Lichfield

Lichfield is a small city in Staffordshire, 110 miles northwest of London and 14 miles north of Birmingham. Famous for its three-spired Cathedral, Lichfield lies in pleasant country, on a small stream draining eastward to the Trent, with low hills to the east and south. It is the main town in the Lichfield district. The population of the district according to the 2001 census is 93,237; of the city itself 27,900.

Places of interest

• Lichfield Cathedral - England's only medieval Cathedral with three spires. The present building was started in 1195, and completed by the building of the Lady Chapel in the 1330s. It replaced a Norman building begun in 1085 which had replaced one, or possibly two, Saxon buildings from the seventh century.
• The Bishop's Palace (built 1687) and a theological college (built 1837) are adjacent to the cathedral.
• Milley's Hospital dates back to 1504 and was a women's hospital.
• St.John's without the Bars is a distinctive Tudor building with a row of seven tall brick chimneys. This was built outside the city walls (bars) to provide hostel accommodation for travellers arriving after the gates were shut. It now provides home for elderly Gentlemen and has an adjacent Chapel.
• The Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum is a museum to the Good Doctor's life, work and personality.
• The Lichfield Heritage Centre, in the market square, is an exhibition of 2000 years of Lichfield's history.
• Erasmus Darwin House once home to Erasmus Darwin was restored to create a museum which opened to the public in 1999.
• The Church of St Chad is ancient though extensively restored; on its site St Chad or Ceadda is said to have occupied a hermit's cell.
• Christ Church is an outstanding example of Victorian ecclesiastical architecture and a grade II* listed building. It was founded in 1847 by Ellen Jane Hinckley, the mother of “The Sleeping Children” - subject of a famous monument in the south choir aisle of Lichfield Cathedral. The choir ceiling is gloriously decorated with a recently restored tempera picture by John Dixon Batten of the Birmingham pre-Raphaelite school (1897).
• The Market Square contains two statues, one of Dr Johnson overlooking the house in which he was born, and one of his great friend and biographer, James Boswell.
• Lichfield Canal is a disused canal that used to run from Ogley Junction on the northern Birmingham Canal Navigations, continuing close to the city and on to Huddlesford Junction, on the Coventry Canal. Most of the old route has been filled in and it is currently being repaired by Lichfield and Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust.