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
In the seventh bay is another of the semi-effigies, two of which are in
the south aisle of the nave, but this one is much more damaged; it is
supposed to be the monument of Canon Strangeways. In Jackson's "History
of Lichfield," which was published in 1805, it is stated that the name,
though not then distinguishable, had only recently become obliterated,
and was known and remembered to be Strangeways.
On the south wall, towards the east are, amongst others, brasses to Dean
Champneys, 1875, and Dean Bickersteth, 1892, and above these there is
a monument to Canon Horton, who died in 1728.
Two windows have recently been ornamented with new glass by Mr Kempe,
showing scenes taken from the Acts of the Apostles; one, in memory of
Dr H. W. Hewitt, represents Peter and Paul healing the lame man at the
Beautiful Gate of the temple. The other is in memory of Mr J. T. Godfrey
Faussett, and represents Stephen before the Council, having delivered
his apology, looking up and declaring "Behold I see the heavens opened,
and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God."
At the east end of this aisle, on the spot where probably once stood
the altar of St. Nicholas, is the famous monument known as "The Sleeping
Children." This was executed by Sir Francis Chantrey, R.A., and set up
in 1817. It is said that this monument established his fame. Britton,
in 1820, devotes more than two large quarto pages--a great space for
him--to ecstasies over it, and no doubt the taste of the time demanded
undiluted admiration. Now we may prize it as an early example of the
new style which, in art as well as in literature, was to supersede the
artifice of the eighteenth century: the essence of that new style was,
Mr Walter Pater tells us, "an intimate consciousness of the expression
of natural things."
[Illustration: THE SLEEPING CHILDREN.]
The monument is in memory of the two daughters of the Reverend William
Robinson, Prebendary of the cathedral, and represents the young children
locked in each other's arms.
Behind it is a wall memorial to their father, and to the side is a
piscina, which has at the back of it an old fresco, probably of the
fourteenth century. The subject is the Crucifixion, with figures of
St. Mary and St. John, one on each side of our Lord. The illustration is
from a drawing preserved in the National Art Library, South Kensington
Museum. The window at the end of the aisle contains some of the old
Flemish glass, which has in the centre a curious representation of
the Trinity.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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