Lichfield

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Lichfield

Lichfield is a city

City status in the United Kingdom

City status in the United Kingdom is granted by the British monarchy to a select group of communities. The holding of city status gives a settlement no special rights other than that of calling itself a "city"....
and civil parish

Civil parish

In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a civil parish is usually the lowest unit of local government, below district and county councils....
in Staffordshire

Staffordshire

Staffordshire is a landlocked Counties of England in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Stafford. Part of the National Forest, England lies within its borders....
, England

England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
. One of seven civil parishes with city status in England, Lichfield is situated 25 km (16 miles) north of Birmingham

Birmingham

London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
.

Lichfield is notable for its three-spired cathedral

Lichfield Cathedral

Lichfield Cathedral is situated in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. It is the only medieval English cathedral with three spires. The Diocese of Lichfield covers all of Staffordshire, much of Shropshire and part of the Black Country and West Midlands ....
and as the birthplace of Dr. Johnson, the writer of the first authoritative Dictionary of the English Language

A Dictionary of the English Language

Published on 15 April 1755 and written by Samuel Johnson, A Dictionary of the English Language, sometimes published as Johnson's Dictionary, is among the most influential dictionary in the history of the English language....
. Today it still retains its old importance as an ecclesiastical centre, but its industrial

Industry

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Encyclopedia

Lichfield is a city

City status in the United Kingdom

Civil parish

In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a civil parish is usually the lowest unit of local government, below district and county councils....
in Staffordshire

Staffordshire

Staffordshire is a landlocked Counties of England in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Stafford. Part of the National Forest, England lies within its borders....
, England

England

Birmingham

London

Lichfield Cathedral

A Dictionary of the English Language

Industry

An industry is the manufacturing of a Good or Service within a category. Although industry is a broad term for any kind of economic production, in economics and urban planning industry is a synonym for the secondary sector, which is a type of economic activity involved in the manufacturing of raw materials into goods and products....
and commercial development has been relatively small; the centre of the city thus retains an essentially old-world character. The construction of a major shopping and leisure complex, which will transform the city centre, is due to begin in 2009.

The population of the district according to the 2001 census is 93,237; of the city itself 27,900, this discrepancy being mainly accounted for by the inclusion of the town of Burntwood

Burntwood

Burntwood is a town in Staffordshire, England, lying in the Cannock Chase area approximately four miles west of Lichfield. The town had a population of 26,035 at the time of the 2001 census and forms part of Lichfield ....
in Lichfield District, which has a similar population to Lichfield. The motto on Lichfield's coat of arms

Coat of arms

A coat of arms, more properly called an armorial achievement, armorial bearings or often just arms for short, in European tradition, is a design belonging to a particular person and used by them in a wide variety of ways....
quotes Samuel Johnson's tribute to his native city in his Dictionary

Dictionary

A dictionary is a book of Alphabetical order listed words in a specific language, with definitions, etymologies, pronunciations, and other information; or a book of alphabetically listed words in one language with their equivalents in another, also known as a lexicon....
, "Salve, magna parens" — "Hail great Mother".

History

At Wall, 3 miles to the south of the present city, there was a Romano-British

Romano-British

Romano-British culture is that of the Romanised Britons under the Roman Empire and later the Western Roman Empire, and of those exposed to Roman culture in the years after the Roman departure from Britain....
village called Letocetum
Letocetum

Letocetum, now known as the village of Wall, Staffordshire, Staffordshire, England, is the remains of a Roman Britain settlement. It is owned and run by the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, under the name "Letocetum Roman Baths Site & Museum"....
(from the Celtic

Celtic languages

The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic", a branch of the greater Indo-European languages language family. The term "Celtic" was used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, having much earlier been used by Greek and Roman writers to describe tribes in central Gaul....
for "grey wood"), from which the first half of the name Lichfield is derived. It was based on a Roman fort next to Watling Street

Watling Street

Watling Street is the name given to an ancient trackway in England and Wales that was first used by the Celts mainly between the modern cities of Canterbury and St Albans....
which was used in the first centuries AD, until about AD 160-170, when the fort's mansio

Mansio

In the Roman Empire, a mansio was an official stopping place on a Roman road, or via, maintained by the central government for the use of officials and those on official business whilst travelling....
was destroyed by fire at the same time the forum in Wroxeter

Wroxeter

Wroxeter is a village in the county of Shropshire, England, on the east bank of the River Severn, at . It is located on the site of the Roman Empire city of Viroconium Cornoviorum, known in Old Welsh language as Caer Guricon....
was also destroyed by fire. This suggests a revolt of the local British. Legend has it that a thousand Christians were martyred in Lichfield around AD 300, during the reign of the Roman

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
Emperor

Emperor

An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress is the female equivalent. As a title, "empress" may indicate the wife of an emperor or a woman who rules in her own right ....
Diocletian

