Lichfield, Staffordshire, England
Sometimes the Lord rides out the storm with us and other times He calms the restless sea around us. Most of all, He calms the storm inside us in our deepest inner soul.
—Lloyd John Ogilvie (1930–), American Presbyterian minister and former chaplain of the United States Senate (1995–2003)
Lichfield Cathedral with its Flemish stained glass windows, octagonal Chapter House, beautiful Lady Chapel, and three spires affectionately called “the Ladies of the Vale” dominates Lichfield’s architecture, even though it is one of England’s smallest cathedrals. This tiny hamlet in the English Midlands has been a center of worship and religious teaching since A.D. 669. So, it’s not surprising that one of its most impressive buildings, Lichfield Cathedral, safeguards numerous sacred treasures: among them, the Lichfield Gospels, an eighth-century illuminated manuscript; a fifteenth-century mural of the Crucifixion; and the shrine of Saint Chad, the seventh-century bishop of Mercia.
If your heart yearns for spiritual knowledge and you find medieval religious art fascinating, visit Lichfield Cathedral. Travel from Birmingham (17 miles south) or London (124 miles southeast) to Lichfield by bus, taxi, rental car, or coach tour.
Walk around the cathedral, enjoying its beauty and bounty. Take time to visit the café and the gift shop. Offer a departing prayer of gratitude for God’s omnipresence.
The visitor’s study center, café, and bookshop in the Close were established to share information with tourists, pilgrims, school groups, and others interested in the cathedral, ecclesiastical literature, and the history of Lichfield.