Lichfield

The earliest evidence of settlement is Mesolithic flints discovered on the high ground of the cemetery at St Michael on Greenhill, which may indicate an early flint industry. Traces of Neolithic settlement have been discovered on the south side of the sandstone ridge occupied by Lichfield Cathedral.[10]

2.2 mi (3.5 km) south-west of Lichfield, near the point where Icknield Street crosses Watling Street, was the site of Letocetum (the Brittonic *Lētocaiton, "Greywood"). Established in AD 50 as a Roman military fortress, it had become a civilian settlement (vicus) with a bath house and a mansio by the 2nd century.[10] Letocetum fell into decline by the 4th century and the Romans had left by the 5th century. There have been scattered Romano-British finds in Lichfield and it is possible that a burial discovered beneath the cathedral in 1751 was Romano-British.[10] There is no evidence of what happened to Letocetum after the Romans left; however, Lichfield may have emerged as the inhabitants of Letocetum relocated during its decline. A Cair Luit Coyd ("Fort Greywood") was listed by Nennius among the 28 cities of Britain in his Historia Brittonum,[11] although these were largely historic remembrances of early Sub-Roman Britain.

The three-spired Lichfield Cathedral was built between 1195 and 1249

St Michael's Churchyard 1840

The early history of Lichfield is obscure. The first authentic record of Lichfield occurs in Bede's history, where it is called Licidfelth and mentioned as the place where St Chad fixed the episcopal see of the Mercians in 669. The first Christian king of Mercia, Wulfhere, donated land at Lichfield for St Chad to build a monastery. It was because of this that the ecclesiastical centre of Mercia became settled as the Diocese of Lichfield, which was approximately 7 miles (11 km) northwest of the seat of the Mercian kings at Tamworth.

In July 2009, the Staffordshire Hoard, the largest collection of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found, was discovered in a field in the parish of Hammerwich, 4 mi (6.4 km) south-west of Lichfield; it was probably deposited in the 7th century.

The first cathedral was built on the present site in 700 when Bishop Hædde built a new church to house the bones of St Chad, which had become the centre of a sacred shrine to many pilgrims when he died in 672. The burial in the cathedral of the kings of Mercia, Wulfhere in 674 and Ceolred in 716, further increased the city's prestige.[12] In 786 King Offa made the city an archbishopric with authority over all the bishops from the Humber to the River Thames; his appointee was Archbishop Hygeberht. This may have been motivated by Offa's desire to have an archbishop consecrate his son Ecgfrith as king, since it is possible Jænberht refused to perform the ceremony, which took place in 787. After King Offa's death in 796, Lichfield's power waned; in 803 the primacy was restored to Canterbury by Pope Leo III after only 16 years.

The Historia Brittonum lists the city as one of the 28 cities of Britain around AD 833.

During the 9th century, Mercia was devastated by Danish Vikings. Lichfield itself was unwalled and the cathedral was despoiled, so Bishop Peter moved the see to the fortified and wealthier Chester in 1075. At the time of the Domesday Book survey (1086), Lichfield was held by the bishop of Chester; Lichfield was listed as a small village. The lord of the manor was the Bishop of Chester until the reign of Edward VI.

The Staffordshire Hoard was discovered in a field near Lichfield

In 1102 Bishop Peter's successor, Robert de Limesey, transferred the see from Chester to Coventry. The Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield had seats in both locations; work on the present Gothic cathedral at Lichfield began in 1195. (In 1837 the see of Lichfield acquired independent status, and the style 'Bishop of Lichfield' was adopted.)

In 1153 a markets charter was granted by King Stephen and, ever since, weekly markets have been held in the Market Square.[13]

Lichfield Cathedral in modern times.

Bishop Roger de Clinton was responsible for transforming the scattered settlements to the south of Minster Pool into the ladder-plan streets existing today. Market Street, Wade Street, Bore Street and Frog Lane linked Dam Street, Conduit Street and Bakers Lane on one side with Bird Street and St John Street on the other. Bishop de Clinton also fortified the cathedral close and enclosed the town with a bank and ditch, and gates were set up where roads into the town crossed the ditch.[12] In 1291 Lichfield was severely damaged by a fire which destroyed most of the town; however the Cathedral and Close survived unscathed.[14]

In 1387 Richard II gave a charter for the foundation of the guild of St Mary and St John the Baptist; this guild functioned as the local government, until its dissolution by Edward VI, who incorporated the town in 1548.

