A pierced and mangled body bare
To moated Lichfield's lofty pile;
And there, beneath the southern aisle,
A tomb, with Gothic sculpture fair,
Did long Lord Marmion's image bear,
(Now vainly for its sight you look;
'Twas levell'd when fanatic Brook
The fair cathedral storm'd and took;
But thanks to Heaven and good St. Chad,
A guerdon meet the spoiler had!)
There erst was martial Marmion found,
His feet upon a couchant hound
His hands to Heaven upraised;
And all around, on scutcheon rich
And tablet carved, and fretted niche,
His arms and feats were blazed."
[Illustration: FRESCO-PAINTING OF THE CRUCIFIXION IN THE SOUTH CHOIR
AISLE.]
The accounts do not entirely tally, so that it may be the tomb described
was as little Lord Basset's as it was really Lord Marmion's.
Not very far from this last tomb was the monument of William, Lord Paget,
who was not buried here but at Drayton. He was ambassador from Henry
VIII. to Charles V., and held other important posts under that king
and his daughter, Queen Mary; he died in 1563. There is an engraving
of his monument in Shaw's "Staffordshire," which shows it to have been
very magnificent.
The monuments in the =North Choir Aisle= are not only more scanty
than those in other parts of the cathedral, but they are of less
interest. At the east end is the kneeling figure of Bishop Ryder, who
died in 1836. This monument is in white marble, and one of Chantrey's
latest works, just as the more famous monument in a similar position in
the south aisle is one of his earliest. It was originally intended that
the figure should be on a higher pedestal, and no doubt the effect is
not increased by its lower position.
Behind, on the east wall, is an inscription in memory of the bishop. The
window above this contains some old Flemish glass, which has a figure
of St. Christopher in the centre. The window in the north side in the
corner is by Mr C. E. Kempe, in memory of Mr Patterson, late sub-chanter
of the cathedral. The glass shows King David teaching the singers of
the House of the Lord. Beneath is an ancient aumbry.
Opposite, between the pillars, is the traditional site of the burial-place
of Bishop Stretton; he is said to have been buried in St. Andrew's
Chapel. There is little doubt that the end of this aisle contained an
altar dedicated to that saint.
Between the next pair of pillars westward, it is said that Bishop Blythe
was buried, but his monument at one time stood in the other aisle of
the choir.
On the north side of the altar is the monument to the memory of Bishop
Lonsdale, who died in 1867. The monument, which is highly decorative,
consists of an effigy of the bishop lying on an altar-tomb of marble and
alabaster. The effigy is by Mr G. F. Watts, R.A., the celebrated artist,
and the tomb was designed by Sir Gilbert Scott, who is said to have taken
the idea of the canopy, with its triple pediment, from the monument of
John of Eltham in Westminster Abbey.
In the space between the next pair of pillars westward, Archbishop Scrope,
formerly bishop of this diocese, is said to have been buried. He was
beheaded in 1405 by Henry IV.
In the most easterly bay but one of this aisle there must have been a
doorway leading into the chapel which Dr Stukeley speaks of: "In the
chapel over against the lady choir was the burying-place of two Mercian
Kings; but it is now chosen for a burying-place by Dr Chandler, present
bishop of Lichfield, who has there buried one child."
=The Lady Chapel= has always most justly been admired by architects and
antiquarians. Not only is it peculiarly beautiful in its construction,
but also its windows are now filled with some of the most charming old
glass to be seen in England. In shape it forms a symmetrical extension,
both in height and width, to the choir, but without aisles; and it has
an octagonal apse--the only example, it is said, of such a termination
in the country. It is lighted by nine high windows, with Decorated
tracery. This tracery has recently been restored in the style of that in
the three end windows; until this was done most of the windows contained
Perpendicular tracery.
[Illustration: BRACKETS IN THE LADY CHAPEL.]
The windows rest on an arcade of very beautiful design. The arcade may
be said to consist of a series of small decorated canopies, supported by
shafts with carved capitals, and separated by ornamented buttresses. The
canopies, which bow forward, have trefoil ogee arches, surmounted with
crockets and finials. Above the arcade is a similar embattled parapet
to that in the choir, with a similar passage round the chapel behind it.
The vaulting of the roof is like that in the choir; the same number
of ribs diverging from the slender shafts which run right down to the
bends of the arcade. Half-way up these shafts are niches, the brackets
and canopies to which are beautifully carved. These are old, but until
recently were empty, and no authentic record remained as to what were
the characters represented. Dr Stukeley believed that the figures had
been those of the five wise and five foolish virgins. This theory has
not, however, found sufficient favour to lead to a reproduction of their
effigies, for in 1895 the niches were filled with figures of ten virgin
saints and martyrs. These were executed by Messrs Farmer & Brindley, from
designs by Mr C. E. Kempe, and they may be warmly congratulated on their
work. The statues are really beautiful, and are infinitely superior to
most of the other modern sculpture in the cathedral. It will be noticed,
too, that the figures seem the right size for the niches, instead of
being much too large, as in many other cases. The statues are as follow:--
1. St. Werburga, with pastoral staff and book, and a model of Chester
Cathedral at her feet.
2. St. Cecilia, with organ.
3. St. Prisca, with palm branch, and lion at her feet.
4. St. Faith, with sword and rack.
5. St. Catherine, with sword and wheel and open book, treading on
a monster.
6. St. Margaret, with book and cross, treading on a dragon.
7. St. Lucy, with palm branch and lamp.
8. St. Agnes, with palm branch and book, and lamb at her feet.
9. St. Agatha, with palm branch and tongs.
10. St. Etheldreda, with crown and pilgrim staff, and pastoral staff
and a model of Ely Cathedral at her feet.
[Illustration: THE LADY CHAPEL.]
The present altar-piece, which is in the form of a triptych, has scenes
connected with the birth of Our Lord carved in relief. These are:
The Annunciation, the Salutation of Elizabeth, the Nativity, the
Presentation in the Temple, and the Adoration of the Magi. The doors,
which can be closed, have paintings on the back representing David,
Isaiah, St. John the Baptist, and St. Chad. There are four carved figures
of St. Ambrose, St. Jerome, St. Augustine, and St. Gregory supporting
the central panel. The altar rails are of alabaster. Before the recent
alterations there was a plaster reredos, which had been placed there
by Wyatt, and the continuity of the arcading and open carved work,
which originally went right round the chapel, was thus broken. Sir
Gilbert Scott is said to have been anxious not to remove the reredos,
partly, perhaps, on account of the glass behind, which was known to be
plain. However, the restoration to the original style has been made, and
the plain glass replaced by a very excellent imitation of the Herkenrode
glass, representing the three Marys. This was done by Messrs Burlison
& Grylls with great skill. There was a screen between the Lady Chapel
and the rest of the cathedral in old days. Stukeley mentions it in his
notes. He says: "The partition there betwixt the two choirs is a fine
piece of architecture, but demolished also in time of war; and, though
the figures are destroyed, and at the foot of the same every cherub
defaced, yet it may be perceived to be a fine piece of work; for though
it be uniform from top to bottom, yet every capital and pedestall are
different works within and without."
What is known of the building of the Lady Chapel has already been told in
Chapter I. and in the account of the choir and presbytery. The founder of
the chapel, Bishop Langton, was buried here, but his tomb was afterwards
removed to the south side of the high altar. Shaw tells us of the monument
at one time "in the east part of the chapel, towards the south," of Robert
Master and Catherine, his wife, and says that "the drawing in Dugdale's
'Visitation' represents them each under a round arch, in the attitude
of prayer at a desk." No trace is left of this monument.
As might be expected from what has been given of the history of the
cathedral, there is none of the old glass belonging to it remaining;
but in spite of this, all the nine windows of the Lady Chapel have very
beautiful old glass in them. This glass is not Mediæval, but belongs
to the sixteenth century, and the whole of it is a comparatively recent
acquisition for the cathedral. That in the seven most eastern windows,
and known as the Herkenrode glass, was put in at the beginning of the
century; and the other two windows which, until recently, held modern
glass, bearing the arms of various dignitaries of the cathedral, have
recently been enriched by old glass of probably very nearly the same
period as the other.
The nine windows, for the purposes of explanation, may be numbered in
succession 1 to 9. No. 1, being the first window on the north, and No. 9,
the first on the south, contain, therefore, the more recently acquired
glass. This is supposed to have come from the Low Countries; but, at
any rate, about the middle of the century it was brought to England,
and lay for years in some cellars in London, where it was forgotten.
Finally, it was purchased from the representatives of the Marquis of
Ely. The glass shows the arms of the kingdom of Aragon, and amongst
other mottoes, that of Charles V.
No. 1. The lower compartment is a symbolic picture on the subject of
Baptism. Out of the waters in the fountain come the children, to be
received by their guardian spirits, while above are figures representing
Faith, Fortitude, and Love, and still higher is a representation of the
Divine Presence. No. 9 is a pictorial representation of the legendary
Death of the Virgin Mary. The Virgin is represented lying in a canopied
bed, surrounded by the apostles, who have been summoned to gather round
her death-bed: they are all present except St. Thomas, who has been
detained at the baptism of a royal prince. Above is a representation of
the Virgin entering into glory.
