A concert in Lichfield Cathedral – presented by John Sergeant
Saturday 16 June 2012 at 7.30pm

Owing to high demand, the Lichfield Garrick has released extra tickets for the Jubilee Proms Concert this summer. So why not bring a picnic, kick off your shoes and let the wonderful sounds of two orchestras and two choirs, wash over you on the West lawn of the Cathedral? You could also enjoy the great tradition of the patriotic British Proms concert seated within the medieval building itself with more tickets now available. The concert will be raising funds for the Cathedral’s East End Appeal.

Patricia Collins, Director of Fundraising at Lichfield Cathedral said:
“We are delighted that seats, both inside and out, are selling like hot cakes – the more people here the greater the celebratory atmosphere will be and the more raised for the Cathedral’s East End Appeal”.

Exhibition open now!

Lichfield Cathedral is delighted to announce that a small selection of items from the Staffordshire Hoard, the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found, will be on display in the Cathedral during 2012. The exhibition is free and booking is not required. The Chapter House* will be open daily Monday to Saturday from 10am until 4pm and Sundays from 12 noon until 3pm. Please note electrical works will be taking place in the Chapter House from May 14, for approximately two weeks.**

Visitors to the Cathedral will be warmly welcomed to this unique exhibition, which will be housed in the thirteenth century Chapter House, alongside the Cathedral’s own stunning Anglo-Saxon treasures the Lichfield Angel and the St. Chad Gospel, which is older than the famous Book of Kells. The display at Lichfield Cathedral complements permanent exhibitions of the treasure at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery.

The Revd Dr Pete Wilcox, Canon Chancellor and Acting Dean of Lichfield Cathedral commented:

We are delighted to be hosting a selection of items from the Staffordshire Hoard. Together with the new lighting scheme, new interpretation panels that explore the story of the hoard and the Cathedral’s own rich Anglo-Saxon story, stunning replicas of the hoard's Pectoral Cross and biblical inscription strip, the new display represents a landmark in the development of the Mercian Trail.

A major arts project in Lichfield in May is looking to recruit an army of volunteers. Lichfield Mysteries – one of the biggest community arts events in the country, needs around 40 volunteers to help the two-day extravaganza run smoothly.

Supporters are needed mainly to help sell programmes and tshirts in the city centre and in and around the Cathedral.

So why not join up for the Mysteries’ volunteer army? Contact Administrator Jill Taylor on 01543 264602 or email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it                   Lichfield Mysteries are on  May 6 & 7 on Market Square and in the Cathedral.

Next available tour - Blood on the Stones tour (Civil War) - Inside tour Wednesday 6 June (see details below)

As the warmer weather approaches, we hope you will take a wander around the Cathedral this year and join us for one of our spring/summer tours. The tours are led by our trained guides and have been tailored to appeal to all interests as you take a step back through history. Pre-booking is recommended. To book a ticket call into the Cathedral Book and Gift Shop (No. 9 The Close) or call them on 01543 306150.

The tour types, prices, dates and times are as follows:

Inside Cathedral Tours • £5.40 • 2pm

Anglo Saxon tours will take place on Tuesday 17 July, Tuesday 21 August and Friday 14 September

Blood on the Stones - Civil War tours will take place on Wednesday 6 June, Thursday 16 August, Tuesday 18 September and Thursday 27 September

Outside Cathedral Tours • £5.40 • 2pm

Cathedral Under Siege tours (a tour of the Close and surrounding area with a Civil War focus) will take place on Thursday 14 June and Tuesday 10 July

The Cathedral Close tours will take place on Wednesday 20 June, Saturday 14 July and Saturday 18 August.

The Lichfield Cathedral choir is planning a cultural and musical exchange with our companion diocese of Matlosane beginning at Easter 2013 and has recorded an uplifting CD of organ and choral masterpieces to help support the South African diocese and to raise funds for this ground-breaking work.