Diocletian

Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus , born Diocles and commonly known as Diocletian , was Roman Emperor from November 20, 284 to May 1, 305....
, and that the name 'Lichfield' actually means 'field of the dead'. There is however, no evidence to support this legend. The history of Lichfield in the following centuries is obscure. The Historia Britonum

Historia Britonum

The Historia Brittonum, or The History of the Britons, is a historical work that was first written sometime shortly after AD 833, and exists in several recensions of varying difference....
lists the city as one of the 28 cities of Britain around AD 833. In the Welsh

Welsh literature

Welsh literature may be used to refer to any literature originating from Wales or by List of Welsh writers:*See Literature of Wales for literature in the Welsh language...
poem The Lament of Cynddylan, Caer Luytcoed (cf modern Welsh Caerlwytgoed — Lichfield) or Lichfield is said to have been taken by the sword by pagan opponents, most likely the Mercia

Mercia

Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxons Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands....
ns to the east. The first authentic notice of Lichfield occurs in Bede

Bede

Bede , , was a monasticism at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria....
's history, where it is called 'Licidfelth' and mentioned as the place where St Chad fixed the episcopal see of the Mercia

Mercia

Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxons Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands....
ns in 669. The burial in the cathedral of individual kings of Mercia, such as Celred in 716, further increased the prestige of Lichfield. In 786, Pope Adrian I

Pope Adrian I

Pope Adrian, or Hadrian I, was pope from February 9, 772 to December 25, 795. He was the son of Theodore, a Rome nobleman.Soon after his accession, the territory ruled by the popes was invaded by Desiderius, king of the Lombards, and Adrian found it necessary to invoke the aid of the Franks king Charlemagne, who entered Italy with...
raised it at the request of Offa

Offa of Mercia

Offa was the King of Mercia from 757 until his death in July 796. He was the son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa of Mercia, a brother of King Penda of Mercia, who had ruled over a century before....
, King of Mercia, to the dignity of an archbishopric

Higbert, Archbishop of Lichfield

Hygeberht was the bishop of Lichfield and archbishop of Lichfield during the reign of the powerful Offa, king of Mercia, in the late eighth century....
, but in 803 the primacy was restored to Canterbury

Canterbury

Canterbury lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a local government district of Kent, in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
. In 1075 the see of Lichfield was removed to Chester

Chester

Chester is the county town of Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, Wales, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider local government district of the Chester , which had a population of 118,210 according to the United Kingdom Census 2001....
, and thence a few years later to Coventry

Coventry

Coventry is a City status in the United Kingdom and metropolitan borough in the county of West Midlands in England. With a population of 303,475 at the United Kingdom Census 2001 , Coventry is the 9th largest city in England and the 11th largest in the United Kingdom....
, but it was restored to Lichfield in 1148. At the time of the Domesday survey, Lichfield was held by the bishop of Chester

Bishop of Chester

The Bishop of Chester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chester in the Province of York.The diocese expands across most of the Historic counties of England of Cheshire, including the Wirral Peninsula and has its Episcopal see in the Chester where the seat is located at the Chester Cathedral, which was formerly the Benedict...
, where the see of the bishopric had been moved in 1075: it is not called a borough, only a small village. The lordship and manor of the town were held by the bishop of Chester until the reign of Edward VI

Edward VI of England

Edward VI became List of English monarchs and King of Ireland on 28 January 1547 and was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII of England and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first Protestantism ruler....
, when they were leased to the town corporation. In 1291 Lichfield was severely damaged by a fire, which destroyed most of the town, however the Cathedral and Close survived unscathed. There is evidence that a castle existed here in the time of Henry I

Henry I of England

Henry I was the fourth son of William I the Conqueror. He succeeded his elder brother William II of England as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106....
, and a footpath near the grammar school retains the name of Castle-ditch. Richard II

Richard II of England

Richard II was the eighth King of England of the House of Plantagenet. He ruled from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard was a son of Edward, the Black Prince and was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III of England....
gave a charter (1387) for the foundation of the gild of St Mary and St John the Baptist; this gild functioned as the local government, until its dissolution by Edward VI

Edward VI of England

Bailiff

Bailiff is a governor or custodian ; a legal officer to whom some degree of authority, care or jurisdiction is committed. Bailiffs are of various kinds and their offices and duties vary greatly....
s and twenty-four burgess

Burgess

Burgess is a word in English language that originally meant a Freedom of the City of a borough or burgh . It later came to mean an elected or un-elected official of a municipality, or the representative of a borough in the English House of Commons....
es; further charters were given by Mary

Mary I of England

Mary I , was Queen of England and Monarchy of Ireland from 19 July 1553 until her death. The fourth crowned monarch of the Tudor dynasty, she is remembered for restoring England to Roman Catholicism after succeeding her short-lived half brother, Edward VI of England, to the English throne....
, James I