As stated above, these two windows had originally coats of arms in them,
and a reproduction of the arms appears in the tracery of the windows,
No. 1 having those of the dean and chapter in 1803, and No. 9 those of
the bishops of the diocese from Bishop Hacket to that date.
The glass in the other seven windows--the Herkenrode glass--was
purchased in 1802 by Sir Brooke Boothby, who discovered it in Belgium,
where it had been hidden for protection from the French. It had been
taken from the dissolved Abbey of Herkenrode, near Liege. There were
three hundred and forty pieces, each about twenty-two inches square,
and some of them are marked with dates between 1530 and 1540. Sir Brooke
is said to have given two hundred pounds for it; but it has since been
valued at fifteen thousand pounds. He, however, most generously sold it
to the dean and chapter for the modest sum he had paid for it. It turned
out that there was enough to fill the seven windows it now occupies in
the Lady Chapel. Some portions have been used in other windows of the
cathedral, which have been already described.
There is a considerable difference in appearance between this glass and
that in the other two windows. The subjects depicted in the latter are
very distinct, while in the former they are more confused, and it must
be said that the Herkenrode glass is much faded. Still, the whole of
it is very beautiful, and if it does not satisfy those who crave after
the Mediæval stained glass, it is certainly some of the finest glass
of the kind to be found in England. The designs have been conjectured
to be by Lambert Lombard, the first, and one of the most famous, of the
Italianised Flemish School of the sixteenth century; and the other glass
belongs to the same period.
[Illustration: BRACKETS IN THE LADY CHAPEL.]
The abbey at Herkenrode was founded in 1182, and belonged to the
Cistercian Order. It became noted for the miracles performed there;
from which reason, no doubt, it acquired great wealth, and increased so
much in size that it was almost like a small town. All the nuns were of
noble family. A history of the abbey was published in 1744, and a copy
was presented to the cathedral library by Sir Brooke Boothby. The book
contains a view of the abbey buildings, in the centre of which is seen
the church. In the third window of the Lady Chapel is a similar picture
of the church. Windows Nos. 2 and 3 contain portraits of founders and
benefactors of the abbey, with their patron saints. The other five
windows, Nos. 4, 5, 6, and 7 show scenes in the life of Christ.
The following is a brief description of these windows:--
No. 2. In this window the glass is in four pictures. In the lower
left-hand compartment is Cardinal Evrad de la Marck, Bishop of Liege,
supported by St. Lambert; and in the corresponding space to the right is
Floris Egmont, Count de Buren, with his wife, attended by St. Christopher
and St. Margaret. The picture above is of Maximilian Egmont, Count de
Buren, kneeling before an altar, and attended by St. Christopher and
St. Barbara. The remaining picture on the left has John, Count de Horn,
and his wife Anne, also kneeling before an altar. They are attended by
St. John the Evangelist and St. Anne the mother of the Virgin.
No. 3 contains six pictures, which go right across the window--(1) the
lowest, has the church of the abbey already mentioned, with an abbess
and two nuns, and the Virgin and Child; (2) the Virgin and Child again,
with an angel bearing a shield; (3) the Virgin and Child, an abbot and
abbess of the Cistercian Order, and the Emperor Lotharius II.; (4) Agnes
Mettecoven and her husband kneeling to St. Agnes, with her lamb; (5)
St. John the Evangelist and St. Barbara, St. John the Baptist, and St.
Margaret, with members of the Mettecoven family; (6) the highest, has
Henry de Lechy and his wife, with St. Henry and St. Christina.
No. 4. Christ scourged, Christ crowned with thorns, the Annunciation.
No. 5, the central window. The Ascension, Christ and the two Disciples
at Emmaus, the Three Marys (modern glass).
No. 6. The Last Supper, the Entry into Jerusalem, the Betrayal of Christ
in the Garden of Gethsemane.
No. 7. The Day of Judgment, the Day of Pentecost, St. Thomas is reproved
for his doubt.
No. 8. Pilate delivering Christ to be crucified, Christ bearing his Cross,
the Descent from the Cross, the Resurrection.
On the south side of the Lady Chapel, between the buttresses, are three
erections, which were no doubt built at the same time as the Lady Chapel
itself. They have been known as "the Mortuary Chapels," and also as
"the Vestries." They were probably built for the former purpose.
They have recently been restored as a memorial to Bishop Selwyn, who died
in 1878. All three chapels have groined roofs, with ribs and bosses, and
in the floor some of the old encaustic tiles still remain. The central
chapel is the largest, and is lighted by two small windows. It is only
entered from the eastern chapel by means of a doorway cut right through
the buttress. In this central chapel lies the effigy, in Derbyshire
alabaster, of Bishop Selwyn. During his life he had expressed a wish to
be buried here, but this was found to be illegal, and he was buried in
the close just outside. The effigy is by Mr Nicholls, and the decorations
of the walls of the chapel are by Messrs Clayton & Bell. These show the
arms of the bishopric of New Zealand, to which the bishop was originally
consecrated, and the arms of the dioceses formed out of it, and there
are more than usually hideous frescoes showing the labours of the bishop
among the Maories and among the pitmen of the English diocese. Here he
is not likely to be forgotten; and at Cambridge there is a college known
as Selwyn College, founded with a similar idea to that which at Oxford
caused Keble College to be erected to the memory of another great modern
churchman: there also his memory will remain.
The western chapel has, at its north-western corner, a stair-way leading
to three cryptal chambers whose flooring is the solid rock.
=The Sacristy.=--The building on the south side of the choir, which is
generally known as the "sacristy," is a very interesting part of the
cathedral. Professor Willis decided that it was erected at the same time
as the original Early English choir, and no doubt it belongs to the same
period. A careful inspection, however, especially of the entrance from
the "minstrel gallery" to the chapel of St. Chad's Head, which now forms
the top storey, shows unmistakable signs that, like the entrance to the
vestibule in the corresponding bay of the north choir aisle, this doorway
was once a window, similar, no doubt, to those two still remaining--one
in each aisle--which look into the aisles of the transepts. This being so,
it is obvious that the "sacristy," or, at any rate, the upper storey, was
an afterthought, and that it is later, though perhaps only a little, than
the choir, its date corresponding perhaps with that of the south transept.
The upper storey, which until recently was used as the muniment room,
was originally the chapel of St. Chad's Head. It has now been restored
as a chapel through the zeal and munificence of the present dean, Dr
Luckock, and was re-dedicated and re-opened on St. Chad's Day, March
2nd of this year, 1897. In the order of service of that day the dean
gave an account of the chapel as follows:--
"The Chapel of St. Chad, first Bishop of Lichfield, and, with the
Blessed Virgin Mary, patron of our Cathedral Church, was destroyed in all
probability when the rest of the Cathedral was laid in ruins in 1643,
the siege beginning on St. Chad's Day, March 2nd of that year. Little
was left: the four walls remained in a broken condition, with the
vaulting-shafts and caps for the springers of the stone groining, and
the wall-ribs, to mark its original lines; also the very beautiful
Early English windows--twelve lancets in groups of three--which,
singularly enough, were little injured. Externally these are very plain,
but internally they are full of interest, and there is nothing better of
the kind in the Cathedral. The site of the old altar is clearly marked;
indeed, a small portion of it has been preserved. The piscina also still
remains. After the destruction the chapel must have been left roofless
for years, as, on breaking up the floor which had been raised by some
accumulation of rubbish, the workmen found roots of shrubs embedded
in it. At some time quite unknown, the chapel was roofed in again,
and the tops of the walls rebuilt where they had been broken down. A
flat plaster ceiling was inserted, and being divided into two rooms,
the old chapel was filled with cupboards and used till last year for
the custody of the muniments. The aumbry remains in which antiquarians
suppose that St. Chad's relics were preserved. Dr Cox, in his Catalogue
of the muniments, page 90, throws some light upon the subject, from the
Chapter Act Books, quoting from F. 4 in the year 1481:--'Two monstrances
given to the Cathedral in charge of William Hukyns, the custodian of the
Head of St. Chad by Dean Heywood, for keeping relics.' And he appends the
following note:--'This very likely gives the date of the stone gallery
in front of the muniment room in the South Choir aisle (then the chapel
of the head of St. Chad). This gallery is of Perpendicular work, and
was chiefly intended for the exhibition of relics, in monstrances, to
the pilgrims in the aisle below; the second staircase, that allowed of a
flow of pilgrims to the upper chapel, being at this time removed.' All
the stone groining and the wood and iron work have been completely
restored under the direction of Mr J. Oldrid Scott. There are some very
old pieces of stone figure-work, which have been preserved. The new bosses
and corbels have been carved with subjects from the history of St. Chad,
the chief of which show his being mounted on horseback, by Archbishop
Theodore; his protection of the hart that fled to him for refuge; and his
death in his cell, surrounded by angels. The reredos, of Staffordshire
alabaster, replacing one the existence of which at the east end is
clearly indicated, is of a very uncommon design, by Mr C. E. Kempe. It
consists of an altar-piece of ornamental arcading, surmounted by three
tall canopied niches in which are placed sculptured figures representing
the Crucifixion, St. Mary, and St. John. These are supported by angels
bearing shields. All the windows are filled with stained glass by Mr
Kempe, and contain Choirs of Angels singing the Confessor's hymn, or
Psalm cxii., _Beatus vir_, which runs in scrolls through nine of the
lights. The angels over the crucifix in the east window bear a scroll
with the words of Psalm xxi. 3, _Posimisti in capite_, etc. St. Chad is
represented in the centre lancet of the west wall."