Map of Lichfield in 1781

The policies of Henry VIII had a dramatic effect on Lichfield. The Reformation brought the disappearance of pilgrim traffic following the destruction of St Chad's shrine in 1538, which 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 in 1593, which resulted in the death of over a third of the entire population.[15]

Three people were burned at the stake for heresy under Mary I. The last public burning at the stake for heresy in England took place in Lichfield, when Edward Wightman from Burton upon Trent was executed by burning in the Market Place on 11 April 1612 for promoting himself as the divine Paraclete and Saviour of the world.[16][17]

Samuel Johnson was born in Breadmarket Street in 1709

Statue of Dr Johnson in Lichfield's Market Square
"The Doctor's statue, which is of some inexpensive composite painted a shiny brown, and of no great merit of design, fills out the vacant dulness of the little square in much the same way as his massive personality occupies—with just a margin for Garrick—the record of his native town."—Henry James, Lichfield and Warwick, 1872

Photograph by Richard Cockle Lucas (sculptor) of Johnson statue taken in 1859

In the English Civil War, Lichfield was divided. The cathedral authorities, supported by some of the townsfolk, were for the king, but the townsfolk generally sided with the Parliament. 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 for control of the city. The Parliamentary commander Lord Brooke led an assault on the fortified close, but was killed by a deflected bullet on St Chad's day in 1643, an accident welcomed as a miracle by the Royalists. The close subsequently yielded to the Parliamentarians, but was retaken by Prince Rupert of the Rhine in the same year; on the collapse of the Royalist cause in 1646 it again surrendered. The cathedral suffered extensive damage from the war, including the complete destruction of the central spire. It was restored at the Restoration under the supervision of Bishop Hacket, and thanks in part to the generosity of King Charles II.

Lichfield started to develop a lively coaching trade as a stop-off on the busy route between London and Chester from the 1650s onwards, making it Staffordshire's most prosperous town. In the 18th century, and then reaching its peak in the period from 1800 to 1840, the city thrived as a busy coaching city on the main routes from London to the north-west and Birmingham to the north-east. It also became a centre of great intellectual activity, being the home of many famous people including Samuel Johnson, David Garrick, Erasmus Darwin and Anna Seward; this prompted Johnson's remark that Lichfield was "a city of philosophers". In the 1720s Daniel Defoe described Lichfield as 'a fine, neat, well-built, and indifferent large city', the principal town in the region after Chester.[18] During the late 18th and early 19th century much of the medieval city was rebuilt with the red-brick Georgian style buildings still to be seen today. Also during this time, the city's infrastructure underwent great improvements, with underground sewerage systems, paved streets and gas-powered street lighting.[19] An infantry regiment of the British Army was formed at Lichfield in 1705 by Col. Luke Lillingstone in the King's Head tavern in Bird Street. In 1751 it became the 38th Regiment of Foot, and in 1783 the 1st Staffordshire Regiment; after reorganisation in 1881 it became the 1st battalion of the South Staffordshire Regiment.[18]

The arrival of the Industrial Revolution and the railways in 1837 signalled the end of Lichfield's position as an important staging post for coaching traffic. While nearby Birmingham (and its population) expanded greatly during the Industrial Revolution, Lichfield remained largely unchanged in character.

The first council houses were built in the Dimbles area of the city in the 1930s. The outbreak of World War II brought over 2,000 evacuees from industrialised areas. However, due to the lack of heavy industry in the city, Lichfield escaped lightly, although there were air raids in 1940 and 1941 and three Lichfeldians were killed. Just outside the city, Wellington Bombers flew out of Fradley Aerodrome, which was known as RAF Lichfield. After the war the council built many new houses in the 1960s, including some high-rise flats, while the late 1970s and early 1980s saw the construction of a large housing estate at Boley Park in the south-east of the city. The city's population tripled between 1951 and the late 1980s.

The city has continued expanding to the west. The Darwin Park housing estate has been under development for a number of years and has swelled the city's population by approximately 3,000. Plans were approved for Friarsgate, a new £100 million shopping and leisure complex opposite Lichfield City Station. The police station, bus station, Ford garage and multi-storey car park were to be demolished to make way for 22,000 m² of retail space and 2,000 m² of leisure facilities, consisting of a flagship department store, six-screen cinema, hotel, 37 individual shops and 56 flats.[20] These plans have not gone ahead[21] and new plans have been made for a cinema in the abandoned Debenhams building.[22]

Historically the Bishop of Lichfield had authority over the city. It was not until 1548, with Edward VI's charter, that Lichfield had any form of secular government. As a reward for the support given to Mary I by the bailiffs and citizens during the Duke of Northumberland's attempt to prevent her accession, the Queen issued a new charter in 1553, confirming the 1548 charter and in addition granting the city its own Sheriff. The same charter made Lichfield a county separate from the rest of Staffordshire. It remained so until 1888.

