Lichfield Cathedral, dedicated to St Chad and Saint Mary, is in Staffordshire, England and is the only medieval English cathedral with three spires
The three spires are often referred to as 'the Ladies of the Vale'. The stone is sandstone taken from a quarry on the south side of Lichfield. The walls of the nave lean outwards slightly, due to the weight of stone used in the ceiling vaulting; some 200–300 tons of which was removed during renovation work to prevent the walls leaning further. Lichfield suffered severe damage during the English Civil War when all of the stained glass was destroyed. In spite of this the windows of the Lady Chapel dating from the 1530s and some say the finest medieval Flemish painted glass in existence. It came from the Abbey of Herkenrode in Belgium, in 1801, having been purchased by Brooke Boothby when that abbey was dissolved during the Napoleonic Wars. There are also some fine windows by Betton and Evans (1819), and many fine late 19th century windows, particularly those by Charles Eamer Kempe. Although the 18th century was a golden age for the City of Lichfield, it was a period of decay for the cathedral. Most of the statues on the west front were removed and the stonework covered with Roman cement. At the end of the century James Wyatt organised some major structural work, removing the High Altar to make one worship area of Choir and Lady Chapel and adding a massive stone screen at the entrance to the Choir. Francis Eginton painted the east window and was commissioned by the chapter to do other work in the cathedral. The ornate west front was extensively renovated in the Victorian era by Sir George Gilbert Scott. It includes a remarkable number of ornate carved figures of kings, queens and saints, working with original materials where possible and creating fine new imitations and additions when the originals were not available. Wyatt's choir-screen utilised medieval stone-work which Scott in turn created the clergy's seats in the sanctuary. The new metal screen by Francis Skidmore and John Birnie Philip to designs by Scott is a triumph of High Victorian art, as are the fine Mi
Size: 6000px × 4000px
Location: Lichfield, United Kingdom
Photo credit: © Philip Chapman / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: birnie, carving, cathedral, chad, chapel, courtyard, covered, cross, figures, flemish, herkenrode, john, ladies, lady, lichfield, mary, massive, medieval, ornate, painted, philip, reredos, saint, sandstone, spires, st, staffordshire, stone, stonework, vale, victorian, wyatt, •