[Illustration: CAPITAL IN CHAPTER-HOUSE.]
This chapel is now approached by a staircase, leading from a doorway in
the fourth bay on to the gallery, usually and incorrectly known as the
"minstrel gallery," from which again two short flights of steps, right
and left, lead into the chapel.
The lower storey was originally the sacristy: it is now used as the
consistory court. Against the west wall are some of the old Jacobean
stalls, which were put into the choir in Bishop Hacket's time; while
in the corner are let into the floor some of the old tiles and slabs
of cannel coal with which, and alabaster, the cathedral was at one time
paved. The windows are filled with Perpendicular tracery, replacing the
old Early English windows. Underneath, and reached by a staircase in
the south-east turret, now closed, is a vault, at present used as the
burial vault of the Paget family. Probably it was once a dungeon.
[Illustration: THE CHAPTER-HOUSE.]
In the west wall can be seen the place where a doorway led into a chamber
built in between the sacristy and the south transept aisle. This was no
doubt the treasury of the cathedral, where all the most precious relics
and valuables were kept. It is now entered by a doorway in the choir
aisle. At present it appears to be a receptacle for odds and ends, and
cupboards are placed along the walls. On the west side are several large
aumbries, in which, no doubt, the relics were kept. The floor in this
chamber has been raised at some time or other, and it is now much higher
than that of the adjoining consistory court, so that there are steps in
the south-east corner leading to a door into the consistory court. This is
not the old doorway already mentioned, which is blocked up, but probably a
much later entrance. Some old cannon balls which have been discovered in
and round the cathedral may be seen in the treasury. On the north wall
in both the consistory court and the treasury can be seen the remains of
an old course or housing which, though in both cases incomplete, appears
to have a semi-circular form. No theory seems to have been advanced as
to these remains, and in this book it were wiser to follow precedent.
=The Chapter-House=, which lies to the north of the choir, is approached
by a vestibule which has a doorway, already described, into the third
bay of the north choir aisle. Both the chapter-house and the vestibule
were built at the same time as the north transept--that is, somewhere
near the middle of the thirteenth century--and the style is therefore
that known as the Early English, but it is a later instance than that
part of the choir into which the doorway leads. That the vestibule was
not built when the early part of the choir was finished is evident,
as "its walls abut against those of the choir with a straight joint,
and the arch of entrance in the side aisle is a manifest intrusion into
the space once occupied by a window." The north end of the vestibule
has also been altered, there having been a doorway where now there is
a window; the former existed until nearly the end of the last century,
but it had been altered before the plate in Britton's "Cathedrals" was
engraved. It can easily be seen from the outside that such a door must
have existed, from the different colouring of the stone-work. The window
has recently been filled with stained glass by Messrs Burlison & Grylls,
representing Nehemiah and Simeon, in memory of the late verger, William
Yeend. Down each side of the vestibule there is a very fine arcading,
that on the west side being double and much deeper than that on the east,
which is single; the niches are large enough to be used as seats, and
it has been suggested that here the ceremony of washing the feet of the
poor took place on Maundy Thursday; as there were thirteen niches, this
is highly probable. Some of the capitals of the pillars of the arcade
are very finely carved, and, as was usual at the time, are very deeply
under-cut; and the dripstones terminate in very interesting corbels in the
form of heads and bunches of foliage. Recently, on the west side, some
of the arcading has been opened out to afford access to the new vestry,
which has been constructed by roofing in the space between the vestibule
and the north transept. On the east side near the cathedral is the
entrance to the library, which is the upper storey of the chapter-house
building, and is approached by a spiral staircase. At the farther end,
on the same side, is the very fine entrance to the chapter-house. This,
like the central west doorway and that in the north transept, is double
and recessed. The mouldings in the arch are deeply and finely cut, and
the capitals of the grouped shafts are very richly carved with delicate
leaves. The jambs have an enrichment of dog-toothing behind the slender
detached shafts, and the two small arches have trefoil archivolts,
so that the whole has a very rich effect. In the tympanum of the arch
there is a bas-relief figure of Our Lord in a quatrefoil recess.
[Illustration: EASTERN PORTION OF THE ARCADE IN THE CHAPTER-HOUSE.]
The chapter-house is a very fine room; it is octagonal in shape, but the
north and south sides of it are double the length of each of the other
six sides, which are equal. There is a central pillar, the clustered
shafts of which are banded in the centre; the capitals of these shafts
have a particularly rich and elaborate carving of foliage; and above,
the vaulting ribs spread to the roof like the branches of a tree,
producing a very fine effect. The bosses where the ribs intersect are
also worthy of attention, and the ribs rise from very richly-carved and
deeply-moulded corbels. The windows are Early English, and of two lights
each. Below is a very beautiful arcading, similar, indeed, to that in
the vestibule, which entirely surrounds the building. The arcade is
composed of deep, moulded, trefoil arches, resting on single columns,
with beautifully-carved capitals, in some of which will be found figures
of birds and animals. The canopies of the arches are dog-toothed, and
end in curiously-carved heads, which afford interesting illustrations
of the head-dresses of the time.
The chapter-house was decorated with frescoes and stained glass by Dean
Heywood in the fifteenth century, as we know from the MSS. entitled
_Cantaria Sancti Blasii_ in the library. The frescoes have disappeared
except over the doorway, where still remain faint signs of the
representation of the Assumption, which may have formed part of Dean
Heywood's decoration, but more likely is earlier: it has been suggested
that it was placed there by Bishop Burghill from the fact that a
Dominican Friar, to which order he belonged, is represented in the
group in adoration. The glass contained figures of the apostles, with
other pictures above; these being all pre-Cromwellian, have, of course,
disappeared. More recently the glazing of the chapter-house displayed
armorial bearings, more or less correct, in imitation of glass known
to have ornamented the cathedral in the past. This armorial glass is
gradually giving way to glass representing scenes in the history of
the cathedral. At present, five of the windows have been so glazed,
and the rest will be changed gradually, as opportunity offers.
The first window on the left-hand side on entering is in memory of
Prebendary Edwards. There are figures of St. Chad and King Wulphere,
with scenes showing the Consecration of St. Chad, and the Baptism by
St. Chad of the two sons of King Wulphere.
The second window is in memory of Archdeacon Allen and Prebendary de
Bunsen. The figures are St. Oswald and St. Aidan. The scenes represent
St. Aidan preaching to the Northumbrians, with King Oswald interpreting;
and St. Aidan at Lindisfarne, teaching in his school, where St. Chad is
one of the scholars.
The third window is in memory of Dean Bickersteth. The figures are
Archbishop Theodore and St. Ovin, and the scenes St. Chad teaching his
clergy, and St. Ovin listening to the angels who were calling St. Chad
at his death.
The fourth window is in memory of Prebendary Gresley. The figures are
Oswy, King of Northumbria, and Diuma, the first bishop of Mercia. The
scenes are Bishop Jaruman promising to build a church at Lichfield,
and the institution by King Æthelwald of prebendaries.
The fifth window is in memory of Prebendary Finch Smith. The figures
represent Archbishop Higbert of Lichfield, and Thomas Cantelupe, Bishop
of Hereford, formerly prebendary of this cathedral. The scenes are
Bishop Aldulf at the Council of Cloveshoo, renouncing the metropolitan
powers in favour of Canterbury, and Bishop Roger de Clinton building a
new cathedral in honour of St. Mary and St. Chad.
=The Library= is immediately above the chapter-house, and is of the same
octagonal shape. The arrangements also are similar, but the room is less
lofty, the carvings less elaborate, and there is no reading. Otherwise,
we find the same central pillar, from which similar vaulting ribs spring,
with corbels in the walls to receive them. It is not known for what
purpose this room was originally intended, but certainly, until recent
years, it was not used as a library. The old library, of which there are
pictures by Hollar and King, stood to the north of the north transept
in the close, or, as it is recorded in the Capitular Acts, vol. 3, "ex
parte boreali in cimeterio." Dean Heywood gave £40 to build the library,
and though it was not begun in his time, it was completed in the time
of his successor, Dean Yotton, who also subscribed to its erection. This
was at about the commencement of the sixteenth century, and the building
remained until the middle of the eighteenth, when it was demolished.