The City Council (not to be confused with Lichfield District Council, which has authority over a wider area than Lichfield city) has 28 members (from the nine wards of Boley Park, Burton Old Road West, Chadsmead, Curborough, Garrick Road, Leamonsley, St John's, Pentire Road and Stowe), who are elected every four years. After the 2019 parish council elections,[23] the Conservatives remained in overall control, with the 28 seats being divided between the Conservatives (16), the Liberal Democrats (8), Labour (3) and Independent (1) who subsequently joined the Labour group. The Right Worshipful the Mayor of Lichfield (currently Councillor Robert Yardley[24]) is the civic head of the council[25] and chairs council meetings. The council also appoints a Leader of Council to be the main person responsible for leadership of the council's political and policy matters. The council's current Leader is Councillor Mark Warfield. Lichfield is one of only 15 towns and cities in England and Wales which appoints a Sheriff.[26]

The Lichfield constituency 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 into that of the county.[18] The Lichfield constituency was abolished in 1950 and replaced with the Lichfield and Tamworth constituency. This constituency lasted until 1983, when it was replaced with the Mid Staffordshire constituency.

Based on the resident's location in Lichfield Distrist, there are technically two MPs. The current Member of Parliament for Lichfield, including the whole of the City, is the Conservative Michael Fabricant, who has been MP for Lichfield since 1997. Fabricant was first elected for the Mid Staffordshire constituency in 1992, regaining the seat for the Conservatives following Sylvia Heal's victory for Labour at the 1990 by-election. Fabricant took the seat with a majority of 6,236 and has remained a Member of Parliament since. The Mid Staffordshire seat was abolished at the 1997 general election, but Fabricant contested and won the Lichfield constituency, which partially replaced it, by just 238 votes. He has remained the Lichfield MP since, increasing his majority to 4,426 in 2001, 7,080 in 2005, 17,683 in 2010, 18,189 in 2015, 18,581 in 2017 and 23,638 in 2019.

Sarah Edwards was elected to the Tamworth constituency in a byelection in 2023.[27] Christopher Pincher was the previous MP until a highly publicised scandal in 2022 after which he had the Conservative whip revoked and subsequently sat as an independent before announcing his resignation in September 2023.

The Lichfield Greenhill Bower takes place annually on Spring Bank Holiday. Originating from a celebration that was held after the Court of Arraye in the 12th century, the festival has evolved into its modern form, but has kept many of its ancient traditions.[32] After a recreation of the Court of Arraye at the Guildhall, a procession of marching bands, morris men and carnival floats makes its way through the city and the Bower Queen is crowned outside the Guildhall. There is a funfair in the city centre, and another fair and jamboree in Beacon Park.[32]

The Lichfield Festival, an international arts festival, has taken place every July for 30 years. The festival is a celebration of classical music, dance, drama, film, jazz, literature, poetry, visual arts and world music. Events take place at many venues around the city but centre on Lichfield Cathedral and the Garrick Theatre. Popular events include the medieval market in the Cathedral Close and the fireworks display which closes the festival.[33]

Triennially the Lichfield Mysteries, the biggest community theatre event in the country, takes place at the cathedral and in the Market Place. It consists of a cycle of 24 medieval-style plays involving over 600 amateur actors.[34] Other weekend summer festivals include the Lichfield Folk Festival[35] and The Lichfield Real Ale, Jazz and Blues Festival.[36]

Lichfield Heritage Weekend, incorporating Dr Johnson's Birthday Celebrations, takes place on the third weekend in September with a variety of civic events including live music and free historical tours of local landmarks.

Beacon Park, in the city centre, hosts a wide range of community events.

There are many parks, gardens and open spaces in the city. The city centre park is Beacon Park, which hosts a range of community events and activities throughout the year. Also in the city centre are two lakes, Minster Pool and Stowe Pool. The Garden of Remembrance, a memorial garden laid out in 1920 after World War I, is located on Bird Street. Many other parks are located on the outskirts of the city: these include Brownsfield Park, Darnford Park, Shortbutts Park, Stychbrook Park, Saddlers Wood and Christian Fields.[37]

There are two public sports and leisure facilities in the city. Friary Grange Leisure Centre in the north-west of the city offers racket sports, a swimming pool, and sports hall and fitness gym. King Edward VI Leisure Centre in the south of the city offers racket sports, a sports hall and an artificial turf pitch.

