LICH 
3 heretic. The king’s writ to'the fherifF for his execu¬ 
tion was dated the 9th of March, 1611, at Weftminfter; 
by which he was commanded, “to be burnt in fome pub¬ 
lic place within the city of Lichfield which barbarous 
fentence was foon afterwards executed. 
It would appear that in Lichfield the church has not 
bad reafon to complain of numerous feparatifts ; for in 
1743 the bailiffs and juftices certified that “ there was no 
pa pi ft (fave only two or three women) or nonjuror in the 
city; neither have we among us any quaker, or above 
two diffenters from the eftablifhed church of England, 
tinder any denomination whatever.” 
Lichfield (lands in a very pleafant and healthful valley, 
almolt in the centre of England, at the diftance of 120 
miles from the metropolis. It is furrounded by hills of a 
moderate fize, eafy of afcent, and of very agreeable ap¬ 
pearance. It is chiefly inhabited by gentry, being of lit¬ 
tle importance in a mercantile point of view. The build¬ 
ings of this city have generally afl'umed the air and tafte 
oLmodern times, and the fpirit of improvement, fo con- 
fpicuous in the prefent age, is plainly manifefted in many 
alterations which have taken place within thefe few years. 
This city was formerly divided into two portions, by three 
lakes or pools of water, one of which is now dried up. 
It contains three parifttes; but part of the lands of St. 
Chad’s and St. Michael’s lie without the boundaries of 
the city. 
Lichfield is adorned with a number of buildings well 
worthy of notice, both on account of their antiquity and 
the fplendid ftyle of their architefture. Of thefe the mod 
confpicuous in every refpeft is the cathedral, which (lands 
in the Clofe, and is faid to have been fortified by biftiop 
Clinton; though Dr. Shaw thinks he only repaired the 
fortifications Which had exifted there from the time of the 
Saxons. Some are of opinion, that the cathedral was firft 
founded by king Ofwy, in the year 655 ; but others at¬ 
tribute it to Peada, his fon-in-law. The buildings of this 
cathedral, which was then called the Mercian church, 
were probably at firft only conftruCted of wood. The 
whole of them were pulled down, in the year 1148, by bi- 
fhop Clinton, and another of enlarged dimenfions, and 
more elegant defign, commenced in the place of the Saxon 
ftrutfture. To this prelate the cathedral is indebted for 
that noble (lone vault, which is at this day the admiration 
of architects, and is undoubtedly one of the fined works 
of its kind extant in England. The next benefactor to 
this cathedral was Walter de Langton, who laid the foun¬ 
dation of the choir. He expended the furn of two thou- 
fand pounds on a (hrine for the reliques of St. Chad, and 
obtained many privileges for the vicars and canons; one 
of which was the right of hanging upon the next gallows, 
without trial, divers perfons who withheld their lands from 
the church. This beautiful (hrine continued in its full 
glory till the difiolution. During the fieges which it fuf- 
tained in the time of the civil wars, this noble building 
fuffered much, being the firft cathedral that fell into the 
hands of the parliament. The roof was (tripped of its 
lead ; and many of the curious ftatues, monuments, and 
other carved works, were demolifhed with axes and ham¬ 
mers. The coftly and beautiful painted windows were 
battered to pieces. In (liort, little of this fplendid ftruc- 
ture efcaped ruin, except the noble vaulted roof already 
mentioned. What did remain was ultimately deftroyed 
in 1651, when colonel Danvers, by authority of the rump- 
parliament, employed workmen in order to effect this 
purpofe. At this time, the remarkable bell, called Je/us 
bell, was knocked to pieces by a pewterer named Nicklin. 
