From the south transept of the nave we enter the famous =Crypt=, which dates from 1084. It was built after that of Winchester (1079) and before those of Gloucester (1089) and Canterbury (1096). Three rows of pillars form four walks, with an outer aisle of two rows of pillars. It was surrounded by several chapels, but only the southern chapel is now accessible. The pillars are admired for their grace and lightness, when illuminated. It suggests the Mosque of Cordova. In comparing the crypts of Winchester, Gloucester, Canterbury, and Worcester, Willis says: “The height of all these crypts is nearly the same; so that at Winchester and Gloucester the arches are flattened into ellipses, the pillars are low and squat, and the crypts appear as sepulchral vaults; while at Worcester, where the arches are semicircular and the pillars more slender, the crypt is a complex and beautiful temple.” The =Cloisters= form an irregular quadrangle enclosing a lovely green garth, 83 feet square. The roof of the walks is richly vaulted. The glass in the windows in the south alley depicted the history and miracles of St. Wulstan, but the glass was destroyed by the Puritans. Beyond the south walk is the =Refectory=, a handsome building of red sandstone, dating from about 1372. It is now used as a class-room of the Cathedral School founded by King Henry VIII. The monks’ lavatory occupies two bays in the north alley. From the west walk we enter the =Chapter-House=, originally a Norman building of the Eleventh Century. It was repaired about 1400, when the Norman windows and vaults were supplanted by those we now see. The present Chapter-House “consists of ten bays, with a Perpendicular vaulted roof rising from a central Norman Column. Each bay contains a light traceried window, of which two are entirely, and two half, blocked up. Below these is a series of slightly hollowed niches in grey, blue and yellow stone in alternate courses, resting on three courses of rough red masonry. These niches have slight traces of ancient fresco painting; they are surmounted by an arcade of intersecting circular arches containing smaller arches. Similar ornamentation is to be found in the chapter-houses at Bristol and Rochester, and in the external wall of Ernulf’s crypt at Canterbury.”--(E. F. S.) LICHFIELD DEDICATION: ST. CHAD AND ST. MARY. A CHURCH SERVED BY SECULAR CANONS. SPECIAL FEATURES: SPIRES; WEST FRONT; NAVE; LADY-CHAPEL; HERKENRODE GLASS. Lichfield is famed for its three beautiful spires, the only church in England with this distinguishing feature. They are locally known as “Ladies of the Vale,” or “Ladies of the Valley.”