The CD is called ‘Anno Domini’ and includes music for each of the seasons of the church’s year. £1 from every CD sold will be donated directly to the diocese of Matlosane, with the rest of the profits directly financing the choir’s visit.

The disc was launched on 5 April at the Cathedral’s Maundy Thursday Chrism Eucharist and is available through the Cathedral Book and Gift Shop at No 9 The Close (01543 306150; This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).  CDs cost £12. E-mail enquiries are welcome, and your support will be greatly appreciated.

 

This summer, the Lichfield Cathedral community and the Garrick Theatre are working together for the first time and invite the region to join them for a unique Jubilee Proms concert. This special event will celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of the Accession to the throne of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and will take place on Saturday 16 June, both in and outside Lichfield Cathedral.
Lichfield Cathedral and Lichfield Garrick are proud to announce that this summer concert is being sponsored by the specialist insurance and financial services company Ecclesiastical (www.ecclesiastical.com). The company, established in 1887, is a specialist insurance and financial services organisation providing tailored insurance solutions for organisations and people who care – such as charities and heritage property owners. Ecclesiastical specialises in charity, education, heritage, care, and church insurance alongside a range of other insurance and financial services products.

Today Lichfield District Council was pleased to announce the local streets the Olympic Flame will travel through on the morning of Saturday 30 June 2012 and will include The Close around Lichfield Cathedral. The Cathedral Dash will also take place at 12 noon.

The Flame will first arrive in the district at the National Memorial Arboretum, before heading along Burton Road in Streethay. Carried by torchbearers, it will then enter Lichfield City around 9am. The Torch will travel up Trent Valley Road, down Greenhill and Tamworth Street, then onto Conduit Street, Dam Street, and then round The Close. The Flame will be carried down Bird Street, St John Street, Upper St John Street, and Tamworth Road. It will then continue its journey through Hopwas and onto Tamworth. For a detailed route plan please click here. Alternatively for more information please visit the Lichfield District Council website.

The following sermon was given by the Rt Revd John Pritchard, Bishop of Oxford at the Patronal Eucharist of St Chad on 4 March.

Chad, Grace and the Holy Spirit

Of all the epithets applied to me I don’t think I’ve ever been called graceful.

Now stop there! Which meaning of the word graceful did you think I meant? Was it my lack of graceful movement, or my lack of graceful character? It could of course be both, in my case, but the parallel is interesting.

When you see a graceful dancer moving about a stage, body and soul in wonderful harmony, and at one with the music, you’re seeing something both exhilarating and sublime. And when you see a human being moving through life, body and soul in wonderful harmony, and at one with the music of heaven, you’re again seeing something both exhilarating and sublime. Grace, whether in a dancer or in a life, is a glorious thing to behold.

NEXT TOUR SATURDAY 12 MAY 10.30am

Join us in the Cathedral library in 2012, for a very interesting series of new library tours:

Tour 1: 17th Century 10.30am

Saturday 12 May, Saturday 9 June, Saturday 21 July, Saturday 22 September, Wednesday 3 October

Tour 2: Bible focus 10.30am

Wednesday 15 August, Saturday 18 August, Wednesday 12 September

Tickets £9.00 - call the Cathedral Book and Gift Shop on 01543 306150. Prompt start at 10.30am. Please note that bags are not allowed in the library.

Photo with kind permission of Lichfield Camera Club

Today Downing Street has announced that the new Dean of Liverpool will be the Revd Canon Dr Pete Wilcox. Canon Pete has been Canon Residentiary of Lichfield Cathedral since 2006 and he will be installed in Liverpool Cathedral in September 2012. He becomes the seventh Dean, succeeding the Very Rev Justin Welby who was appointed Bishop of Durham.

Pete Wilcox, Canon Chancellor, Lichfield Cathedral commented:

The past five years have been exceptionally rewarding.  I do thank God for calling me to serve on the staff of Lichfield Cathedral, and before that as a parish priest in this Diocese.