James I of England

James VI and I was List of monarchs of Scotland as James VI, and List of English monarchs and King of Ireland as James I. He ruled in Kingdom of Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567, when he was only one year old, succeeding his mother Mary I of Scotland....
and Charles II

Charles II of England

Charles II was the Monarchy of Kingdom of England, Kingdom of Scotland, and Kingdom of Ireland.His father Charles I of England Regicide#The regicide of Charles I of England at Palace of Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War....
(1664), the last, incorporating it under the title of the "bailiffs and citizens of the city of Lichfield," was the governing charter until 1835; under this charter the governing body consisted of two bailiffs and twenty-four brethren. In 1553 Queen Mary

Mary I of England

Staffordshire

Staffordshire is a landlocked Counties of England in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Stafford. Part of the National Forest, England lies within its borders....
. It remained so until 1888.

Lichfield sent two members to the parliament of 1304 and to a few succeeding parliaments, but the representation did not become regular until 1552; in 1867 it lost one member, and in 1885 its representation was merged in that of the county. By the charter of James I, the market day was changed from Wednesday to Tuesday and Friday; the Tuesday market disappeared during the 19th century; the only existing fair is a small pleasure fair of ancient origin held on Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday

In the Western Christianity calendar, Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent and occurs forty-six days before Easter. It falls on a different date each year, because it is dependent on the Computus; it can occur as early as February 4 or as late as March 10....
; the annual fête on Whit Monday

Whit Monday

Whit Monday or Pentecost Monday is the holiday celebrated the day after Pentecost, a movable feast in the Christian calendar. It is movable because it is determined by the date of Easter....
claims to date from the time of Alfred the Great

Alfred the Great

Alfred the Great , also spelled ?lfred, was king of the southern Anglo-Saxons kingdom of Wessex from 871 to 899. Alfred is noted for his defence of the kingdom against the Danish people Vikings, becoming the only English people king to be awarded the epithet "the Great"....
.

The reformation

Reformation

Reformation may refer to:Movements:* Protestant Reformation, an attempt by Martin Luther to reform the Roman Catholic Church that resulted in a schism, and grew into a wider movement....
had a dramatic affect on Lichfield, the disappearance of pilgrim

Pilgrim

A pilgrim is one who undertakes a pilgrimage, literally 'far afield'. This is traditionally a visit to a place of some religious or historic significance; often a considerable distance is traveled....
traffic following the destruction of St. Chad's shrine in 1538 was a major loss to the city's economic prosperity. That year too the Franciscan friary was dissolved, the site becoming a private estate. Further economic decline followed the outbreak of plague

Black Death

The Black Death, was one of the deadliest pandemics in human history, widely thought to have been caused by a bacterium named Yersinia pestis , but recently attributed by some factors to other diseases....
in 1593, which resulted in the death of over a third of the entire population. The last person in England

England

Heresy

Heresy is an introduced change to some system of belief, especially a religion, that conflicts with the previously established canon of that belief....
was in Lichfield. Edward Wightman

Edward Wightman

Edward Wightman , was an English Baptist, executed at Lichfield for his views. He was the last person to be Execution by burning for heresy in England....
from Burton upon Trent

Burton upon Trent

Burton upon Trent, also known as Burton-on-Trent or simply Burton, is a large town straddling the River Trent in the east of Staffordshire, England....
was burnt at the stake

Execution by burning

Capital punishment by combustion, , has a long history as a method of punishment for crimes such as treason, heresy and witchcraft . This method of execution fell into disfavor among governments in the late 18th century; today, it is considered cruel and unusual punishment....
in the Market Place on 11 April 1612 for refusing to recant his Baptist

Baptist

A Baptist is a member of a Christian denomination characterized by the rejection of infant baptism in favor of believer's baptism by Baptism#Immersion....
beliefs.

In the English Civil War

English Civil War

The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Roundhead and Cavalier. The First English Civil War and Second English Civil War civil wars pitted the supporters of Charles I of England against the supporters of the Long Parliament, while the Third English Civil War saw fighting between supporters...
, Lichfield was divided. The cathedral authorities with a certain following were for the king, but the townsfolk generally sided with the parliament, and this led to the fortification of the close in 1643. Lichfield's position as a focus of supply routes had an important strategic significance during the war, and both forces were anxious to control the city. Lord Brooke

Robert Greville, 2nd Baron Brooke

Robert Greville, 2nd Baron Brooke was an English Civil War Roundhead General.Robert Greville was the cousin and adopted son of Fulke Greville, 1st Baron Brooke, and thus became 2nd Lord Brooke....
, notorious for his hostility to the church, led an assault against it, but was killed by a deflected bullet on St Chad's day, an accident welcomed as a miracle by the Royalists. The close yielded and was retaken by Prince Rupert of the Rhine

Prince Rupert of the Rhine

Rupert, Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke of Bavaria , commonly called Prince Rupert of the Rhine, , soldier, inventor and amateur artist in mezzotint, was a younger son of Frederick V, Elector Palatine and Elizabeth of Bohemia, and the nephew of King Charles I of England, who created him Duke of Cumberland and Earl of Holderness....
in this year; but on the breakdown of the king's cause in 1646 it again surrendered. The cathedral suffered extensive damage from the war. It was subsequently restored, particularly the central spire, at the end of the common wealth period, thanks in part to the gratitude and generosity of King Charles II of England. There is a statue of Charles II by the south door of the Cathedral.

