Lichfield Cathedral

Lichfield Cathedral

It was a Sunday around lunch time when we visited Lichfield Cathedral and the place was surprisingly busy, but we were really lucky and managed to get a parking place really close to the centre of the town – or city as I suppose it is. The cathedral is so tall it was quite difficult to get it all in on my phone, I just about managed. I was seriously impressed with all the carving on the front although I was later told that some of it is Victorian as it was quite badly damaged during the Civil War.

As we were walking to the cathedral I was surprised to see this tomb/effigy on the outside of the cathedral, the right hand side of it. I think it must be one of the oldest parts, it seems strange that it isn’t inside the cathedral though.

Lichfield Cathedral, Mediaeval bit

King Charles II stands fairly close to that tomb. He was instrumental in having a lot of the Civil War damage repaired.

Charles II

I suppose that all Church of England cathedrals are ‘high’, but this one seems to be particularly so.However, I must say that the volunteers and guides were very interesting,  friendly and welcoming.

Lichfield Cathedral, altar,

There seem to be quite a few altars in the cathedral in various locations, side chapels and such, but below is the high altar. I must say that as I have no religious inclinations at all, the atmosphere in this place was very pleasant, you can’t say the same for all places of worship.

Lichfield Cathedral,High Altar

Possibly  the mosaic tiled floor below is the most modern part of the cathedral as it looks Victorian to me. There is a roundel of King Charles II, obviously he was  popular in Lichfield! The Victorian renovation was designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott. You can read about the history of the cathedral here.

Lichfield Cathedral, mosaic, Victorian floor tiles, King Charles III

The roof is beautiful, so delicate looking but obviously strong.

Lichfield Cathedral Roof

There is of course a shop, but also a lot of war memorials which interested Jack. Below is a side chapel, I think.

Lichfield Cathedral, side chapel

My phone focused on these African shields below rather than the ornate ironwork.

Lichfield Cathedral ,shields

Thanks again for suggesting the cathedral as a good place to visit, Cecilia.

Lichfield Cathedral, Altar

One last observation about this cathedral. They don’t have a ticket fee, they just ask nicely that visitors might make a donation if they can, which of course we did. We visited a couple of other cathedrals during our trip and they had quite steep ticket prices, despite their websites saying that they were ‘free’ to visit. I understand that it costs a lot to keep these places standing, but in one of the others I felt almost like I’d been ‘mugged’.  It was especially annoying as where we were parked meant that our visit could only be a very brief one. I think it’s best if they can just ask for donations although I suspect that that would mean a lot of people wouldn’t give anything at all.

Gaia, art installation, Lichfield Cathedral

It was my friend Cecilia who recommended that we should visit Lichfield Cathedral when we were down that way a few weeks ago, and I’m glad that she did. It’s a beautiful cathedral which was apparently badly damaged during the Civil War ( War of the Three Nations as it is now being named). King Charles II apparently paid for the stonework to be re-done where the damage could be repaired and the Victorians also did a lot of work, replacing figures on the frontage.

But back to Gaia, we were really lucky to see what is a massive but very fragile looking Earth, it’s seven metres in diameter and was made by the artist Luke Jerram from detailed NASA imagery of the Earths surface. It has religious connotations which is why it is being toured round cathedrals. In the flesh, so to speak, it’s a thing of awe and beauty. It certainly makes you think about what mankind is doing to our beautiful planet.

Gaia, installation at Lichfield Cathedral

Gaia viewed from the choir.

Lichfield Cathedral, choir , Gaia

 

Gaia , art installation, Luke Jerram

I took loads of photos of the cathedral, but I’ll leave those for another day.