I look back on eight years at St Paul’s Church at The Crossing with gratitude, and more recently it has been wonderful to work with such fine clergy and lay colleagues on Chapter, such highly able staff and volunteers, and such generous partners in the local authority and beyond in the delivery of the Cathedral’s education and outreach work.

There have been many highlights – but 2011 will always stand out for the work we did together in relation to the King James’ Bible anniversary and the Staffordshire Hoard on Tour.

Lichfield has been an excellent place for our family home.  With our youngest son about to leave school, however, we are in a position to consider a move.  Given the time we have previously spent in Gateshead and Walsall, perhaps a return to a more urban environment was inevitable.

The responsibilities and opportunities for the Gospel in my new role in Liverpool will be considerable and I am freshly conscious of my need of Christ’s Spirit.  I shall be grateful for your prayers in the coming months.

Photo - Lichfield Camera Club

To mark reaching over 75% of the East End Appeal target, parishes within the Diocese were invited to support the vital repair and conservation work to their Cathedral.  Acknowledging that times are difficult and the economic climate is gloomy, vital help is being sought from all quarters to share the load. Hearty thanks go to the parishes that have contributed so far via the mosaic website and are lighting up the windows.  All contributions are most warmly received, either via the website www.lichfieldcathedral.mosaicappeal.com, or a cheque sent to the Chapter Office.

Members of the Friends of Lichfield Cathedral have kindly volunteered to attend meetings at local Parishes and show the DVD The Race to Save the Herkenrode Glass with Michael Wood.

For more information about the East End Appeal please click here.

As part of Her Majesty The Queens’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations, Lichfield extended a warm welcome to Their Royal Highnesses, The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester at the Cathedral today (Sunday 19 February). Choral Evensong celebrated the Jubilee year and the Duke of Gloucester represented The Queen. The service formed part of the celebrations to mark the 60th anniversary of the accession of Her Majesty The Queen and it was jointly hosted by Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Staffordshire Sir James Hawley KCVO TD JP and the Chairman of Staffordshire County Council Frank Lewis MBE. The visit also enabled the Duke to inspect key restoration developments to the East End of the Cathedral since his last visit in 2009.

On Saturday 16 June 2012, Lichfield Garrick and Lichfield Cathedral will join together for the first time to present a magnificent celebration of the Accession of Queen Elizabeth II and the great tradition of the patriotic British Proms concert. This concert will be raising funds for the Cathedral's East End Appeal.

The concert will be sponsored by the specialist insurance and financial services company, Ecclesiastical insurance. For more details click here to visit the Ecclesiastical website.

The programme of music in this most lavish of concerts will feature Coronation Anthems; Zadok the Priest and I Was Glad, together with film footage and excerpts from the Westminster Abbey Coronation. Click on Read more to find out further details.

Listen again to Any Questions? on BBC Radio Four. Recorded live at Lichfield Cathedral on Friday 27 January.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01b1nky

The show was hosted by Jonathan Dilmbleby and featured panellists David Blunkett MP, Danny Finkelstein (Executive Editor of The Times), Anna Soubry MP (PPS to the Minister of State for Health) and Sunder Kotwala (Director of British Future).

Schools from across the Lichfield Diocese have taken on the unusual challenge of ‘Adopting a Gargoyle’, as part of a fundraising and education initiative launched last September by Lichfield Cathedral and the Lichfield Diocesan Board of Education. Due to the demand from schools to complete competition entries, the deadline for competition entries has now been extended until 31 March 2012. The on-line mosaic (where donations light-up a section of the Gargoyle montage) at www.gargoyle.mosaicappeal.com will remain open for donations to the end of the year.

The project is in aid of the East End Appeal for Lichfield Cathedral, which has undergone a major programme of essential repairs to its stonework and conservation of its unique 16^th century painted glass. The project is now in its final phases and to help raise the balance of the money for the restoration work, Lichfield Cathedral, in partnership with the Lichfield Diocesan Board of Education, is asking for support from schools for the East End Appeal via the Adopt a Gargoyle project.

For details on how to involve your school press Read more.

Lichfield Cathedral invites local parishes to experience a unique day of worship, history and reflection at Lichfield Cathedral. The 2012 Parish Pilgrimage Days will take place on the following dates:

Saturday 15 September and Saturday 10 November.

The aim of the day is to provide spiritual refreshment and inspiration. The opening worship is relaxed and ‘seeker-friendly’, the Pilgrim Tour creates space (but no pressure) to pray, and offers opportunities (but again, no obligation) to light a candle and experience footwashing.

For programme and booking details please click on Read more.

Photo by Lichfield Camera Club

Church and State - then and now

A series of lectures reflecting on the relationship of Church and State will take place every Thursday during Lent at 1pm in the Nave of the Cathedral. Also on Thursdays, there will be a free guided tour of the Cathedral, emphasising its 17th century background. 

February 23rd: Dr Ian Atherton, Keele University
Edward Wightman and the religious intolerance of the Early Stuarts  

(Wightman was the last person in England to be burnt at the stake for heresy.  He died in Lichfield Market Square on 11 April 1612.  We will mark the 400th anniversary of his death, in thanksgiving that it was the last execution of its kind).

For details of the rest of the series please click on Read more.

2012 will be the 350th anniversary of the publication, following the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, of the Book of Common Prayer in 1662.

Lichfield Cathedral Library includes a first edition, which will be on display in the north quire aisle from Ash Wednesday (February 22) until Easter Day (April 8).

It is a 'sealed' first edition and will be on display in the north quire aisle during opening hours:

Monday to Friday: 7.30 am to 6.15 pm, Saturday: 8.00 am to 6.15 pm and Sunday: 7.30 am to 5.00 pm

Tuesday 27 March 7.30pm

Lichfield Cathedral is proud to be working in partnership with Staffordshire Performing Arts to deliver the charming cantata 'Captain Noah and His Floating Zoo' for soloist and children's choir written by Michael Flanders and Joseph Horovitz. This timelessly popular work will involve young singers from local Lichfield church schools as part of the Cathedral and Cathedral Schools' MusicShare programme.

Schools involved are all Lichfield schools: St Chad ’s CE (VC) Primary School, St Michael’s CE (VC) Primary School and Christ Church CE (VC) Primary School, Lichfield.  n.  The narration will be sung by none other than our very own Philip Lancaster, Bass Lay Vicar Choral.  It will be conducted by Cathy Lamb who has hosted several massed rehearsals in the Cathedral and then the schools have been working very hard in their own time.  It is an extension of our MusicShare programme, which has benn running since 2003.

Tickets are priced just £5 and £3 for children under 16, from the Cathedral Shop at No. 9 The Close or call 01543 306150 for more information.

On Saturday 16 June 2012, Lichfield Garrick and Lichfield Cathedral will join together for the first time to present a magnificent celebration of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and the great tradition of the patriotic British Proms concert. The programme of music in this most lavish of concerts will feature Coronation Anthems; Zadok the Priest and I Was Glad, together with film footage and excerpts from the Westminster Abbey Coronation. The concert will be raising funds for the Cathedral's East End Appeal - click here for more information.

The concert will conclude with the traditional flag waving "Last Night of the Proms" favourites, Rule Britannia, Nimrod, Sea Songs, Jerusalem, I Vow to thee my Country and of course, Pomp & Circumstance March No 1 - Land of Hope and Glory. For more information and ticket details please click on read more.

 

 

Over 400 members of the Lichfield Community came together this week for the annual ‘Songs for a City’ service, for all those involved in the commercial, voluntary and official life of the City. The service, in its third year, was a thank you for all that they do for Lichfield – a celebration and thanksgiving for everyone and everything that sustains the economic life of Lichfield.

The service included plenty of opportunity for people to sing well-loved carols, led by the Cathedral Choir, as well as readings, prayers and a short message from the Dean of Lichfield. The service was followed by mince pies and punch, served in the Cathedral. Refreshments were kindly sponsored this year by Keelys Solicitors (of Dam Street, Lichfield).

