Lichfield Cathedral

1300 years ago it stood at the centre of the Kingdom of Mercia. When Chad was made Bishop of Mercia in 669 he moved his Seat from Repton to Lichfield.

When Chad died in 672, pilgrims began to come to his shrine, and in 700, Bishop Hedda built a new church to house his bones. Starting in 1085 and continuing through the twelfth century this Saxon church was replaced by a Norman Cathedral, and this in turn by the Gothic Cathedral begun in 1195.

Pilgrimage to the shrine of Chad continued throughout this period, the Cathedral was expanded by the addition of a Lady Chapel, and there were perhaps as many as twenty altars around the Cathedral by 1500. The Cathedral went through many changes following the reformation and was severely damaged during the Civil War.

Restoration was carried out by Bishop Hacket and then William Wyatt in the 18thC, but it was Sir George Gilbert Scott, Cathedral Architect from 1855-1878, who was responsible for its successful restoration to Medieval splendour.

The Lichfield InSpires project was launched by the Duke of Gloucester on 30 April 2008 and one of the principle aims was to carry out urgent extensive conservation works.

Midland Conservation Ltd was engaged by the Cathedral in April 2009 to commence Phase II of the Inspires project which involved the following:

  • Extensive replacement of the blind parapet stonework including highly decorative pinnacles together with carved heads, crockets and finials.
  • Structural support and restoration of the flying buttresses.
  • Replacement of sections of the Corbel table together with the associated carved heads.
  • Delicate conservation repairs to the retained medieval Choir Clerestory carvings and mouldings

The works were successfully completed on time and within budget for Christmas 2009.

Midland Conservation successfully negotiated Phase III of the Inspires scheme which commenced in May 2009. This phase of works concentrates on the Lady Chapel at the Cathedralís East end and runs for 70 weeks with a value just short of £1 million.

The works comprise again of extensive conservation repairs to parapets, pinnacles and buttresses, but more importantly focuses on what is truly an historical gem within the treasures of this magnificent Cathedral, The Herkenrode Glass.

The seven immense Renaissance Herkenrode glass windows in the Cathedral Lady Chapel represent the greatest collection of unrestored 16th Century Flemish glass anywhere in the world. They were brought to England in 1803 and bought by the Cathedral to replace medieval stained glass lost during the Civil War.

The windows were seen on the Continent by Sir Brooke Boothby of Ashbourne in Derbyshire, who purchased and offered them to the Cathedral authorities in Lichfield. He described to the Dean that he had "contracted for the purchase of seventeen windows of what appears to me to be the finest painted glass which I have almost ever seen". Those which are dated come from the period 1532 to 1539.

Most of the purchased glass was placed in the East window of the Lady Chapel between 1803 and 1805, under the supervision of John Betton, some was later put elsewhere in the Cathedral (for example in St Michaels chapel ten years later) and some sold.

A number of restorations to the stonework around the windows were undertaken later, notably in 1858 and 1887 to 1892. The glass is now being carefully removed and will go into a specialistís studio for restoration. This work could take up to 5 yrs to complete before the glass is re-fixed. Once removed Midland Conservation will carry out masonry replacement and repairs to the windows mullions and a modern Isothermal glass will be fitted temporarily until the Herkenrode glass is returned.

Throughout the contract the Cathedral have organised "have a go day" where the public can try their hand at the traditional craft of stonemasonry and view up close the skill of the masons on site. Keep an eye on our news section or the Cathedral site for future events.