The extent of the library has been increased by opening a doorway into
the room above the vestibule. This room, it has recently been decided,
was the old chapel of St. Peter. Though an upstairs chapel was not usual,
yet it is not by any means unknown, and chapels were even sometimes to
be found in the rood lofts of cathedrals. No trace can be found of the
fresco, mentioned by Stukeley, of "St. Peter crucified with his head
downwards, and two other apostles, etc." He tells us that the chapel
was in his time used as a place for storing scaffolding and ladders,
and that here was placed the mutilated remains of St. Chad's tomb.
The place still shows signs of its ill-usage, little having been done to
repair the ravages of the Civil War. The vaulting is much broken, and
the walls cracked: these facts strengthen the belief in the tradition
that it was on this building, together with the choir, that the great
central tower fell during the siege by the soldiers of the Parliament.
The library has had many generous donations of books at various
times. Under the will of Frances, Duchess of Somerset, the cathedral
received the library of her late husband, the Duke, who succeeded his
grandfather as Earl of Hertford, and was restored to the family dukedom
at the Restoration. The duchess was the daughter of the Earl of Essex
who was the favourite of Queen Elizabeth, and whom she afterwards had
beheaded. These books numbered about one thousand, and included many
rare old Black-Letter chronicles and histories printed in the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries.
Many others have contributed to the library, amongst whom are Archdeacon
Davies, 1763; William Smallbroke, 1771; Canon Lamb, 1770; Richard Hurd,
1777; Bishop Cornwallis, 1783; Rev. Henry White, 1786; Dr Pegge, the
well-known antiquary, who, amongst other things, wrote an account of the
life of Bishop Weseham, and who left the library, by his will, one hundred
books out of his own library; Andrew Newton, who left his books to the
cathedral, and built the college in the close for the widows and orphans
of the clergy, besides spending large sums on educational purposes;
and Sir Brooke Boothby, 1815, who gave the "History of the Abbey of
Herckenrode," referred to in the account of the glass now in the Lady
Chapel. There have been besides many recent benefactions, including a
valuable set of drawings, by herself, of most of the churches in the
county of Stafford, left by Mrs Moore, the widow of the Archdeacon of
Stafford. There is also in the library a fine old picture of the Duchess
of Somerset, as well as an engraving from Sir Joshua Reynolds' picture
of Dr Johnson.
Among the most valuable manuscripts and books in the library are
the "Gospels of St. Chad," of which more immediately; a fine folio
manuscript, on vellum, of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales," but without
the doubtful Ploughman's Tale; the initial letters, especially those
at the commencement of each tale, being richly coloured and gilt; the
"Valor Ecclesiasticus of Pope Nicholas IV."--this is an account taken
of the value of ecclesiastical property in the time of Edward I., from
which the tithe granted to the Pope could be ascertained.
Other notable volumes are, "Dives and Pauper," a MS. treatise on the
Decalogue--this treatise was one of the earliest books printed in England;
"Orders generally to be observed of the whole household of the prince his
highness," a large folio, marked with the sign-manual of King Charles
I. at every ordinance; and a collection of recipes by Sir John Floyer,
physician to Charles II. There is also a volume of MSS. already often
referred to, superscribed, "_Cantaria Sancti Blasii; Ordinatio Majistri
Thomoe Heywood decani Eccles. Lich de et super Cantaria Jesu et Sancta
Anne in parte boreai eccles. Lich et de pensione Capellani ibidem perpetuo
celebaturi et aliis articulis, etc._" Besides these, there are many rare
Bibles:--Cranmer's Bible, 1540; the "Breeches" Bible; the "Vinegar"
Bible, and many others.
[Illustration: THE GOSPELS OF ST. CHAD, IN THE LIBRARY.]
But to many the most interesting volume in the library will be a copy of
South's Sermons, published in 1694. It belonged to Dr Johnson, and was
used by him in the compilation of his Dictionary. His method, apparently,
was to put a letter in the margin opposite the word whose particular
use here he intended to quote; and it is interesting, Sermons in hand,
to test his method with the dictionary. On one page a "K" in the margin
is opposite the word "Key." In the dictionary will be found under
"Key" the expected quotation from South, "that every man should keep
the key of his own breast."
The most valuable book in the library is the _Textus S. Ceddæ_, generally
known as "St. Chad's Gospels." This is written on vellum, and contains
the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark, and a small portion of the
Gospel of St. Luke. It is undoubtedly an Irish MS., probably about the
end of the seventh century. There is a page in the book which, with its
tesselated work enclosing a cross, recalls to antiquarians similar work in
the famous Irish Book of Kells, and in the Gospels of St. Columba which
are preserved at Dublin. The connection of an Irish MS. with St. Chad is
not difficult of explanation, since, after being taught by St. Aidan at
Lindisfarne, he is supposed to have gone, as so many other earnest priests
did at the time, to Ireland, to one of the noted monasteries there. The
MS. is in Latin, and, with many remarkable variations, follows closely
the _Codex Amiatinus_ of St Jerome. But its marginal notes are not the
least interesting part of the book; from these, which are sometimes in
Celtic and Anglo-Saxon, and sometimes in Latin, we learn something of its
history, which is remarkable. The cathedral of Llandaff seems to have
acquired it indirectly in exchange for a horse, and there is a note in
Celtic, "underneath the record of this transaction, which is witnessed
by Aidan; whether or no this is the Northumbrian bishop is not known."
Another entry, on the page devoted to a picture of St. Luke, shows that
the MS. was still at Llandaff at the end of the ninth century; but on the
first page of all is a faint but legible signature which reads "Kynsy"
or "Wynsy Praesul", both names of bishops of Lichfield at the end of the
tenth century, so that it had probably arrived at its present home not
so far short of a thousand years ago. There are other notes connecting
it with Lichfield. All these have been printed many times in the pages of
learned publications. It owes its escape at the time of the Civil War to
the vigilance of William Higgins, Archdeacon of Derby, who was precentor
of the cathedral. He abstracted it and kept it until the troubles were
over. It now lies in a glass case in the library, side by side with the
beautiful "Canterbury Tales." So marvellous are some of the decorations,
that it is no wonder that, in an age more faithful than ours, popular
belief declared some of them to be "the work of angels."
CHAPTER IV
THE HISTORY OF THE SEE
At the present day the diocese of Lichfield consists of almost the
whole of the county of Stafford, part of Shropshire, and a small part of
Flintshire and of Warwickshire. Originally, in Anglo-Saxon times, when
the first bishop was appointed, the see of Lichfield extended over the
whole of Mercia--that is, from the Humber and East Anglia on the north
and east, to Wales on the west, and the Thames on the south. Since those
days the diocese has been at various times divided, and other dioceses
formed; Hereford, Lincoln, Ely, Peterborough, Chester, Worcester, Oxford,
St. Albans, Gloucester, Manchester, Liverpool, and Southwell, have all,
in whole or in part, been formed out of what was once the diocese of
Lichfield.
Of Lichfield in Roman times practically nothing is known. Situated as
it is, at a little distance from the crossing of the great Roman roads,
Watling Street and Ryknield Street--at which junction the Roman town of
Etocetum (the modern Wall) lay, Lichfield was then probably nothing more
than open country. The neighbouring towns have yielded a rich harvest of
archaeological treasures; but beyond coins of various Roman Emperors,
bearing Christian emblems, there is little to show that the Gospel had
made its way in this part of England; though, in the cemeteries filled
with urns containing the ashes of the dead, there have been found, near
Burton-on-Trent and near Derby, skeletons, no doubt of Christians who,
according to the rites of their religion, had been buried and not burnt.
To Roman times belongs the legend, which is said to give its name to
Lichfield, of the massacre of Christians under Diocletian; in consequence,
it is related, the place was called Lyccidfelth, or Licidfield--the
field of dead men. This is the derivation most generally accepted at the
present day; but some etymologists think that Lichfield means Lakefield,
from the quantity of water in the neighbourhood.
It is almost certain that the people of Mercia remained pagan from the
Roman epoch, and through all the long wars which were waged between
the gradually defeated Britons and the Saxons. Three Saxon kings, all
pagans, ruled Mercia; and Christianity, which had taken such firm hold
in Northumbria, still had not penetrated to the dark central region
of Mercia. Then came Penda the Strong, himself a pagan. "He was not
baptised," it was said of him, "and never believed in God." He slew many
kings, amongst them being the saintly Oswald, king of Northumbria. One
of King Penda's daughters had married Alchfrid, a nephew of Oswald
and son to the then King Oswy of Northumbria; and in 652 Penda's son,
Peada, became suitor for the hand of one of Oswy's daughters. Peada was
then ruling under his father the Middle Angles, and he journeyed to the
Northumbrian Court, where he was most hospitably received, in spite of the
fact that constant war was being waged between Mercia and Northumbria;
but the princess whom he sought was promised him only on condition that
he and his people in Mid-Anglia should become Christians. Alchfrid became
his teacher; and the beauty of this new faith so seized on him that he
declared his willingness to become a Christian whether he might win his
princess or not. That same year he was baptised by Finan, the British
bishop and head of the Church in Northumbria, and with him all his
followers. He returned to his own country, taking with him four priests
of the British Church: Cedda, who was afterwards made Bishop of London,
and who was the brother of St. Chad, Adda, Betti, and Diuma. These four
taught the Gospel to the Mid-Anglians, and even went north among the other
Mercians; and it does not appear that Penda, in spite of his paganism,
made any opposition.