During the 18th century the city thrived as a busy coaching city on the main route to the northwest and Ireland. It also became a centre of great intellectual activity, being the home of many famous people including Samuel Johnson

Samuel Johnson

Samuel Johnson was an English author. Beginning as a Grub Street journalist, he made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, novelist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer....
, David Garrick

David Garrick

David Garrick was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and Theatrical producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson....
, Erasmus Darwin

Erasmus Darwin

Erasmus Darwin , was an England physician, natural philosopher, physiologist, abolitionist, inventor and poet. He was one of the founder members of the Lunar Society, a discussion group of pioneering industrialists and natural philosophers....
and Anna Seward

Anna Seward

Anna Seward was an England poet, often called the Swan of Lichfield....
, this prompted Johnson's remark that Lichfield was "a city of philosophers". The arrival of the Industrial Revolution

Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution was a period in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, production, and transportation had a profound effect on the socioeconomics and cultural conditions in United Kingdom....
and the railways in the 19th century signaled the end of Lichfield's position as an important staging post for coaching traffic. Whilst the industrial development at nearby Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city status in the United Kingdom and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. Birmingham is the most populous of England's English Core Cities Group, and is the List of United Kingdom cities by population British city after London, with a population of 1,010,200 ....
exploded, along with its population, Lichfield remained largely unchanged in character.

Today the city continues to expand; to the west, a new area of housing has been under development for a number of years which has swelled the city's population by some 3,000. Plans have been approved and construction is about to begin on a major new £100 million shopping and leisure complex, at Friarsgate, opposite Lichfield City Station. Friarsgate garage, Lichfield's multi-storey car park, police station, bus station and public toilets will all be demolished to make way for 22,000 square metres of retail space and 2,000 square metres designated for leisure facilities. It has been announced that this will consist of a flagship Debenhams

Debenhams

Debenhams plc is a major United Kingdomretailing operating under a department store format in the United Kingdom and Franchising stores in other countries....
department store, a six-screen cinema, a hotel, 37 individual shops and 56 apartments.

Economy

Lichfield's wealth grew along with its importance as an ecclesiastical centre. The original settlement prospered as the place where pilgrims gathered to worship at the shrine of St Chad, this practice continued up until the Reformation

English Reformation

The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th century England by which the Church of England first broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
when the shrine was destroyed.

In the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

File:Karl 1 mit papst gelasius gregor1 sacramentar v karl d kahlen.jpgThe Middle Ages of European history are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christi...
the main industry in Lichfield was making woollen cloth. There was also a leather industry in Lichfield. Much of the surrounding area was open pasture and there were many surrounding farms.

In the 18th century, Lichfield became a busy coaching centre, there was little industry, the main source of wealth to the city coming from the money generated by its many visitors. The invention of the railways saw the decline in coach travel and with it came the decline in Lichfield's prosperity.

By the end of the 19th century, brewing

Brewing

Brewing is the production of alcoholic beverages and alcohol fuel through fermentation . The term is used for the production of beer, although the word "brewing" is also used to describe the fermentation process used to create wine and mead....
was the principal industry, and in the neighbourhood were large market gardens.

Today there are a number of light industrial areas predominantly in the east of the city, not dominated by any one particular industry. The district is famous for two local products: Armitage Shanks

Armitage Shanks

Armitage Shanks is a Great Britain manufacturer of bathroom fixtures and plumbing supplies.In 2004 Armitage Shanks had eight factories in the UK, the largest in Armitage, Staffordshire....
, manufacturers of bath

Bathtub

A bath , bathtub , or tub is a plumbing fixture used for bathing. Most modern bathtubs are made of acrylic glass or fiberglass, but alternatives are available in Vitreous enamel over steel or cast iron, and occasionally wood....
s/bidet

Bidet

A bidet is a low-mounted plumbing fixture or type of sink intended for washing the genitalia, inner buttocks, and anus. Originally a French language word, in English language bidet is or ....
s and shower

Shower

A shower is a Stall for washing, usually in a bathroom, having an overhead nozzle that sprays water down on the body. A full bathroom may include a shower stall and a bathtub whereas a small bathroom usually has either one or other....
s, and Arthur Price of England

