LICHFIELD CATHEDRAL

 

Approaching from Lichfield City Centre Car Park we cross over a bridge and are rewarded with a superb view of England’s only 3 towered medieval cathedral.

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Visiting all these diverse cathedrals the common denominator is not that they are Anglican or even a cathedral but that they all seem to have some form of major renovation going on.

As I mentioned when we visited Carlisle on St Chad’s Day, the saint was the first Bishop of Lichfield as well as Archbishop of York and previous Abbot of Lastingham. There is a large statue of him outside and a relic, given by St Chad’s Cathedral Birmingham which is housed in a beautiful oak shrine inside. The Venerable Bede described St Chad as “a holy man of modest character, well read in the Scripture and diligently practising those things which he had learned therein”

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The Cathedral hopes that the Shrine of St Chad can continue to provide a place of ecumenical worship and pilgrimage.

 

There are modern icons around the Shrine which looked familiar. They were made by Palestinians at the Bethlehem Icon School. They made a cross that is over the South Transept and icons of the Transfiguration, the Last Supper and the Wedding at Cana are beautiful. Unfortunately, due to the war in Gaza there is no work for these craftspeople and therefore no income. As I write this there are encouraging noises from the latest round of peace talks in Egypt which I hope transform into something positive at last.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are some amazing treasures in Lichfield, the St Chad Gospels, an Anglo Saxon Angel, a botany book by Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of Charles and a history of the Coronation of James II from the 17th century which looks brand new.

 

We visited Lichfield on the way back home so were unable to stop for the lunchtime Communion.

Lichfield is free to enter, allows dogs, no toilets or cafe on site but there is an accessible toilet 500m away.