Notwithstanding these close links between the two kingdoms, in the year
655 Penda with an enormous force invaded Northumbria; he was defeated
and killed by Oswy, who now became king of Mercia, but left Peada in his
old rule in Mid-Anglia. This was the death-blow of paganism in Mercia;
Christianity, which was beginning to take firm hold in Peada's country,
spread rapidly, and =Diuma= (656-658) was made bishop of Mercia. This
may be said to be the commencement of the see which afterwards was
called by the name of Lichfield; but as yet there was no cathedral,
nor was any place particularly settled upon as the headquarters of the
work which was so enthusiastically carried on. Diuma was a travelling
or missionary bishop, and when he died, after a brief rule of two years,
the Church in Mercia was an accomplished fact.
Diuma was succeeded by =Creollach= (658-659), who, unlike his predecessor
an Irishman, was a Briton; he was appointed by Oswy; but in this same
year the Mercians rebelled, Oswy fled, and Creollach fled with him,
and finally retired to Iona.
The next bishop was a Saxon abbot named =Trumhere= (659-662), and he
was succeeded on his death by =Jaruman= (662-667). Both were appointed
by King Wulphere, son of Penda, who had been raised to the Mercian
throne by his people; and both were Saxons who had been consecrated in
the Northumbrian Church. Jaruman was a most energetic bishop, and he
appears to have been sent into Essex to reconvert the people there who
had fallen into paganism again; his mission was a success, and Jaruman
returned to his own people in Mercia.
It was during Jaruman's episcopate that difficulties arose between
the Church in Britain and the Church in Rome. Rome had sent messengers
to Britain, and they had been the means of converting a large portion
of the south coast and of East Anglia; but there were differences in
the two Churches, and one particularly caused much trouble. The Roman
Church had always kept Easter Day on a Sunday, but the British Church
held this feast on March 14, whatever day of the week it might be. A
synod was called at Whitby, and it was decided, mainly through the
instrumentality of Wilfrid, the future bishop of York, in favour of the
Roman Sunday. In this way, it may be said, began the rule of Rome in the
English Church. Shortly after, in 667, Jaruman died, and no successor was
appointed for two years. During this time, Theodorus of Tarsus became
Archbishop of Canterbury, and to him belongs the credit of making the
English Church: before, each kingdom had had its own Church, but Theodore
welded them together into one whole, and completed their dependence on
the bishop of Rome. Wilfrid was made bishop of York, and St. Chad, who
had been consecrated to that see, retired to the abbey at Lastingham,
only in the next year, 669, to be reconsecrated as bishop of Mercia
by the new Archbishop of Canterbury.
=St. Chad= or =Ceadda= (669-672) made his seat at Lichfield, and in so
doing founded the diocese of Lichfield.
St. Chad, as has been stated before, was the patron saint of
Lichfield. What is known of him is principally derived from Bede's
"Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation." From this we learn
that when not on his missionary travels over the diocese he spent most
of his time in prayer, and in meditation on death and supernatural
things. His method was to proceed from place to place in his diocese
on foot; and there is a story of Theodore taking St. Chad in his arms
and lifting him on to a horse which he presented to him. He founded
the abbey of Barrow-on-Humber, which King Wulphere endowed with fifty
hides of land. His headquarters, as we have said, were at Lichfield,
and he built, or finished building, a small church near what is still
known as St. Chad's Well, at the eastern end of Stowe Pool.
Like his predecessors' his time was short; only for two years was he
allowed to labour at Lichfield. There is a beautiful legend of his death
which has been well told by Dean Bickersteth. "A week before his death
a sound of angelic melody was heard coming from the south-east, until
it reached and filled the little oratory where he was praying. This
the good bishop interpreted to be his summons to heaven. The voices, he
privately told Ovin, were those of angels. The messenger of death, that
'lovable guest,' was with them. They would come again in seven days and
take him with them. About the same time, Egbert, a Northumbrian who had
been a fellow-student with St. Chad in an Irish monastery, dreamt that
he saw the soul of Cedda, Chad's brother, descending from heaven with
a company of angels to take the soul of Chad with him into the heavenly
kingdom." As he had foretold, so he died; but he was not forgotten, and
many were the miracles said to have been performed at his shrine. His
bones were removed from their first resting-place near Stowe Church
into a beautiful shrine in the cathedral, where they remained until the
Reformation, when they were taken away, and are now said to be in the
Roman Catholic cathedral at Birmingham.
There is another legend concerning St. Chad which has become more closely
attached to Peterborough than to Lichfield, but it must be briefly
stated here, as the story appears in some of the decorations of the
cathedral. Bede does not mention it, and it has been given in varying
forms by different writers. Briefly, the essence of the legend is that
Wulphere, the king of Mercia, had killed two of his sons, Wulfade and
Rufin, on account of their having been baptised by St. Chad. Each of
these young princes had been hunting in the forest when he came across
a hart with a rope round its neck. The prince gave chase, and the hart
led him to St. Chad, who, having prayed with him, baptised him. This
happened to both Wulfade and Rufin separately. Then Wulphere in his
anger slew them. Afterwards he repented, and setting out to St. Chad,
was led there by the same hart, and found the saint at prayer, with his
cloak hanging on a sunbeam. Wulphere was absolved on condition that he
should expiate his crime by founding churches and monasteries all over
his kingdom. Lichfield is said to have been one of these churches, and
Peterborough one of these monasteries. Many churches have been dedicated
to St. Chad, especially in the Midlands, and in the east of London there
was a well known as St. Chad's Well, where miracles were performed;
and it was noted for its medicinal waters up to quite recent times. A
large district in east London is still called after St. Chad's Well in
the corrupted form of Shadwell.
The next bishop was =Winfrid= (672-675), the abbot of St. Chad's Abbey at
Barrow-on-Humber; but in the year that he was appointed a church council
was held by Theodore, at which it was decided to split up some of the
dioceses. Lichfield being one of the largest, would have been divided
at once, but Winfrid, whether for his own sake or at the instigation
of King Wulphere, resisted, and the diocese remained unchanged until
Wulphere died, when in 675, Winfrid, still remaining opposed to the
scheme, was deprived. He subsequently was murdered on his way to Rome.
The new bishop was =Saxwulf= (675-691), abbot of Peterborough, and
the work of cutting up the diocese was begun. The sees of Hereford and
Worcester were made. Lincolnshire was taken from the diocese, and the
Middle Angles became the see of Leicester. However, Lichfield still
remained an enormous diocese, and when Saxwulf died he was bishop of
both Lichfield and Leicester. He was succeeded by =Hedda= (691-721),
who is said to have determined the site of the present cathedral by
building a church there. However, nothing remains of this cathedral,
but it is always supposed that Hedda brought St. Chad's bones from Stowe
Church and deposited them here. The cathedral was dedicated to St. Peter.
Hedda and his successor, =Aldwin= (721-737), were bishops of both
Lichfield and Leicester. They were followed at Lichfield by =Witta=
(737-752), and the connection with Leicester ceased. In 756 Offa, the
greatest of the Mercian kings, ascended the throne. Offa added a part
of Shropshire to the diocese, which from this time remained the same in
extent down to the Reformation. Here followed three bishops--=Hemele=
(752-764), =Cuthred= (765-768), and =Berthum= (768-779)--of whom little
is known; and then came =Higbert= or =Hygeberht= (785-801), who holds
a remarkable position in the history of the diocese. Offa had by this
time advanced himself into the leading position in England; and so great
was his power that Charlemagne called him emperor of the west, keeping
for himself the title of emperor of the east. But Offa was first of all
king of Mercia, and it did not please him to think that his bishops were
subordinate to an archbishop who lived in one of his subject states;
and so he determined "to humble Canterbury and exalt Lichfield." He
began by confiscating all the property of Canterbury situated in Mercia,
and then he appealed to the Pope that the bishop of Lichfield should
be made an archbishop. The Pope assented, a council held at Chelsea in
785 also agreed, and Higbert, the new bishop, became archbishop, with
the bishoprics of Worcester, Leicester, Lincoln, and Hereford, parts of
the old diocese of Mercia, as well as Elmham and Dunwich, to make up his
province. Offa died in 796, and immediately a stir was made to restore
Canterbury to its old dignity. The negotiations were long, but in 802
Pope Leo decided in favour of Canterbury, and the council of Cloveshoe in
803 formally annulled the metropolitan dignity of Lichfield. =Aldulf=
(801-812), who had succeeded Higbert as archbishop, became bishop,
but took precedency after Canterbury overall the other bishoprics,
and =Herewin= (812-818) on his appointment submitted to Canterbury.
