Lichfield

Lichfield, one of the oldest towns in England, is in South Staffordshire, a few miles N.W. of Tamworth, and 17 miles S.E. of the county-town. Its ecclesiastical history dates back to 656, when a Mercian bishopric was founded here. In the last quarter of the 8th century it became an archiepiscopal see, and for a time contested the primacy with Canterbury. In the 11th century the see was transferred to Chester, and then to Coventry, but in 1148 it again became the seat of a bishop. There was a Norman cathedra] here, but the present building is in the main Early English, dating from the opening of the 13th century. [Gothic Architecture.] It was much injured during the siege in 1643, but was repaired after the Restoration, and was restored during the third quarter of the 19th century. There are no traces of the castle where Richard II. was imprisoned; but there are hospitals, founded in 1495 and 1504, and King Edward VI. grammar school, among whose pupils were Dr. Johnson, Garrick, and Addison. The former was a native of Lichfield, and in 1838 a statue was erected to him in the market-place.

Lichfield was disfranchised by the third Reform Bill. It now gives its name to a county division.