The Dean of Lichfield is chairing a research group, sponsored by the Association of English Cathedrals and the Foundation for Church Leadership, into the contribution of English Cathedrals to society. The report will be presented to national and local government, to the General Synod of the Church of England and to the wider church, next September.  The research is being conducted by the Grubb Institute and Theos, the Theological Think Tank whose specialism is the interaction of religion with society. 

To follow the link and find out more please click on read more.

The 8^th Annual Patrons’ of Lichfield Cathedral Dinner saw 165 guests from all over the country enjoy the unique experience of dining in the splendid medieval surroundings of Lichfield Cathedral.

The highlight of a very successful Dinner was an entertaining and thought-provoking speech by Roy Hattersley, former Deputy Leader of the Labour Party. On the subject, ‘What are Politicians for?’, Mr Hattersley argued that politicians should act according to the dictates of their conscience and not simply respond to the will of their constituents. He argued strongly for the politics of conviction rather than personality, and also criticised the recent references by MPs to the ‘deserving and undeserving poor’. The speech was very well-received and provoked some lively conversation afterwards.

The first Girlguiding Staffordshire Big Sleepover took place at Lichfield Cathedral last month in aid of the East End Appeal. Whilst most of Lichfield was safely tucked up in bed, over 375 very excited Guides and Leaders from Girlguiding Staffordshire, gathered together for a Big Sleepover and slept under one roof in the Nave and Lady Chapel of Lichfield Cathedral. The event, held at the end of September, was a fundraiser for the Cathedral’s East End Appeal.

Limburg Cathedral Girls' Choir, with conductor Judith Schnell and organist Carsten Igelbrink will be performing in Lichfield Cathedral as part of a UK tour in October 2011.

The concert will include pieces by Rheinberger and Mendelssohn and takes place on Sunday 9th October at 6pm. Entrance is free with a retiring collection.

Schools from all over the 1,744 square miles of the Lichfield Diocese are being asked to take on the challenge of ‘Adopting a Gargoyle’ this autumn term, as part of a new fundraising and education initiative. Launched officially today, this Diocesan project is a new scheme that allows not only schools to get involved with fundraising for Lichfield Cathedral’s East End Appeal, but will hopefully engage pupils of all ages in creative writing, history and art projects.

Every year, thousands of children and young people visit Lichfield Cathedral for educational visits and also the ‘Open Door’ event for primary and secondary schools. This month, Lichfield Cathedral, in partnership with the Lichfield Diocese Board of Education, is excited to announce the launch of a new schools project - the ‘Adopt a Gargoyle’ campaign. For further details please click on read more or visit the Adopt A Gargoyle section of the website.

Join us for a 'Four Part' Workshop this November, with an introduction to the methods and different practices of prayer and three important spiritual guides:

Beginning to pray – different practices for different people

Praying in the tradition of Thomas a Kempis and “The Imitation of Christ”

Praying “The Sacrament of the present moment” Jean Pierre de Caussade

Praying in the tradition of St. Augustine – the desiring heart

The course will be led by the Dean of Lichfield, The Very Reverend Adrian Dorber on the following dates:

Tuesday 6th November 2012
Tuesday 13th November 2012
Tuesday 20th November 2012
Tuesday 27th November 2012

The course will take place from 7.30pm to 9.30pm in College Hall on the South side of the Cathedral. To book your place or for further information, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Alternatively download an application form

 

After a busy, exciting and thoroughly enjoyable three weeks, it is time for the Lichfield Cathedral community to say farewell to the largest collection of Anglo-Saxon gold in the world, as the Staffordshire Hoard on Tour exhibition is dismantled today and moves to its final destination on the tour, Tamworth Castle.

The exhibition has been seen by an astounding 14,728 visitors in the Cathedral Chapter House this month, as it was displayed alongside Cathedral treasures, the Lichfield Angel and the St Chad Gospels (which are approximately 50 years older than the Books of Kells).