During this perfecution of the eftab!i(hed church, Dr. John 
Hacket rendered hitnfelf remarkable by his courage and 
refolution. When a ferjeant with a trooper were lent to 
(lop the performance of the daily fervice, and, putting a 
piliol to his head, threatened to (hoot him inftantly if he 
did not delill, this noble prelate calmly, but refalutelv, 
replied, “Soldier, I am doing my duty; do you your’: 
a fentence which may juftly be reckoned among the re« 
FIELD. Giy 
markable inftancesof the fublime, and which fo imprefied 
the minds of the foldiers, that they left him to the free 
exercife of the duty he thus evinced himfelf fo worthy to 
perform. No fooner was he nominated to the biftiopric 
of Lichfield, than he vigoroudy fet himfelf to reftore the 
ancient fplendour of the cathedral. By his large contri¬ 
butions, the benefactions of the dean and chapter, and 
the money arifing from his afliduity in foliciting aid from 
the gentlemen of his diocefe, he fucceeded in reftoring 
this building to the admiration of the country, The 
whole underwent a thorough repair in the biftiopric of 
Dr. James Cornwallis, when it received its lalt finifli by 
the addition of a painted window at the eaft end of the 
choir, through the generous abidance of fir Brooke Booth- 
by. This gentleman, travelling through the biftiopric of 
Liege, vilited the diflblved abbey of Herckenrode; he 
bargained for its glafs, confiding of 340 pieces, each about 
22 inches fquare, (befides a large quantity of tracery and 
fragments,) for 200I. and generoufly transferred the pur- 
chafe to the dean and chapter of the cathedral. The 
peace of Amiens afforded an opportunity of fafely im¬ 
porting this treafure; which (accounting by the rate at 
which fuch glafs, taken from the ruined convents of 
France, has been fince fold in England) may be valued 
at io.oool. whereas the total expence of purchafing, im¬ 
porting, arranging, and repairing, this glafs, and of fitting 
the windows to receive it, coll only about ioooli It 
contains three fcriptural fubjedts, all entire; viz. Chrilt 
appearing to the apoftles and Thomas ; The defeent of 
the Holy Ghoft on the apoftles; and The day of judgment. 
The date is 1534; and it is accounted one of the fined 
fpecimens of this art now in the kingdom. This cathe¬ 
dral is 411 feet in length, and 153 in breadth. From the 
centre rifes a fpire 256 feet high, of the mod elegant pro¬ 
portions. At the weft front are two towers, terminated 
by fpires 66 feet in height. The portico can hardly be 
equalled by any thing of the kind in England : the chan¬ 
cel is paved with alabafter and channel-done, in imitation 
of black and white marble. The north door is particu¬ 
larly rich in fculpture. On the weftern front are a num¬ 
ber of images, beautifully executed and arranged ; the 
fubjebts of which are taken from the (acred writings. The 
ftatue of king Charles II. (lands between the two weftern 
fpires, where a figure of Adam, or of Chrift, was alfo for¬ 
merly placed, beneath which the other ftatues are ranged. 
Thefe figures were originally all richly gilt and painted ; 
but the embellilliments have fuffered much injury from 
the action of the elements. The interior ornaments of 
this church are very numerous. Every part is filled with 
ftatues and tombs, both ancient and modern. The nave, 
fixty feet in height, is fupported by pillars formed from a 
number of (lender columns, with neat foliated capitals. 
Along the walls of the aides are rows of arcades, with 
feats underneath. The upper windows in the nave are 
of uncommon appearance, being triangular, and includ¬ 
ing three circles in each; and over the weftern door is a 
very beautiful one, raifed by the duke of York, after¬ 
wards James II. and fince beautifully painted by a gift of 
the benevolent dean Akenbrooke. Behind the choir was 
the chapel of St. Mary, which contained a (lone fereen of 
the molt elegant and fplendid workmanlhip, embattled at 
the top, and adorned with feveral rows of niches molt ex- 
quifitely finiftied : each ot thele formerly contained a (mall 
Itatue. The (tone fereen was taken down during the late 
alteration, and the materials employed to fix the organ 
upon, and form pillars for the entrance into the choir. 
This chapel now forms part of the body of the choir. It 
is neatly pewed, and contains, befides, forty-eight (tails, 
which are richly carved, and appropriated for The tife of 
the members of the church. The altar is of free-done 
very neatly fculptured. The cathedral library contains 
feveral valuable books and manuferipts; the 1110ft remark¬ 
able among the latter of which, is the work which has 
been fo long known to antiquaries by the name of St. 
Chad’s Gcfpels; it is written in the plain Saxon chara ter, 
a ird 