Lichfield Library and Record Office was located on the corner of St John Street and The Friary. The building also included an adult education centre and a small art gallery. The library occupied this building in 1989, when it moved from the Lichfield Free Library and Museum on Bird Street. The library moved into the newly renovated St Mary's church on Market Square in 2018

The city is served by the Samuel Johnson Community Hospital located on Trent Valley Road. This hospital replaced the now-demolished Victoria Hospital in 2006.

Lichfield is served by two railway stations: Lichfield City and Lichfield Trent Valley, both built by the London and North Western Railway. These stations are now on the Cross-City Line to Redditch via Birmingham. Additionally, Trent Valley station is on the West Coast Main Line with semi-fast services between London Euston, Stoke-on-Trent, Stafford and Crewe. Despite being north of Birmingham, trains to London Euston can take as little as 1 hour 9 minutes. Lichfield City is located in the city centre and Lichfield Trent Valley is located 0.85 mi (1.37 km) or 20 minutes walk north-east of the city centre.

Lichfield has regular bus services in and around the city, in addition to longer distance services. The bus station is located on Birmingham Road, opposite Lichfield City railway station, although as part of the Friarsgate development plans have been approved for it to be moved next to the railway station. Arriva Midlands, Diamond East Midlands, Diamond West Midlands, D&G Bus, Select Bus and National Express West Midlands are the main bus operators in Lichfield. These companies run regular services to Birmingham, Aldridge, Brownhills, Burntwood, Rugeley, Burton upon Trent, Stafford, Sutton Coldfield, Tamworth and Walsall.

Lichfield has college services for the Rodbaston campus of South Staffordshire College, run by Diamond East Midlands, and school-only journeys for local high schools. Seasonal bus routes run for Boots and Amazon employees only are usually operated by Diamond East Midlands and National Express West Midlands.

Lichfield is centrally located on the UK road network. Historically, the Roman roads of Watling Street and Ryknild Street crossed 2 mi (3.2 km) south of the city at Letocetum; today, they follow much of the same routes as the A5 and A38. The A5 runs west towards Wales and south-east towards Tamworth. The A38 runs south to Birmingham and north-east to Derby. Running along the western perimeter of the city is the A51 road, which runs north to Chester and south-east to Tamworth. The nearest motorway junction is T5 of the M6 Toll, located 2 mi (3.2 km) south of the city. Junction 9 of the M42 and junction 4A of the M6 are 12 mi (19 km) and 15 mi (24 km) to the south respectively.

Lichfield Canal was historically part of the Wyrley and Essington Canal and ran south of the city from 1797 until it was abandoned in 1955. Starting in the 1990s, a works programme started to restore the canal along much of its original route and make it navigable by 2025. As of 2011, none of the 7 mi (11 km) stretch of canal is navigable. The nearest navigable canal to Lichfield is the Coventry Canal which runs through Streethay.

Two nearby airports serve Lichfield: Birmingham Airport is 20 mi (32 km) to the south and East Midlands Airport is 34 mi (55 km) to the north-east.

• Edward Wightman (1566–1612), last person[47] in England to be burnt at the stake for heresy, in the Market Place of Lichfield
• Edmund Gennings (1567–1591), Jesuit priest[48] and martyr

• Thomas Minors (1609–1677) merchant, politician, MP[49] from 1654 to 1660 and commissioner for scandalous ministers
• Michael Biddulph (1610–1666) elected MP[50] for Lichfield in 1660 in the Convention Parliament
• Elias Ashmole (1617–1692), antiquary, politician,[51] astrologer and alchemist. founder of Ashmolean Museum
• Edward Wetenhall (1636–1713), English bishop[52] of the Church of Ireland
• Gregory King (1648–1712), genealogist,[53] engraver and statistician
• John Floyer (1649 in Hints – 1734), physician[54] and author
• Richard Dyott (1667–1719) elected MP[55] for Lichfield 1690/1695, re-elected 1698/1708, elected again 1710/1715
• Joseph Addison (1672–1719), essayist,[56] poet, playwright, and politician.
• Gilbert Walmisley (1680–1751), barrister,[57] friend of Samuel Johnson, buried in a vault near the south side of Lichfield Cathedral.
• Theophilus Levett (1693–1746), attorney, town clerk of Lichfield, politician and landowner,