Two energetic members of the Lichfield Cathedral community, Eric and Margaret Harding have walked 90 miles this summer between Chester and Lichfield Cathedral to raise funds for the Cathedral's East End Appeal. They have raised £1,200 to date.

Margaret, a lay member of Cathedral Chapter and her husband Eric Harding, who is a Cathedral steward, started their long distance walk on Tuesday 28th June and completed the final stage of the walk to Lichfield Cathedral on Saturday 3rd September arriving in time for Evensong.

Picture - Eric and Margaret arrive at Lichfield Cathedral (with kind permission of Lichfield Camera Club). 

The Dean and Chapter of Lichfield Cathedral, together with the Bishop of Lichfield, took pleasure in welcoming over 600 members, supporters and friends of the Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry today. In the presence of Her Majesty The Queen, Colonel in Chief of the Regiment, prayers of thanksgiving were offered for the safe homecoming of the Regiment following their deployment in Afghanistan.

Lichfield Cathedral last welcomed Her Majesty The Queen, accompanied by the Duke of Edinburgh on Maundy Thursday 1988 (31st March). The visit celebrated Maundy Thursday with a commemorative service at the Cathedral, attended by over 2,000 members of the Community community.

Today, The Queen was welcomed to Lichfield by Her Majesty's Lord-Lieutenant of Staffordshire, Sir James Hawley KCVO TD JP and local school children from St Joseph's Primary School. She arrived at Lichfield City train station on the Royal Train. Her Majesty then travelled to the medieval Cathedral Close for the thirty minute service and was accompanied by Sir James Hawley. The Queen was met by the Honorary Colonel of The Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry, Major General Andrew Farquhar CBE DL who escorted Her Majesty to the West Front of Lichfield Cathedral towards the Parade.

Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy has launched National Poems For Cathedrals, a countrywide project during  which she will visit all the cathedrals in England.  She will perform in each participating cathedral and write a poem for each city as part of her time in post.

The national poets of Wales and Scotland, Gillian Clarke and Liz Lochhead, have agreed to join the project, giving it the potential to include every cathedral on the British mainland.

 

In June 2010, students from Staffordshire University filmed the 'Growing Grotesque' time lapse animation project at Lichfield Cathedral. Click here to be transferred to the Midlands Conservation Limited site to view the film (please note that this is an external link and the film lasts 3 minutes and 8 seconds).

This project captured the work of Phil Barnacle (Master Stone Mason from MCL), as he created a new grotesque for the East End of Lichfield Cathedral, as part of the Phase III renovation project. This project was completed by Jim Southwell (Photography Animation) and Emma Harrison (Project Manager) and funded through Lichfield District Council.

Pearl-Margarita, the Lichfield Cathedral decorated pig for the 30th Lichfield Festival, will soon be seen in Lichfield City and will return for the Pig Auction on the West Front on July 17th at 1pm. Pearl-Margarita will be auctioned with the other 29 pigs from the Festival project and the half of the funds raised from the Cathedral pig will be donated to the East End Appeal.

The Cathedral pig was designed and painted by Peter Halliday, a member of the Cathedral’s ArtReach committee. The committee helps to organise visual art exhibitions in the Cathedral. Peter, an internationally famous calligrapher and lettering artist, engaged the help of several members of his Lichfield Calligraphy Group, a tutor group which meets every Thursday at St Michael’s Church Hall. They spent many enjoyable hours helping with the painting.

Photo: Lichfield Camera Club / Christopher Lockwood

The Cathedral's two great Anglo Saxon treasures are now safely installed in their new permanent display cabinets in the Chapter House.                     

The St Chad Gospels, an illuminated Anglo Saxon gospel book which dates from about 730 (which makes it older than the famous Book of Kells), has been hidden away behind a pillar in a cabinet which has done good service for over 30 years but which no longer meets conservation standards. The Lichfield Angel, perhaps the finest surviving piece of late 8th / early 9th century stone sculpture in the country, languished in the transportation crate in which it was returned to the Cathedral by the conservator in 2007. It has never been professionally mounted and displayed. Both treasures have now been installed in bespoke frameless glass cabinets, on specially engineered mounts and with tailored lighting, with stunning effect.