Arthur Price

Arthur Price & Co. is a cutlery company in the UK....
, master cutlers and silversmiths. Many residents commute to Birmingham

Birmingham

Famous Lichfeldians

*Samuel Johnson

Samuel Johnson

David Garrick
David Garrick

David Garrick was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and Theatrical producer who influenced nearly all aspects of theatrical practice throughout the 18th century and was a pupil and friend of Dr Samuel Johnson....
— Famous actor of the 18th century
Erasmus Darwin
Erasmus Darwin

Erasmus Darwin , was an England physician, natural philosopher, physiologist, abolitionist, inventor and poet. He was one of the founder members of the Lunar Society, a discussion group of pioneering industrialists and natural philosophers....
— Scientist, inventor and literary man, grandfather of Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin Royal Society was an English people natural history who realised and presented compelling evidence that all species of life have evolution over time from common descent, through the process he called natural selection....
Joseph Addison
Joseph Addison

??File:Joseph Addison.pngJoseph Addison was an English essayist and poet. He was a man of letters, eldest son of Lancelot Addison, and later the dean of Lichfield....
— Politician and writer
Anna Seward
Anna Seward

Anna Seward was an England poet, often called the Swan of Lichfield....
— Romantic poet, memorialist and letter writer
Thomas Seward
Thomas Seward

Thomas Seward was an England Anglican Church clergyman, author and editor who was part of the Lichfield intellectual circle of Samuel Johnson, Erasmus Darwin and his own daughter Anna Seward....
— Clergyman, author and father of Anna
Bryn Fowler — Bassist and backing vocalist in the band The Holloways
The Holloways

The Holloways are a four-piece indie-rock band from North London. Their first single "Two Left Feet" entered the charts at number 33 in July, with the follow-up "Generator " charting at number 30 in October 2006....
Elias Ashmole
Elias Ashmole

Elias Ashmole , was a celebrated England antiquarian, politician, officer of arms, astrology and student of alchemy. Ashmole supported the Cavalier side during the English Civil War, and at the English Restoration of Charles II of England he was rewarded with several lucrative offices....
— Founder of Ashmolean Museum
Ashmolean Museum

The Ashmolean Museum on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is the world's first university museum. Its first building is sometimes attributed to Christopher Wren, though there is no good evidence for this claim, and was built in 1678?1683 to house the collection or cabinet of curiosities Elias Ashmole gave Oxford University in 1677....
, Oxford
Richard Allinson
Richard Allinson

Richard John McNeill Allinson was born on 12 October, 1958 in Lichfield, Staffordshire. He started his broadcasting with a 3 year stint at Bailrigg FM, whilst undertaking college courses at Fylde College, Lancaster University....
— Broadcaster
Helen Baxendale
Helen Baxendale

Helen Baxendale is an English people actress, known for her roles in Cold Feet, Friends and Cardiac Arrest ....
— Actress
John Floyer
John Floyer

Sir John Floyer , England physician and author, was the third child and second son of Elizabeth Babington and Richard Floyer, of Hints Hall. Hints, Staffordshire is a quiet village lying a short distance from Lichfield in Staffordshire....
— English physician and author of the 18th century
Richie Edwards
Richie Edwards

Richie Edwards was born on 25 September, 1974, in Lichfield, England. Richie is the former bassist of the British hard rock band The Darkness and the guitarist/vocalist of their successor band Stone Gods....
— bassist with rock bands The Darkness
The Darkness

The Darkness were a multi-BRIT Awards-winning United Kingdom hard rock/glam rock band. Their highly retro style of music was influenced by rock music bands like Queen , Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, M?tley Cr?e, Guns N' Roses, Aerosmith, Sparks , Van Halen, T....
and Stone Gods
Stone Gods

Name= Stone Gods| Img = Stone Gods 2008 Dundee Doghouse.jpg| Img_capt = Stone Gods 2008, Dundee UK| Img_size =...
Siobhan Dillon
Siobhan Dillon

Siobhan Patricia Dillon is an English people Actor and singer, who rose to fame when she performed in the United Kingdom talent show-themed television series How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria? on BBC One in 2006 in television....
— singer and actress
St. Edmund Gennings
Edmund Gennings

Saint Edmund Gennings was an English martyr, who was executed during the English Reformation for being a Roman Catholic Church clergy. He came from Lichfield, Staffordshire....
— Jesuit priest and martyr

The Earl of Lichfield

Earl of Lichfield

Earl of Lichfield is a title that has been created three times in British history. Lord Bernard Stewart, youngest son of Esm? Stewart, 1st Duke of Lennox, was to be created Earl of Lichfield by Charles I of England for his actions at the battles of Battle of Newbury and Battle of Naseby but died before the creation could implemented....
's seat is about away at Shugborough Hall

Shugborough Hall

Shugborough is a country estate in Great Haywood, Staffordshire, England, 4 miles from Stafford on the edge of Cannock Chase. It comprises a country house, kitchen garden, and model farm....
, on the edge of Cannock Chase

Cannock Chase

Cannock Chase is a mixed area of countryside in the county of Staffordshire, England. The area has been designated as the Cannock Chase Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty....
.