Shortly afterwards =Æthelwald= (818-828) organised the bishopric upon
the basis of its present constitution. Churches were springing up all
over the diocese, with their own clergy, and so, although the church
at Lichfield remained the headquarters of the diocese, yet the clergy
attached to it were no longer to be responsible for the ministrations
of the whole diocese, but were to confine themselves to the estates of
the bishop and the cathedral, where they were to dwell under canons or
rules. It is possible that from this time the cathedral clergy became
known as canons.
Then comes the period of the invasion by the Danes, whereby the country
was devastated and the rich abbeys were destroyed. Peterborough, Crowland,
and Ely, "went up in flames"; the enemy advanced along the Trent, and
levelled to the ground the famous monastery of Repton--the Walhalla of
Mercia--where countless kings and princes had been buried. What happened
at Lichfield is not known, but many bishops succeeded one another,
of whose consecration, in some cases, the dates are so doubtful that
it is not worth while to give them. Their names are:--=Hunbert=, 828;
=Kynebert=; =Tunfrith=; =Ella=; =Algar=, 941; =Kinsy=, 949; =Winsy=,
964; =Elfege=, 973; =Godwin=, 1004; =Leofgar=, 1020; =Brithmar=, 1026;
and =Wulsy=, 1039; but little is known of them, though these two centuries
are far from being unimportant in the history of the diocese.
Probably the destruction of the royal abbeys caused the building of
numerous parish churches during this period, and of the collegiate
churches which were planted in the principal centres of the
population. The former were mostly endowed with lands or tithes to
support the parish clergy, or to recompense the canons who should attend
the church, in which latter case the tithes were probably "appropriated"
to the cathedral.
So the system developed until about the year 1000, when began, in
Mercia, a new age of monasteries, not like the old royal abbeys which
had mostly been destroyed, but houses that were filled with monks or
nuns of the Benedictine order. These competed with the secular clergy
in appropriating the endowments of the churches, and a jealousy began
between the two systems which blazed continually, with greater or less
heat, until the final overthrow of the monasteries by Henry VIII. at
the beginning of the sixteenth century.
Early in the eleventh century was founded, at Coventry, the Benedictine
abbey which had so great a share in the history of the diocese. Its
founder, Earl Leofric, was the husband of the beautiful Godiva whose
ride through the town made Coventry free from tolls.
"I, Luriche, for love of thee,
Doe make Coventre toll-free,"
are the old words. She induced her husband to found and endow the abbey
with its twenty-four monks; she herself contributed her gold and silver,
and the monastery became so wealthy that "the walls seemed almost too
strait to hold it all."
=Leofwin=, bishop of Lichfield (1054-1066), was made the first abbot of
Coventry; he died in the year of the Conquest, and was the last Saxon
bishop: henceforth a new order of men was to rule the Church in England.
No doubt Lichfield owed to its insignificance as a city the immunity
which it again enjoyed while all the neighbouring country was being
pillaged. William appointed his own chaplain, =Peter= (1072-1084),
as bishop, and here, no doubt, he lived until 1075, when, at the synod
of London, it was decided that the seats of the bishops should be in
the larger towns and not in the villages. So to the town of Chester,
where there were about 400 or 500 houses, the bishop's seat was moved.
It is interesting to find in "Domesday Book" mention of the
extraordinarily heavy fines payable to the bishop at Chester for such
offences as the following:--"If any free man does work on a holy day,
the bishop has a forfeit of eight shillings. A slave or maidservant so
transgressing pays four shillings. A merchant coming into the city and
carrying a stall shall pay to the bishop four shillings if he take it
down between the ninth hour of the Sabbath and Monday without licence
from the bishop's officer."
Following Peter came =Robert de Lymesey= (1087-1117), who, after waiting
a short time, obtained papal leave to remove his seat to Coventry,
the barony of which he bought from the king; and so he became both
bishop and abbot, and for about a century his successors united the
two offices. This arrangement was not at all to the taste of the monks,
and constant quarrels occurred. Robert de Lymesey is said to have rifled
the place; some contend, for the sake of the cathedral at Lichfield, but
others, in order to prosecute the suit at Rome in which he was involved
with the monks.
The next bishop was =Robert Peche= (1121-1126), and then came =Roger
de Clinton= (1129-1148); he was known as the soldier-bishop, and was
certainly a strong man, whatever his reputation may have been in other
ways. At Lichfield, he was a reformer who did much good to the place. The
five canons he found there were dependent for their support on the
bishop, and he seems to have settled property on the cathedral to support
them. He also added a number of prebendaries, or non-resident canons,
who were to be members of the chapter, and were to enjoy a stall in the
choir; and to each stall a small estate or prebend was attached. Many
other things he did; but, principally, he is supposed to have built the
Norman cathedral, and to have fortified the close.
Bishop Roger seems to have been also a great supporter of the Cistercian
monks, who appeared in the neighbourhood about this time, and for
whom he built an abbey in the diocese at Buildwas, not very far from
Shrewsbury. Then, being a soldier as well as a bishop, he started for
the East, and died, after fighting in the Crusades, at Antioch in 1148.
Ever since the Conquest the struggles in the Church had been growing
sharper. There is no room for a full discussion of these quarrels, but,
briefly, it may be said that they arose largely from a desire on the
part of the monks and the collegiate churches to shake off the power
of the bishops. In doing this it had been necessary to appeal more and
more to the Pope, and in consequence the Pope was gradually increasing
his power in England, to the detriment not only of the bishops, but
also of the king. On the death of Bishop Clinton, Stephen, instead of
appointing a successor himself, as had been the custom of the king on
previous occasions, found it necessary to depute his authority to a
joint council of the monks of Coventry and the canons of Lichfield and
Chester. They met at Leicester, and the monks by themselves appointed
=Walter Durdent= (1149-1159), prior of Canterbury. The canons would
not admit this election, although the new nominee had been precentor
at Lichfield; they appealed to Rome, and--how the result came about is
not clear, but indeed is a matter of dispute--Durdent was consecrated at
Canterbury. He was enthroned at Coventry, but was barred out of Lichfield,
where he commenced his rule by excommunicating the canons. But Durdent,
being now a bishop, soon drew the canons to his side, and it was with
Coventry that the differences continued. He and the prior were summoned
to Rome, where it was settled that the bishop should keep the abbey as
a monastic cathedral, but that the prior should in the future have the
first voice in the election of bishops.
Durdent died at Rome, and was succeeded by =Richard Peche= (1161-1182),
son of Robert Peche--for the clergy of that day often married--who
seems to have secured the suffrages of both sets of electors. He retired
just before his end to the priory of St Thomas, near Stafford, which he
had founded in 1180 in memory of Thomas à Becket, who had been murdered
ten years previously. He was one of those who had consecrated the
archbishop a few years before, and he joined in the popular indignation
which ended in the canonisation of the victim. About this time the diocese
was permanently divided into the archdeaconries of Derby, Stafford,
Chester, and Coventry.
The next bishop was =Gerard Puella= (1183), a celebrated authority on
ecclesiastical and canon law. Lichfield refused to admit him, and he
died soon after his consecration.
The next bishop was =Hugh de Nonant= or Nunant (1184-1199); his intense
hatred of the monks led to terrible disturbances at Coventry. Soon after
his consecration he exasperated the monks so greatly that they beat him,
and Nonant, with the wounds upon him, hurried to the king, and obtained
his consent--some say by purchase--to the monks being turned out. This
was done, and secular canons instituted in their place. During the absence
of King Richard at the Crusades, Nonant appears to have identified himself
too much with the cause of Prince John. This brought about his ruin; for,
being suspected by Richard on his return from captivity of participation
in the plots against the crown, he was deprived of his bishopric, which
in course of time, however, he was allowed to buy back for 5000 marks. He
lived not only to see the monks restored to Coventry by the Pope, but
also to repent of his harshness to monastical institutions. He died on
his way to Rome, and was buried among the monks of Caen.
The next election revived the bitterness between Coventry and Lichfield,
a bitterness accentuated by the political adherence of the two parties,
Coventry being on King Richard's side, Lichfield for Prince John. Under
these circumstances, the canons had not even been called to the ceremony
of election, and Coventry's candidate, =Geoffry de Muschamp= (1198-1208),
was elected. But the greatest difficulty of all arose at the election
of the next bishop. John was now king, and Lichfield in favour. The
monks chose their prior, but John would not allow his consecration;
then came a series of proposals, to none of which could king, monks,
and canons all three assent, but finally, at the intercession of
Pandulf, the Pope's legate, they all agreed on =William de Cornhull=
(1215-1223). Thomas of Chesterfield tells us that this bishop conferred
the right upon the chapter of electing their own dean.
