Lichfield Cathedral and the Diocese of Lichfield

This building is the third cathedral on this site. 

A Saxon cathedral was consecrated here in 700 AD -- within 28 years of the death of St Chad, who did so much to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to what had been the pagan kingdom of Mercia.

A Norman Cathedral was built in around 1085, and the present ‘gothic’ building was erected between 1185 and about 1335.  Much of the stonework is therefore over 750 years old.

In accordance with statutes dating back to the twelfth century (the oldest extant statutes of any English Cathedral), Lichfield Cathedral is governed by a ‘Chapter’ consisting of the Dean and three ‘residentiary’ canons (a Precentor, a Chancellor and a Treasurer), together with four lay (non-ordained) members.  The Chapter is responsible for ensuring that the Cathedral is faithful to its God-given calling.

In Saxon times, the Diocese of Lichfield was briefly the third ‘Archdiocese’ in England (with York and Canterbury).  In the Middle Ages it was vast: extending from the river Ribble in the north to the Thame in the south, including much of what is now in the Dioceses of Manchester, Chester, Derby, Birmingham, Leicester and Coventry.

The Diocese of Lichfield is still so extensive that the Bishop of Lichfield is assisted by three ‘area’ bishops, based at Shrewsbury, Stafford and Wolverhampton.  The Diocese includes Oswestry to the west; Burton on Trent to the east, West Bromwich to the south, Leek to the north, as well as Stoke on Trent, Walsall and Telford.