Places of interest

Lichfield Cathedral
Lichfield Cathedral

Lichfield Cathedral is situated in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. It is the only medieval English cathedral with three spires. The Diocese of Lichfield covers all of Staffordshire, much of Shropshire and part of the Black Country and West Midlands ....
— England's only medieval Cathedral with three spires. The present building was started in 1195, and completed by the building of the Lady Chapel in the 1330s. It replaced a Norman building begun in 1085 which had replaced one, or possibly two, Saxon buildings from the seventh century.
The Bishop's Palace (built 1687) and a theological college (built 1837) are adjacent to the cathedral.
Milley's Hospital dates back to 1504 and was a women's hospital.
St. John's without the Bars — a distinctive Tudor building with a row of seven tall brick chimneys. This was built outside the city walls (bars) to provide hostel accommodation for travellers arriving after the gates were shut. It now provides home for elderly Gentlemen and has an adjacent Chapel.
The Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum —a museum to Samuel Johnson's life, work and personality.
The Lichfield Heritage Centre — in the market square, an exhibition of 2,000 years of Lichfield's history.
Erasmus Darwin House
Erasmus Darwin House

Erasmus Darwin House in Lichfield, Staffordshire is the former house of the English poet and physician Erasmus Darwin....
— once home to Erasmus Darwin was restored to create a museum which opened to the public in 1999.
The Church of St Chad — ancient though extensively restored; on its site St Chad or Ceadda is said to have occupied a hermit's cell.
Christ Church Lichfield — an outstanding example of Victorian ecclesiastical architecture and a grade II* listed building. It was founded in 1847 by Ellen Jane Hinckley, the mother of “The Sleeping Children” — subject of a monument in the south choir aisle of Lichfield Cathedral
Lichfield Cathedral

Lichfield Cathedral is situated in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. It is the only medieval English cathedral with three spires. The Diocese of Lichfield covers all of Staffordshire, much of Shropshire and part of the Black Country and West Midlands ....
. The choir ceiling is decorated with a recently restored tempera picture by John Dixon Batten of the Birmingham pre-Raphaelite school (1897).
The Market Square contains two statues, one of Samuel Johnson overlooking the house in which he was born, and one of his great friend and biographer, James Boswell
James Boswell

James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck was a lawyer, diarist, and author born in Edinburgh, Scotland; he is best known for his biography of Samuel Johnson....
.
Just outside the city is the National Memorial Arboretum
National Memorial Arboretum

The National Memorial Arboretum is a major war memorial site near the city of Lichfield, Staffordshire, England....
in Alrewas
Alrewas

Alrewas is a large village approximately 5 miles north of Lichfield in Staffordshire, England....
.

Education

The Lichfield campus of Tamworth and Lichfield College

Tamworth and Lichfield College

Tamworth and Lichfield College is a college based in Staffordshire that provides further education and higher education. The Tamworth campus is based on Croft Street and the Lichfield campus is based on The Friary....
is located on The Friary.

In addition to numerous Primary schools Lichfield has three secondary schools:

King Edward VI School (formerly Lichfield Grammar School)
The Friary School
The Friary School

The Friary School is a Community school secondary school located in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. The school serves about 1,300 students aged 11-18....
Nether Stowe High School

Additionally, based in the Cathedral Close

Cathedral Close

A Cathedral Close is an architectural term referring to the series of buildings that serve as appendages to a cathedral. These may include buildings housing diocesan offices, schools, free-standing chapels associated with the Cathedral, and the houses of the bishop and other clergy associated with the cathedral....
and Longdon

Longdon

Longdon may refer to:* Longdon, Staffordshire in Lichfield district* Longdon, Worcestershire in Malvern Hills district* Longdon-on-Tern, Shropshire...
is the fee paying Cathedral School.

There is a campus facility of Staffordshire University

Staffordshire University

Staffordshire University is a university with its main campus based in the city of Stoke-on-Trent, and with other campuses in Stafford & Lichfield....
in Lichfield which opened in 1998.
There is a DfES Approved Independent Special School for dyslexic children at , Abnalls Lane.

Culture

The Garrick Theatre was opened in 2003 replacing the Civic Hall, which was built in the 1970s. Each year in July The Lichfield Festival

The Lichfield Festival

The Lichfield Festival is an annual multi-art-form festival held in Lichfield, Staffordshire, which aims to combine high quality, challenging and diverse events of an international calibre, alongside community-based, locally-sourced activities....
takes place, based primarily around the cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop. It is a Religion building for worship, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Roman Catholic Church, Anglicanism, Orthodox Christian and some Lutheranism churches, which serves as a bishop's seat, and thus as the central church of a dioc...
and the Garrick Theatre, it is celebration of classical music, dance, drama, film, jazz literature, poetry, visual arts and world music. Since 1995 the Festival has incorporated a Medieval Market, taking place in the Cathedral Close.