• John Wyatt (1700–1766), inventor, particularly of a spinning machine
• Thomas Newton (1704–1782), cleric, biblical scholar and Bishop of Bristol, 1761 to 1782.
• Samuel Johnson (1709–1784), often referred to as Dr Johnson, was an English writer, poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor, and lexicographer[58][59]
• Richard Greene (1716–1793) antiquary and[60] collector of curiosities.
• David Garrick (1717–1779), actor,[61] playwright, producer and theatre manager
• Erasmus Darwin (1731–1802), scientist,[62] inventor[63] and grandfather[64] of Charles Darwin
• Anna Seward (1742–1809), romantic poet,[65] memorialist and letter writer
• Richard Lovell Edgeworth (1744–1817), politician,[66] writer, inventor, lived at Stowe House
• Theophilus Houlbrooke (1745–1824), minister and amateur botanist, President of the Liverpool Athenaeum from 1809 to 1813
• General Richard Vyse (1746–1825), general[67] and MP for Beverley in 1806
• Joseph Potter (1756–1842) architect and builder, considerable practice in Staffordshire and neighbouring counties
• Thomas Day (1748–1789), author and abolitionist,[68] lived for a time at Stowe House
• Henry Salt (1780–1827), antiquarian;[69] gave Egyptian collection to the British Museum
• Admiral of the Fleet Sir William Parker, 1st Baronet, of Shenstone (1781–1866), a[70] Royal Navy officer

• John Hewitt (1807–1878), antiquarian[71]
• James Fowler (1828–1892), aka "Fowler of Louth",[72] a Victorian ecclesiastical architect
• Richard Garnett (1835–1906), scholar,[73] librarian, biographer and poet
• Walter Noel Hartley (1845–1913), chemist[74] and pioneer of spectroscopy
• Frederic King (1853–1933), baritone
• Lieutenant-Colonel Michael Swinfen-Broun JP (1858–1948), soldier, magistrate, High Sheriff and Deputy Lieutenant of Staffordshire
• Mary Alice Eleanor Richards (1885–1977), British botanist and prolific collector of Zambian plants

Michael Lieber

Julian Arguelles

Siobhan Dillon 2010

Robert Rock

• Alasdair Steele-Bodger CBE, FRCVS (1924–2008), veterinary surgeon
• Elaine Horseman (1925–1999), author
• Denis Alva Parsons MBE, ARBS (1934–2012), sculptor[75]
• Michael Laskey (born 1944), poet[76] and editor
• Tony Christie (born 1943), singer[77]
• John Hinch (1947–2021) drummer, original drummer of Judas Priest
• Lieutenant General Louis Lillywhite CB, MBE, QHS (born 1948) retired British Army physician,[78] Surgeon-General 2006/2009
• Phil Ford (born 1950), television writer[79]
• Charles Lambert (born 1953) novelist and short-story writer
• Richard Allinson (born 1958), broadcaster, early morning weekend show on BBC Radio 2
• David Charles Manners (born 1965), theatre designer, author and charity founder
• Mark Thwaite (born 1965), guitarist with rock bands The Mission, Tricky, & Peter Murphy
• Julian Argüelles (born 1966), jazz[80] saxophonist
• Helen Baxendale (born 1970), actress[81]
• Richie Edwards (born 1974), bassist with rock bands the Darkness and Stone Gods
• Adrian Poynton (born 1979), screenwriter,[82] playwright and stand-up comedian
• Sian Brooke (born 1980), actress[83]
• Bryn Fowler (born 1982), musician, bassist and backing vocalist in the band the Holloways
• Siobhan Dillon (born 1984), singer[84] and actress
• Michael Lieber (born 1988), novelist (alumnus of Lichfield's Maple Hayes Hall)[85]

• Tommy Skelton (1856–1900), jockey, rode the winner of the Grand National 1886, Old Joe
• Roly Harper (1881–1949), professional footballer, born in Lichfield
• Noel George (1897–1929), goalkeeper[86] for Wolves, died of a disease of the gums
• Roger Pearman (1943–2009), cricketer and cricket administrator
• Tom Leadbitter (1945–1995), scrambles, motorcycle speedway and grasstrack rider
• Jason Robinson (born 1965), cricketer
• Ian Wright (born 1972) former footballer,[87] 347 pro appearances
• Stuart Ryder (born 1973), former Walsall F.C. and England U21 footballer
• Adam Wilcox (born 1976), racing driver
• Robert Rock (born 1977), professional golfer on the PGA European Tour, formerly a coach at Swingers Golf Centre
• Gary Mason (born 1979), motorcycle racer in the British Superbike Championship
• James Austin (born 1983) judoka, competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics
• Adam Christodoulou (born 1989), racing driver