Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Lichfield: A Description of Its Fabric and A Brief History of the Espicopal SeeClifton, A. B.
History
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Lichfield: A Description of Its Fabric and A Brief History of the Espicopal See
Clifton, A. B.
Lichfield Cathedral
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.
The fourth medallion shows the procession to the chapter-house for
divine service at the Restoration (1660); around are Charles II. and
Bishop Hacket, who then restored the cathedral; Queen Victoria and Bishop
Lonsdale, who was bishop at the time of the recent restorations.
The altar space is covered with encaustic tiles, given by Mr C. Minton
Campbell. In the centre is the Feast of the Passover, and around are shown
Cain and Abel, Melchisedec blessing Abraham, Abraham and Isaac, Joseph
and his brethren, Moses striking the Rock, and the Brazen Serpent--all
Old Testament types of the Divine Sacrifice.
=The Monuments= in the south choir aisle are particularly
interesting. Commencing from the west end, there is on the south side an
altar tomb in memory of Archdeacon Hodson, who died in 1855. The slab is
of Serpentine stone, with a brass cross inlaid, and there are alabaster
plaques representing the Crucifixion, the Entombment, the Resurrection,
and the Ascension. Opposite is a monument to his son, Major Hodson,
known as "Hodson of Hodson's Horse," who played a dramatic part in the
Indian Mutiny, where he received his death wound. The coped top forms a
cross, and underneath are represented the King of Delhi surrendering his
sword to Major Hodson, with allegorical figures of Justice, Fortitude,
Temperance, and Mercy; and at the corners statuettes of Joshua, David,
St. Thomas of India, and St. George of England. Both these monuments
are by Mr G. E. Street, R.A., the well-known architect of the Law Courts
in London.
Close to the gate is a medallion to Erasmus Darwin, "a skilful observer
of Nature," and the author of several books. He died in 1802, and was
the grandfather of Charles Darwin, the celebrated biologist, whose name
is a household word. The memorial to the grandfather directs attention
to the hereditary obligations of the grandson.
In the second bay, between the pier arches, is the monument of Bishop
Langton, who died in 1296. This originally stood to the south of
the high altar. The figure is of Purbeck marble, and is habited _in
pontificalibus_; the head lies on a plain cushion in a kind of frame. The
mitre and shoes were probably once richly jewelled, and the whole,
as we know from Sir William Dugdale's "Visitation," had a pedimented
canopy. Now nothing remains but the mutilated effigy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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