Once every three years, The Lichfield Mystery Play

Mystery play

Mystery plays and Miracle plays are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the representation of Bible stories in Church as tableau vivant with accompanying antiphonal song....
cycle

Play cycle

In theatre, a play cycle is a sequence of related plays, usually performed one after the other. Examples include the Shakespearean histories and the medieval mystery plays, and August Wilson's "Pittsburgh Cycle"....
is performed in the Cathedral

Cathedral

A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop. It is a Religion building for worship, specifically of a denomination with an episcopal hierarchy, such as the Roman Catholic Church, Anglicanism, Orthodox Christian and some Lutheranism churches, which serves as a bishop's seat, and thus as the central church of a dioc...
, the Market Place and on Stowe Fields. It is a cycle of 26 medieval plays involving nearly 1000 people, making it one of the largest community arts events in Europe.

The 20th annual Lichfield Real Ale, Jazz & Blues Festival will take place from 25th - 28th June 2009.

The Lichfield Bower

Lichfield bower

The Bower is well known in Lichfield, England and nearby areas. It is a festival held each spring on a bank holiday. It is about 800 years old. A statute of Henry II of England ordered that all men capable of bearing arms should be inspected by the magistrates....
takes place on Spring Bank Holiday Monday, it dates back to the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

File:Karl 1 mit papst gelasius gregor1 sacramentar v karl d kahlen.jpgThe Middle Ages of European history are a period in history which lasted for roughly a millennium, commonly dated from the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century to the beginning of the Early Modern Period in the 16th century, marked by the division of Western Christi...
, when the townsfolk, after fulfilling their duty of attendance at the Court of Arraye, were given the rest of the day as holiday. A procession of marching bands and carnival floats makes its way through the city, where the Bower Queen is crowned outside the Guildhall at noon. There is also a fun fair in the city centre, and a fair and jamboree in Beacon Park.

Sport

Historically rugby

Rugby union

Rugby union is a competitive outdoor contact sport, played with an oval ball, by two teams of 15 players. It is one of the two main codes of rugby football, the other being rugby league....
was more popular in the city than soccer, this was largely due to the fact that it was the main sport at Lichfield Grammar School

King Edward VI School (Lichfield)

King Edward VI School, Lichfield is a Mixed-sex education comprehensive school near the heart of the city of Lichfield, Staffordshire, England....
. However, both sports have remained at amateur level. Lichfield Rugby Union Football Club

Lichfield Rugby Union Football Club

Lichfield Rugby Union Football Club is an England rugby union club that plays in the English Rugby Union Midland Division.It is one of the oldest rugby football clubs still in active in England....
was founded in 1874. As of 2008-09 season they play in the Midlands 3 West (North)

Midlands 3 West (North)

English Rugby Union Midland Division - Midlands 3 West is an English Rugby Union League.Midlands 3 West is made up of teams from around the East Midlands of England who play home and away matches throughout a winter season....
League. The team plays at Cooke Fields located on the road to Whittington

Whittington, Staffordshire

Whittington is a village and civil parish which lies approximately 3 miles south east of Lichfield in the Lichfield district of Staffordshire, England....
village, next to the Horse and Jockey public house. The club moved there in the 1980s after their former home was sold for housing.

Lichfield City Football Club (formerly known as Beacon Park F.C. until June 2006) played in the Burton & District League until 2008, when the club gained entrance to the Midland Football Combination

Midland Football Combination

The Midland Football Combination is an England football league covering parts of the West Midlands . It is comprised of five divisions, a Premier Division, Divisions One, Two and Three, and a Reserve Division ....
. The 1st team play at Brownsfield Park next the new Lichfield City FC Social Club (formerly known as Enots). LCFC are a FA Charter Community club with teams from under 7's to Adults.

Lichfield Diamonds LFC is at the forefront of girls football in Staffordshire, being the first all female club to achieve Charter Standard Status. The team plays at the Collins Hill Sports Ground.

Lichfield Cricket Club

Lichfield Cricket Club

Lichfield Cricket Club is a cricket team currently playing in the Birmingham and District Premier League, Third Division. The club has the nick-name 'Three Spires', derived from the three nearby spires of Lichfield Cathedral....
is a cricket team currently playing in the Third Division of the Birmingham and District Premier League

Birmingham and District Premier League

The Birmingham and District Cricket League is the oldest club cricket league in the world, formed in 1888. Arguably the strongest club competition in the country, it was also the first England and Wales Cricket Board ECB Premier Leagues, being designated such in 1998....
. They also play at the Collins Hill Sports Ground.

