PAGE CHAPTER I.--History of the Cathedral 3
CHAPTER II.--Description of the Exterior 30 The Close 33 Bishop's Palace 34 Spires 35 West Front 39 North Doorway 48 Lady Chapel 50 South Transept 51 Bells 52
CHAPTER III.--Description of the Interior 54 Nave 54 Pulpit, Lectern, etc. 64 North Aisle of Nave--Monuments and Glass 64 South Aisle of Nave--Monuments and Glass 67 Transepts 67 Organ 71 Choir 75 Screen and Stalls 84 Reredos 87 Sedilia and Pavements 88 Monuments and Glass in the Choir 91 Lady Chapel 99 Sacristy and Chapel of St. Chad's Head 106 Chapter-House 110 Library 113
PAGE Cathedral from the West _Frontispiece_ Arms of the See _Title page_ South Prospect of the Cathedral (Old Print) 2 Cathedral from Stowe Church (Old Print) 13 Ancient Gateway in the Close 17 South Transept in 1813--Exterior 23 Cathedral from the South 31 Cathedral from the Minster Pool 37 Great West Doorway in 1813 42 Great West Doorway 43 Southern Doorway in West Front 46 Bay of the Nave--Exterior 48 North Entrance in 1813 49 Bay of the Choir--Exterior 50 Doorway of South Transept 51 Bay of the Nave--Interior 55 Bay of the Choir--Interior 56 Nave in 1813--Interior 57 Nave, looking East 59 Nave, looking West 61 North Aisle of Nave, looking East 64 Arcade with Semi-Effigy 68 Detail of Semi-Effigy 69 Choir in 1820--Interior 77 Choir, looking East 79 South Choir Aisle 80 Choir, looking West 81 Under the Central Tower 85 Reredos 89 The Sleeping Children 95 Fresco in South Choir Aisle 97 Brackets in Lady Chapel 99 Lady Chapel 101 Brackets in Lady Chapel 104 Capital in Chapter-House 108 Chapter-House 109 Arcade in Chapter-House 111 The Gospels of St. Chad 115 Monument to Dr Johnson 136 PLAN OF THE CATHEDRAL 137
[Illustration: THE CATHEDRAL AT THE END OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.]
The cathedral of Lichfield, as we now know it, was built at various times in the thirteenth century and the early part of the fourteenth; and but for some comparatively slight and obvious alterations, it is therefore entirely in the styles known as Early English and Decorated. Unhappily nearly all the early archives and documents belonging to the cathedral are lost, having been destroyed in the time of the Civil Wars by the soldiery who sacked the place after the siege of the close by the forces of the Parliament. The absence of all documentary evidence as to the dates of the various parts of the cathedral has been much regretted by antiquarians, since it would be hard to find a better example of the gradual change which English church architecture was undergoing during the very busy period when this cathedral must have been built. Here we have the rigid simplicity of the Early English style in the transepts, giving place in the nave to the luxury of the Early Decorated, with its geometrical tracery; while in the Lady Chapel and presbytery we find an example, in some respects unique, of the gorgeousness of the completely evolved Decorated style. To know exactly when each part was built would be to add to our knowledge of architectural chronology; but instead, we must employ what knowledge we already possess, and by a process the very converse of what we could wish to have been able to use, we can arrive at an approximate history of the structure of the cathedral.