Lichfield Cathedral Lichfield, England

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LICHFIELD

SK1109NE THE CLOSE 1094-1/5/212 Cathedral Church of the Blessed 05/02/52 Virgin Mary and St Chad (Formerly Listed as: THE CLOSE Cathedral Church of St Chad and St Mary)

GV I

Cathedral church. Early C13 west choir arcade and aisles, chapter house and chapel, transepts and crossing tower; c1280 nave, aisles and west towers; 1300-50 Lady Chapel and east choir arcade and aisles, and choir clerestory. Major restorations of 1660s, 1788-95 continued by Joseph Potter Snr of Lichfield, 1850s by S Smirke, and 1856-78 by Sir Gilbert Scott, continued by John Oldrid Scott until 1905. Ashlar with graduated slate roofs. PLAN: cruciform: 3-bay Lady Chapel, 8-bay choir with aisles, chapter house to north with library above and consistory court to south with chapel of St Chad's Head above, crossing steeple and 3-bay transepts with east chapels, 8-bay nave with aisles and 2 west steeples. EXTERIOR: Lady Chapel has 3-bay apse articulated by plinth, stepped to end due to slope of ground, gabled buttresses with C19 statues, enriched cornice with traceried and embattled parapet with pinnacles; 3-light windows, 6-light central windows to north and south, with trefoil tracery; 3 much restored tomb recesses to south with cusped arches, gables and pinnacles. Choir has similar clerestory, gabled buttresses supporting flying buttresses and pinnacles, angle buttresses with C19 statues; 3-light aisle windows with Decorated tracery and 5-light clerestory windows with Perpendicular tracery, those to east bay with Decorated tracery; organ loft to north west has quatrefoil windows in rich square settings and north east octagonal stair turret with pinnacle. Chapter house of elongated octagon form, buttresses with top tabernacles with statues, Y-tracery windows, vestibule with Y-tracery north window and 2-light plate tracery windows to 1st floor. Court and chapel have large octagonal turrets with shafts and pinnacles and 2 statues in niches; 3-light windows with Perpendicular tracery, 1st floor triplets of lancets. Crossing tower has polygonal buttresses with crocketed pinnacles, lines of former steep gables, two 2-light bell openings in blind tracery settings, traceried parapet and spire with 5 tiers of lucarnes. Transepts have 3- and 5-light clerestory windows with Perpendicular tracery; north transept has polygonal buttresses flanking portal of 5 orders with rich decoration to arch with flanking niches, 1880s window of 7 lancets, Y-tracery windows above; 4-light chapel north window and west windows; south transept has large C18 gabled angle buttresses flanking portal similar to above, but much restored, trefoil-headed arcade with C19 figures, 9-light window with Perpendicular tracery and top Catherine wheel windows with flanking statues; chapel has 3-light windows and south tomb recess with cusped arch, gable and pinnacles; 2 pairs of lancets to west; statue of Charles II for west front gable, attributed to Sir W Wilson, attached to south west angle. Nave has gabled buttresses supporting flying buttresses and pinnacles, enriched cornices and parapets with pinnacles; 3-light aisle windows with Decorated tracery and spherical triangle windows to clerestories; south side restored by Smirke. West front has gable between towers with large polygonal outer turrets; central portal with multi-cusped arch and inner doors with C13 seated Christ over trumeau, original doors with rich scrolled iron work, statues to returns; flanking portals of 5 orders with restored arches and similar doors; 6-light west window with Decorated tracery of 1868; towers have 2-light louvred bell openings, lozenge parapet and square crocketed pinnacles, spires with 4 tiers of lucarnes. Facade articulated with blind tracery and crocketed trefoil arches, corbelled C19 statues, with some medieval statues to north tower, trefoil-headed arcade with seated figures and figure of Christ to gable; much ball flower and crocketing, treatment continued to retu