The redisplay of these treasures is part of a £120,000 upgrade of the Chapter House, including its security, in preparation for the forthcoming exhibition of treasures from the Staffordshire Hoard on Tour later this summer. Funding for the project has been gratefully received from the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Foyle Foundation, the Staffordshire Hoard Partnership, the Friends of Lichfield Cathedral, Lichfield District Council and members of the Cathedral community.

On the 18th June 2011 starting at 8am, eight intrepid cyclists (all members of the Friends of Lichfield Cathedral) cycled 314 miles, the distance from Lindisfarne to Lichfield via Lastingham and York.  This was a static cycle ride at the West Front of the Cathedral in aid of the East End Appeal. The community group completed the challenge in just five and a half hours and a great team effort was made. Congratulations to everyone involved!

Sponsorship is still possible through the Just Giving site at the Just Giving website.  You can also sponsor the riders via text.  Simply text 'BIKE23' plus the amount you wish to donate (£1/£2/£3/£4/£5 or £10) to 70070.  Texts are free and your personal details will not be used for any other purpose.

Pictured are some of the cyclists on the day.  

Library tour - Wednesday October 19th at 10.30am 

Explore the hidden treasures of the historic Cathedral Library, built in 1249. Take a tour and obtain a rare glimpse of the magnificant treasures housed here including Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales' (c1420) and Henry VIII's 'Great Bible' (first edition - 1539).

Tickets are £8.40 per person

Anglo Saxon tour - Saturday October 22nd at 2pm

Tickets are £5.40

Ticket bookings: Lichfield Cathedral Book Shop on 01543 306150 or No. 9 The Close, Lichfield.

Please note that bags cannot be taken into the Cathedral Library.



The new What's On guide for April to September is now available - just click on the link below or pick up a hard copy from the Welcome Desk.  Whatever your age, there is something for everyone at Britain's only medieval three-spired Cathedral.

To download the What's On guide for April to October please click here. 

Highlights include:

Staffordshire Hoard Exhibition - Mid April

In 2011, the Cathedral hosted the Staffordshire Hoard on Tour exhibition and the display proved so popular that a number of generic pieces will be displayed in the Chapter House this year from Easter onwards. Booking is not required but please check our website or telephone ahead before making a special journey.

A Jubilee Proms Concert with present John Sergeant - Saturday 16 June 7.30pm

A celebration of The Queen's Diamond Jubilee, playing all your Proms favourites. Contact the Lichfield Garrick website or telephone 01543 412121 for ticket information. 

For further information please This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 01543 306100.

This summer Lichfield Cathedral will host the Staffordshire Hoard on Tour from Saturday July 30^th until Sunday 21^st August. Free tickets, and exclusive tours, will be available from March 14^th through the Lichfield Garrick Box Office. To download the Cathedral What's On guide which includes details please click here.

The Staffordshire Hoard, the largest ever find of Anglo-Saxon gold, was discovered in a farmer’s field near Hammerwich, only 4 miles from Lichfield Cathedral, in 2009. The exhibition will feature over forty iconic items from including the folded cross, the biblical inscription and the seahorse, as well as some newly conserved pieces. The exhibition will be open to the general public free of charge.  It will be located in the Chapter House. The Cathedral is also pleased to announce that a special series of tours will be available at the Cathedral during this time.

Glittering items from the world's largest find of Anglo-Saxon gold are set to tour Staffordshire this summer.

Exciting plans that will see a touring exhibition of star items from the Staffordshire Hoard visit venues across Staffordshire this summer are in the final stages of preparation. The exhibition, which is set to visit Stafford's Shire Hall, Lichfield Cathedral and Tamworth Castle between July and September, will be a fitting way to thank the thousands of local people who donated money to help save the Staffordshire Hoard for the nation.