The next bishop, =Alexander de Stavenby= (1224-1238), was appointed by
the Pope, on the appeal to him of both parties, who were still unable to
agree. He built the friary in Lichfield, and dedicated it to St. Francis,
the founder of the Friar Minors, which order he first introduced into
the diocese.
The high position of Stavenby in the councils of the realm make him
an important personality among the bishops of the diocese. He died in
1238; and it might have been expected that a successor would have been
appointed without difficulty, for during his rule it had been agreed
that Coventry and Lichfield should appoint to the vacant bishopric
alternatively. Coventry appointed William de Raleigh, but he accepted
Norwich in preference, and then the monks claimed to appoint again, but
the canons would not allow this, and appointed their dean, William of
Manchester, who, however, stood aside when the monks suggested Nicholas
de Farnham, and he was too modest to accept the office. Then =Hugh de
Patteshull= (1239-1241) was chosen at the king's desire. He was Treasurer
of England and a native of the diocese; he seems to have followed in the
steps of his predecessor, and it is said that he made new regulations as
to the manner of the cathedral services. He died only eighteen months
after his appointment, and a fresh trouble arose over the election of
a successor; but the Pope intervened without asking permission of the
king, and, under the advice of Grosseteste, the famous bishop of Lincoln,
appointed =Roger de Weseham= (1245-1256), the dean of the cathedral. The
king in his anger seized the endowments of the see, and Weseham began his
work amid great difficulties, but finally Henry restored the endowments,
and allowed Weseham to prosecute his salutary re-organisation of the
clergy. Weseham retired in 1256, and died shortly after. It is doubtful
if the monument in the south aisle, generally known as that of Bishop
Patteshull, is not in reality that of Bishop Weseham.
There was no contention over the election of the next bishop, =Roger
de Molend= or Meyland (1256-1295). He was a natural son of the Earl of
Salisbury, William Longespée, and so nephew to King Henry III. His was
not an admirable role, the most remarkable event being his attempt,
_vi et armis_, to obtain admittance to the Royal Free Chapel of St. Mary
at Stafford. Both sides refused to plead at the Assizes, but it was
finally decided that the bishop should be allowed the use of the free
chapels in Derby and Stafford, but should have no disciplinary powers
over their clergy. Afterwards he seems to have neglected his diocese,
and the scandalous and avaricious conduct of the clergy, which the
last two bishops had controlled, now became so intense that in 1282
Archbishop Peckham had to interfere, and Roger was forced to come into
residence. Soon after it was found necessary to find him a coadjutor,
who was to advise him in all official acts. Incompetent as he was as
a bishop, the diocese obtained several remarkable benefits during his
rule. The king gave Cannock Chase to the see, and the west front of the
cathedral was begun. It may well be that in his travels he had acquired
a love of beauty he would not have acquired at home, and that we owe to
him the conception of this beautiful feature of the cathedral. The money
it must have cost, too, could only have been found by one whose princely
rank enabled him to obtain money with some ease. In London also he left
his mark, unhappily now entirely obliterated. Where Somerset House now
stands he erected his palace, next to the palace of his brother Bishop
of Worcester. It was a beautiful mansion, but the site was too valuable
to permit of it belonging to any one but the king when Henry VIII. graced
the throne.
About this time the archdeaconry of Stafford was occupied by Thomas
de Cantilupe, afterwards Bishop of Hereford. The story of his life
belongs to the account of that diocese, but such a man must have had
great influence on his archdeaconry.
The next bishop was =Walter de Langton= (1296-1321), Treasurer of
England, and friend to King Edward I. He was chosen unanimously by both
parties. At first his political duties claimed him, and brought him into
collision with the Prince of Wales, who, as soon as he had ascended the
throne as Edward II., threw him into prison. There he does not seem to
have remained long, and when Piers Gaveston, the king's favourite, was
beheaded in 1312, he was restored to his former treasurership. Langton
is principally remembered in connection with the see as having founded
the Lady Chapel and built the Bishop's Palace, for so long a splendid
monument to his memory in the north-east corner of the close. He rebuilt
also Eccleshall and Haywood Manor houses, and walled the close for
"the honour of God, the dignity of the cathedral, and the bodies of the
saints there reposing, and also for security and quiet of the canons."
This last a mistaken work, as we who live after the event are well able to
judge. He also bridged the cathedral pool, and made a magnificent shrine
for St. Chad's bones. Langton died in 1321 in London, and was carried to
Lichfield, where he was buried with much ceremony. His bones were removed
into the Lady Chapel when it was finished during the rule of the next
bishop, and a sumptuous monument placed over them. The mutilated remains
of this monument can be seen in the south choir aisle to this day.
His successor, =Roger de Norbury= or Northbury (1322-1359), was appointed
by the Pope, as the two chapters had not agreed once more. His was a
long rule, nearly forty years, and filled with good for the see. The
registers of both Langton and Norbury are both still in existence among
the muniments of the cathedral, and from them we know much of the life
of a bishop of this time. Every kind of evil seems to have come under
the notice of the bishop--whose power of inducing those who had done
wrong to repent and do right was the direct outcome of the terrible
threat of excommunication which he was able to wield. Lichfield had
constantly during the later reigns been the scene of royal festivities,
and after the battle of Crecy Edward III. held his Court here, and there
were tournaments and banquets at which the flower of English chivalry
assisted. It is said by some that here occurred the famous incident
of the garter which led to the institution of the order of that name.
At any rate, Uttoxeter was appropriated to the chapel of the garter.
About this time, too, the cathedral must have been finished; now, too,
was the terrible visitation of the black death, that most deadly of all
plagues, which is said to have cut off one half of the whole population
of the realm. Whether the fear of it, or the occasion of the completion of
the cathedral, caused the chapter to set their house in order, certain it
is that we have, in the discovery of the sacrist's roll of 1346, a kind
of inventory of the valuables of the cathedral at this time; these are
set out in the part devoted to the cathedral. Thomas of Chesterfield,
the early historian of the diocese, whose work is printed in Wharton's
_Anglia Sacra_, and on whom all later writers on the subject have had
largely to rely, lived at this time, and brought down his "chronicle"
to 1348, one of the years of the black death.
=Roger de Stretton= (1360-1386), an absolutely uneducated man,
succeeded Langton; then came =Walter Skirlaw= (1386) and =Richard
Scrope= (1386-1396), but the former, between his consecration and his
enthronement, was translated to Bath and Wells, from whence he went
to Durham, and the latter, though distinguished in English history,
is more noted as Archbishop of York. Next came Bishop =John Burghill=
(1398-1414), a barefooted Black Friar, who gained a reputation for
asceticism, and left his worldly goods to the church. Richard II. was
present at the enthronement of these two last bishops. They were followed
by =John Catterick= (1415-1419).
In 1419, =William Heyworth= (1419-1447), the abbot of St. Albans,
became bishop. An important question was settled in his time--viz. the
bishop's position in the cathedral. At his suggestion, it was arranged
that he should give notice to the dean when he intended a visitation:
the chapter should be summoned, and they should conduct him to the high
altar and there leave him to stand or kneel alone in prayer. Afterwards
they were to conduct him to the chapter-house, where he might inquire
into the title and conduct of the canons; the other cathedral clergy
were to be entirely subject to the dean and chapter. His rule saw also the
beginnings of the collegiate church of Manchester, which so long after was
to become the cathedral of the new diocese to be carved out of our see.
It is unnecessary to more than mention the names of bishops who succeeded
about this time: they are--=William Booth= (1447-1450), =Nicholas Cloose=
(1452), =Reginald Bolars= (1453-1459). =John Halse= (1459-1492) was called
on to give shelter to Queen Margaret after the battle of Bloreheath.
At the end of the fifteenth century there is another political
bishop. This was =William Smyth= (1492-1496). He, like several of
his successors, was President of Wales, and he was also the founder
of Brasenose College, Oxford. Next comes =John Arundel= (1496-1503),
and then comes =Geoffry Blythe=, whose rule, commencing in 1503, lasts
until 1531, the year when Henry required the clergy to acknowledge him
as supreme head of the Church. This period of the dark days before the
Reformation must have been one of great difficulty for the bishops,
but Blythe seems to have been very popular at Lichfield; he made
several attempts to stamp out Lollardism, and has earned for himself
an unenviable niche in the house of fame by his inclusion in Fox's
"Book of Martyrs" for his holding of the "Court of Heresy." One martyr
(a woman) was burned at Coventry, and others were tried and acquitted
or condemned to less horrible punishments. On the whole, Blythe seems to
have been as gentle as the times would allow him to be. He died in 1531,
and escaped the storm which was now to burst. When it had cleared away,
many of the old religious landmarks had disappeared; Lichfield Cathedral
had lost her sister minster, and had been shorn of much that it valued
and was beautiful.