Lichfield Suburbs

Stowe

Stowe can refer to:...
| Nether Stowe | Chadsmead | Curborough | Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest Urban areas of New Zealand. It is midway down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of Christchurch....
| Sandfields

Sandfields

Sandfields may refer to:*Sandfields, Swansea*Sandfields, Port Talbot* A suburb in the city of Lichfield, Staffordshire...
| Leomansley | Boley Park | The Dimbles

Nearby Places

Tamworth

Tamworth is a town and Non-metropolitan district in Staffordshire, England, located 14 miles north-east of Birmingham city centre and 103 miles north-west of London....
| Burntwood

Burntwood

Birmingham

Whittington, Staffordshire

Whittington is a village and civil parish which lies approximately 3 miles south east of Lichfield in the Lichfield district of Staffordshire, England....
| Shenstone

Shenstone, Staffordshire

Shenstone is a village and civil parish in Staffordshire, England, close to Stonnall and between Lichfield and Birmingham. In a recent survey Shenstone was found to be one of the ten worst places in England for finding single women....
| Sutton Coldfield

Sutton Coldfield

Sutton Coldfield is a town within the Birmingham, in the West Midlands of England. Sutton is located about from central Birmingham, in the northeast of the city, with a population of List of English cities by population recorded in the 2001 census....
| Rugeley

Rugeley

Rugeley is a historic market town and civil parish in the Cannock Chase of Staffordshire, England. It lies on the northern edge of Cannock Chase, and is situated roughly midway between the towns of Stafford, Cannock, Lichfield, and Uttoxeter....
| Armitage

Armitage

Armitage is a village in Staffordshire, England on the south side of the Trent and Mersey Canal between Lichfield and Rugeley. Together with the adjacent village of Handsacre, it forms the civil parish of Armitage with Handsacre....
| Wall

Wall, Staffordshire

Wall is a small village in Staffordshire, England, just south of Lichfield. It is on the site of the Roman Britain settlement of Letocetum.The nearby junction of the A5 road and A5127 roads and the M6 Toll motorway is often referred to as Wall junction....
| Stafford

Stafford

Stafford is the county town of Staffordshire in England. It lies in the north of the West Midlands , between Wolverhampton and Stoke-on-Trent. The population of Stafford was given in the 2001 census as 63,681, with that of the wider Stafford as 124,531....
| Cannock

Cannock

Cannock is a town in Staffordshire, England, just north of the West Midlands conurbation. It sits to the south of Cannock Chase, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and is administered as part of the Cannock Chase district....
| Uttoxeter

Uttoxeter

Uttoxeter is a small market town in East Staffordshire Staffordshire, in the West Midlands region of England. The current population is approximately 12,000, though new developments in the town will increase this figure....

Twinnings

The City of Lichfield is twinned with:

Limburg an der Lahn
Limburg an der Lahn

Limburg an der Lahn is the district seat of Limburg-Weilburg in Hesse, Germany....
, Germany
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
Sainte Foy les Lyon, France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
.

Transport

Lichfield is served by two railway stations, Lichfield City

Lichfield City railway station

Lichfield City railway station serves the city of Lichfield, in Staffordshire, England. It is situated towards the northern end of the Cross-City Line 28 km north east of Birmingham New Street....
and Lichfield Trent Valley

Lichfield Trent Valley railway station

Lichfield Trent Valley is a split-level train station on the outskirts of the city of Lichfield in Staffordshire, England. It is one of two stations in Lichfield, the other being in the city-centre....
, both built by the London and North Western Railway

London and North Western Railway

The London and North Western Railway was a railway company of the United Kingdom which existed between 1846 and 1922. It was created by the merger of three railway companies - the Grand Junction Railway, the London and Birmingham Railway and the Manchester and Birmingham Railway, and is effectively an ancestor of today's West Coast Main L...
. These stations are now on the Cross-City Line to Redditch

Redditch

Redditch is a town and Non-metropolitan district in north-east Worcestershire, England. The district had a population of 79,216 in 2005....
via Birmingham

Birmingham

West Coast Main Line

The West Coast Main Line is a busy mixed-traffic railway route in the United Kingdom. It is central to the provision of fast, long-distance Intercity passenger services between London, the West Midlands , the North West England, North Wales and southern Scotland....
with hourly direct semi-fast services to Euston, and also to Stafford, Stoke and Crewe, supplemented by occasional fast services.

Despite being north of Birmingham, trains between Lichfield Trent Valley and London Euston can take as little as 1 hour 10 minutes.

Lichfield

History

Economy

Famous Lichfeldians

Places of interest

Education

Culture

Sport

Lichfield Suburbs

Nearby Places

Twinnings

Transport

See also

External links