Lichfield
Staffordshire
West Midlands
The Close
(Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Chad)
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Statues on the Choir of Lichfield Cathedral
Lichfield Cathedral IV
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19th century
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Description
The exterior choir shows only five statues, since Chapter House and Consistory Room are built close to or against the choir.
(click on the photo for an enlargement in a separate window.)
At the northeast and southeast corner are four statues of historical figures:
- WALTON. - Brian Walton (1600 - 1661) was an English priest, divine and scholar, compiled the Polyglot Bible (Wikipedia).
- WREN. - Sir Christopher Michael Wren PRS (East Knoyle, Wiltshire 1632 - London 1723), one of the most highly acclaimed English architects in history; hold a model of St. Paul's Cathedral, London (Wikipedia).
- ELIAS ASHMOLE. - Elias Ashmole (Lichfield 1617 - London 1692), celebrated English antiquary, politician, officer of arms, astrologer and student of alchemy (Wikipedia).
- JOHNSON. - Samuel Johnson (Lichfield 1709 - London 1784), English writer who made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer (Wikipedia).
A fifth statue is at the south buttress close to the consistory chamber:
- Ancient figure of a female figure.
Lichfield Cathedral - 153 statues
The exterior of Lichfield cathedral is extremely rich with sculpted statues. Only the west front has 113 statues! On the rest of the exterior are 40 more statues. To make our web pages manageable, we firstly limited ourselves in photographing the large statues (the pointed archivolts of the entrance are decorated with many figures as well), and secondly, divided the description into seven parts of the cathedral:
Curiously, the exterior walls of the nave does not show any statues.
Only five of the statues and the 'Christ in Majesty' in the roof of the west doorway are medieval, all others are carved in the late 19th century by various Victorian sculptors.
The interior of the cathedral is even richer in statues, but on this website we usually do not include statues in the interior of churches.
Close to the cathedral is also the statue of Charles II.
Sources & Information
- Clifton, Arthur Benjamin. The Cathedral Church of Lichfield: A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See. (London, 1898). Internet Archive. (cons. 27 June 2014), pp. 50.
Tags
Locatie (N 52°41'8" - W 1°49'48") (Satellite view: Google Maps)
Item Code: gbwm028; Photograph: 7 June 2014
Of each statue we made photos from various angles and also detail photos of the various texts.
If you want to use photos, please contact us via the contact form (in Dutch, English or German).
© Website and photos: René & Peter van der Krogt
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