After an interval, =Rowland Lee= (1534-1543) was appointed. He had
been chaplain to the king, and it was he who officiated at the private
marriage of Henry and Anne Boleyn; he was rewarded with the bishopric
of Lichfield and Coventry, and was made President of Wales, in which
latter appointment he was said to have ruled so wisely that we owe
to him the kindly feelings which have ever since existed between the
two countries. This work must have kept him much away from the diocese,
and it was superintended by two suffragans; but we have it on record
that he did his best to save something for the diocese from the wreck of
the Reformation; how little he was able to do we shall now see. He also
issued to the clergy a set of injunctions, in which the new teaching and
ideas are set forth, "that the King's Majesty is only Supreme Head under
Chryst in Erthe of this his Churche of England"; that every parish priest
shall provide for his church a "Boke of the hole Byble both in Latin and
alsoe in Englishe, and lay the same in the Quiere for every man that will
loke and read therein"; and other injunctions on prayers and preaching
and behaviour, which are not, like the first two, new and startling,
but are reminiscences of the ordinances and manners of the past.
Bishop Lee, who had failed in his efforts to save the cathedral church
of Coventry, also exerted himself on behalf of the shrine of St. Chad,
and succeeded so well that, though the shrine was rifled of its jewels
and precious metals, they were granted to the uses of the cathedral,
instead of finding their way into the coffers of the king. The ashes
of the saint were stolen by one of the prebendaries. Soon after,
the collegiate churches were confiscated, and the diocese, like
other dioceses, found itself stripped of all its finest churches. The
royal chapels of Stafford, Shrewsbury, Chester, Bridgenorth, Derby, and
Penkridge all went; and throughout the country, for want of the endowments
which had been confiscated, churches and chapels were falling into ruin.
Henry seems to have had ideas of using some of the money thus obtained
for ecclesiastical purposes, but his own needs did not permit him to do
much. The bishopric of Shrewsbury, which he had planned, came to nothing,
though a suffragan with that title was appointed; but at Chester the
abbey of St. Werburgh became a cathedral church when, in 1541, the see
of Chester was founded, and Cheshire and Lancashire were taken from
Lichfield to form the new diocese.
=Richard Sampson= (1543-1553), dean of the cathedral, succeeded Lee
as bishop, and died early in Mary's reign. His successor, =Ralph Bane=
(1554-1558), lighted the fires in the diocese, and many perished at his
hands. He was a bishop after Mary's heart, and sat with Tonstall and
Bonner in the inquisitions which disgraced the reign. He resigned on
the advent of Elizabeth. And then another kind of persecution commenced;
this time it was the Papists who suffered, and many were done to death
in the diocese.
Following Bane came =Thomas Bentham= (1560-1579), and =William Overton=
(1580-1609); then =George Abbott= was bishop in 1609, and in one year
was promoted to Canterbury, where he preceded Laud, whose life-long
opponent he was. Then came =Richard Neill= (1610-1614), who was dean
of Westminster as well, and earned an ignoble reputation by burning a
Papist named Wightman, at Lichfield. He was consecrated to Rochester
in 1608, and translated successively to Lichfield, 1610; Lincoln,
1614; Durham, 1617; Winchester, 1628; and York, 1632. =John Overall=
(1614-1618) wrote that part of the "Church Catechism" which explains the
sacraments; he afterwards went to Norwich. =Thomas Morton= (1619-1632)
came from Chester; he was one of the most learned bishops of the time,
and a noted advocate of the Church of England principles.
=Robert Wright= (1632-1644) was a supporter of Laud; under him the
cathedral service became again something like that of the time of Bishop
Patteshull. He was one of the twelve bishops who were impeached by the
Long Parliament in 1641, and, though an old man, pleaded his cause at
the bar of the House of Commons. He was still bishop when the Civil War
broke out; and during the famous siege of Lichfield he was shut up in his
castle at Eccleshall, where he died while it was being defended against
the Parliamentarians. His successor, =Accepted Frewen=, president of
Magdalen College, Oxford, was appointed by the king, and consecrated in
the chapel of his college; but, having neither cathedral, revenues, nor
power, he retired into Kent, until in 1660 he became Archbishop of York.
=John Hacket= (1661-1671) was appointed to the see by Charles II., and
decided that its title should be altered from "Coventry and Lichfield"
to "Lichfield and Coventry"; partly, no doubt, because the cathedral was
here, and partly because in the late troubles Lichfield had been loyal
to the Crown, and Coventry had not. His great work was the restoration of
the cathedral from its ruins, and the re-organisation of the diocese. He
had had a distinguished record, and was one of the sub-committee in 1640
appointed to try and settle the vexed questions in the Church, and as such
he made an eloquent speech at the bar of the House of Commons. Later
he continued the use of the liturgy in his church of St. Andrew,
Holborn, after it had been forbidden, and when the officer and soldiers
were sent to arrest him and ordered him to desist on pain of instant
death, he answered: "Soldier, I am doing my duty, do you do yours," and
continued the service. Surely a man pre-eminently fitted for the work of
re-organisation he was to do at Lichfield; and the king got the credit
from the clergy of having the old "apostolic spirit of discerning,"
so greatly was he to their minds. He must have been a wit too, for, when
the bishopric was offered to him, he remarked that he would rather that in
future times people should ask why Dr Hacket was not a bishop, than why
he was. He is also said to have entreated the gentleman who had declared
that hell was paved with bishops' skulls to tread lightly over his.
Hacket's dean cannot have confirmed the clergy in their opinion of
Charles, whose appointment to the post he had purchased; so bad was he
that the bishop excommunicated him, and the sentence was even read in
the cathedral while he was there, but he heeded it not. The chapter
loathed him, but apparently the king's feelings were different, for
at Hacket's death he was appointed to succeed him. So =Thomas Wood=
(1671-1692) became bishop, and was the worst the see ever had: he lived
much away from the diocese. Lancelot Addison, the father of the famous
Joseph Addison, was dean in his time. William III., staying a night
at the deanery, was attracted to the genial essayist early; and we may
imagine that he must have been greatly influenced by that part of his
life spent within the cathedral close.
The next bishop was =William Lloyd= (1692-1699): he came from St. Asaph,
and went to Worcester. While bishop of St. Asaph he was one of the seven
bishops who were sent to the Tower in 1688. =John Hough= (1699-1717)
came next; he also had crossed the path of James II., for he had been
elected President of Magdalen over the head of James's nominee, but
James had proved the stronger at the time, and he was ejected, only to
be reinstated by the frightened king soon after. At the Revolution he
was made bishop of Oxford, whence he was translated hither; he afterwards
refused the primacy.
The next two bishops--=Edward Chandler= (1717-1730) and =Richard
Smallbroke= (1730-1749)--were distinguished defenders of Christianity
against the infidelity of the time. Their controversial writings are
numerous and well known.
The next bishop, =Frederick Cornwallis= (1749-1768), afterwards became
Archbishop of Canterbury. Then came =John Egerton= (1768-1771),
from Bangor, and went to Durham; =Brownlow North= (1771-1774), who
was translated to Worcester, and thence to Winchester; =Richard Hurd=
(1774-1781), who also went to Worcester; =James Cornwallis= (1781-1824),
and =Henry Ryder= (1824-1836), who came from Gloucester. He succeeded in
founding many new churches and immensely increasing the membership of the
Church in the diocese. His successor, =Samuel Butler= (1836-1843), went
on with this work. It was in his time that the archdeaconry of Coventry
was taken from the diocese and added to Worcester. The title of the see
now becomes Lichfield only; Coventry, which at one time held the premier
place in the title, and then the second, now slips out altogether.
Ten years later the deanery of Bridgenorth was allotted to Hereford,
and in the same year all peculiar and exempt jurisdiction was abolished,
so that the archdeacons had power to visit every church in the diocese;
the number of canons of Lichfield was reduced from six to four.
In the meantime =James Bowstead= (1840-1843) and =John Lonsdale=
(1843-1867) became bishops. The latter was one of the greatest bishops
the diocese has had, and his work, like that of Ryder, lives in the
increased power of the Church in the diocese. He was succeeded by another
great bishop, =George Augustus Selwyn=, who, as bishop of New Zealand,
had organised the Church in those islands.
The next bishop, =William Dalrymple Maclagan= (1878-1891), is now
Archbishop of York. It was during his rule, in 1884, that the new diocese
of Southwell was formed and Derbyshire was taken from Lichfield.
The present bishop is the Hon. =Augustus Legge=.
[Illustration: MONUMENT TO DR JOHNSON IN THE MARKET-PLACE.]
DIMENSIONS OF THE CATHEDRAL
Feet
Length, total (interior) 370
" of Nave 140
" of Transept 149
Width of Nave and Aisles 68
Height of Vault 57
Area 27,720 sq. feet
[Illustration: PLAN OF LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL.]
*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Lichfield - A Description of Its Fabric and A Brief History of the Espicopal See" ***
Copyright 2023 LibraryBlog. All rights reserved.