This arrangement came to an end in 1788, when Wyatt threw the choir and Lady Chapel into one long chapel, and the old altar screen was utilised in the choir screen and helped to support the organ. When this screen in turn was taken down, the old canopies, much battered and largely repaired with plaster, were examined, and found to be of Bath stone, and in this the repairs were executed. Six of them were used for the sedilia, and the other three are to be found just behind, over the effigy of Dean Howard.
=The Pavement= between the stalls is of tiles, made after the pattern of old tiles which were found in the cathedral. The modern ones are by Messrs Minton. There is some record of how the cathedral has at various times been paved, as Dr Plot tells us that "the old floor of the choir was paved lozengy with cannel coal and alabaster, the former got at Beaudesert," and at one time the nave and aisles were paved with brick. Some of the old tiles and two slabs of coal are preserved in the floor of the consistory court.
The pavement in the presbytery is different, and is made principally of incised stone, with marble borders. There are four large medallions, which show scenes in the history of the diocese, and these are surrounded with representations of kings and bishops who have had some connection with the see. The general scheme was arranged by Sir Gilbert Scott, but the medallions were designed by the Rev. J. Pitman, headmaster of Rugeley Grammar School. The first medallion represents the consecration of St. Chad as Bishop of York; round it are Oswy, King of Northumbria and Mercia, who was the principal instrument in introducing Christianity into Mercia; Diuma, first Bishop; Wulphere, King of Mercia; and Jaruman, Bishop of Mercia, the immediate predecessor of St. Chad.
The second medallion gives the well-known story of Theodore, the great archbishop, setting St. Chad on a horse; around are Ethelred, king of Mercia after Wulphere; Sexwulf, the bishop who divided up the diocese; Offa, King of Mercia, who made Lichfield an archbishopric, and Higbert, the archbishop.
The third medallion shows the translation of St. Chad's bones from Stowe Church, where they were buried, to the cathedral; around are Stephen, who was king when Bishop Roger de Clinton built the Norman cathedral; Henry III., who gave stone for the transept; and Bishop Langton, who built the Lady Chapel.