Rooms south of the choir

             On the south side of the choir is a suite of rooms that are unique to Lichfield.[1] Being unmatched to any equivalent construction in another cathedral means their timeline and function are incomparable. Willis, 1861, was certain, especially after examining pier bases, the first three western bays of the choir were Early English.[2] He also claimed the rooms attached to the south of the choir were the same era.[3] The only early, existing stonework for this part of the cathedral is the wall bench on the side of the choir aisle.

            Both Willis and Rodwell thought initially there was only one chamber attached to the south choir aisle. The room, perhaps had a dual function as a chapel and sacristy.[4] Rodwell suggested it was a lateral sacristy next to, or near to, the early high altar. Rodwell also conjectured this single room might have only been a foundation before there was a change of intention and a large chapel/sacristy was built.

Drawing by Willis, 1861, showing a simple side chamber, dated c. 1200 (an approximation) or Early English in style. That means it was extended and enhanced with an upper storey in the next 20 years. The double rooms were on the same foundation as the initial single room.

Alternative Rodwell conjecture on the change from a one room to a two roomed building.

     A second phase of construction led to a building which mostly corresponded with two bays (2nd and 3rd) of the choir. Within the interior north wall of this building can be seen the remains of a three-bay arcade now infilled. The bases of these rounded arcades was determined to be earlier than the aisle wall and Rodwell called this a ‘Transitional Sacristy.’ He described it as the oldest standing masonry, dated 1170–1180.^[5] The three bays are all different in pitch and the door into the building (sacristy?) was off-centre, and so did not match the current door in the consistory. It either shows a change of masons, a change of plan or a reordering of the internal walls, whilst, strangely, the outer walls remained unchanged. Gilbert Scott had uncovered this internal arcade and was baffled by the sealed arches.^[6] Ward concluded the arches begin nowhere and finish nowhere and simply bear evidence to frequent alteration.^[7] It has teased many who want to determine what has gone on.  It is undoubtedly an interim arrangement, but for what purpose is unknown and when it was constructed and re-constructed is unclear. Dating it by the finish of the stone and the shape of the arch is problematical.  See the post ‘Two early chapels’ for a new way to understand the early chapel.

Infill stonework viewed from inside of the Consistory Court looking north to the south choir aisle. The arch opposite bay 1 of the choir is not shown and consists of a very small amount of stone. The column of stonework under the arches arise from a base estimated to be 0.9 m below the pavement of the south choir aisle and 0.1 m below the consistory floor.[8] 

Drawing of pier bases from a 1930s Lomax guidebook. The piers are those in the left image above.

At some time in the 13th-century, two rooms were finished and were adjacent to the first three bays of the choir. The western room was smaller (now called the Duckit or verger’s office) which is mostly opposite the first bay (from the crossing) and the first bay in the south transept. The eastern room was larger in length and width and corresponded to the second and third choir bays (now called the Consistory, but used as a sacristy and storeroom). This difference in size could also be accounted for by the small room having to fit the north bay of the south transept (see Willis’s plan). The earliest accounts[9] call the rooms the Prebendary (large room) and Vestry (small room). Later accounts call them a Chapel (large room) and Sacristy or Treasury (small room).

(left) Plan of ‘Prebendary and Vestry’ from Stebbing Shaw, 1798, but taken from a plan c. 1700–39. (middle) Drawing of rooms in Shaw and (right) same view taken from Thomas Fuller, 1837.

   

Various plans of the two rooms. Notice there was once a connecting door between the two rooms; it is now obvious in the wall but blocked.. It is possible to leave the small room via steps down in the south east corner and through a door reach the large room. A small passage from the south east corner of the large room leads downwards to a barrel vault or undercroft which once held the tombs of the Paget family. There is no internal passage to the upper room in the corner turrets. Britton shows the two rooms are not in precise alignment, but this is probably a fault of the drawing.

According to Rodwell this rebuild occurred between c. 1220 and 1230. It first involved the formation of a subterranean crypt with barrel vaults. Above this was constructed a rib-vaulted chapel dedicated to St Peter with turrets at the corners. It was now a multi-purpose structure used as a sacristy, treasury and chapel.[10] The upper storey was added between c. 1230 and 1240, and how it was accessed is unclear. Rodwell conjectured there was a loft with stairway built out into the south choir aisle opposite the third bay. The steps led to a platform at sill level of a window now reshaped as a doorway.[11] At this time the small room, Rodwell called a treasury, was added between St Peter’s Chapel and the south transept.

Rodwell’s sequence has problems. The crypt or undercroft extends the whole length and width of the chapel. Why 40 to 50 years after building a lateral sacristy then pull the entire building down and dig down into the bedrock to add the undercroft? It would seem more plausible for the undercroft to have been built with the chapel (ground floor) added on top. 

Vault under the consistory. The end wall appears to be an infill and the vault must have extended under the duckit.

Furthermore, the pier bases of the filled-in arches are close to the roof of the undercroft suggesting they were constructed together. Perhaps, the critical flaw is why leave the remnants of pier arches in the wall when the whole sacristy building is being demolished?

 A mystery grave

            Masonry restoration of the consistory east window in 1981 led to the discovery of a grave 1.5 m (5 feet) above the current ground level within the wall under the sill and above the chamfered plinth. It is where the monument is noted on earlier plan drawings. A skeleton was found in a coffin made from a single block of sandstone 2 m (6 feet 8 inches) long. The lid was a single stone slab 140 mm (5.5 inches) thick. Some bones were out of position and some not, suggesting the grave had been interfered with; indeed, the skull was missing. Rodwell suggested the repositioned bones could have been used as relics.[12] By the right elbow was a decayed pewter chalice signifying this was the grave of a priest. There were the remains of leather by the feet and pieces of cloth and string. Rodwell deduced bones were removed and then replaced wrapped up in red cloth tied with string. The skeleton was a male aged 50 to 65 years old and 1.7 m (5 feet 6.5 inches) tall. He suffered from osteo-arthritis in the jaw and wrists and the fusion of vertebrae. The wall was thicker where the grave was placed suggesting it belonged to a man associated with the building of the rooms. From this it was concluded to be the grave of William de Manecestra (William of Mancetter), 1222–1254. He was the first elected dean and it is presumed building operations must have been continuous during his time of office. This included the building of a chapel dedicated to St. Peter, for his chantry; this was said in 1254 to be 'attached to the church on the south side' and has been identified as the room now used as the consistory court.[13] The word ‘attached’ might suggest a separate chapel abutted on. The grave of a priest suggests the room was primarily a chapel and this suggests the chapel could have contained the relics of Chad. These dates do not fit entirely with an Early English architectural style (Willis) or a Transitional time of building (Rodwell), unless the grave was added in a later time. Perhaps, the grave is not that of Manecestra, but is that of an earlier canon.

 

Victorian reordering

            The upper storey was badly wrecked in the Civil War, 1643–6, and the damage was described by Clifton.[14] The four walls were in a broken condition and without a roof; the middle spire had fallen in this direction. The Early English windows, twelve lancets in groups of three, were still evident. The site of the old altar was clearly marked and a small portion, together with the piscina and aumbry, had been preserved. At some unknown time, the chapel was roofed again, the tops of the walls rebuilt and a flat, plaster ceiling added. The old chapel was now filled with cupboards holding the muniments. Joseph Potter re-cased the south-east turret, 1834, and renewed the stonework of the south-west turret, 1840.    

            In 1897, the room was repaired as a chapel. Stone groining was restored and a second staircase downwards was removed. New bosses and corbels were carved with subjects denoting the history of Chad; windows showed angels playing ancient instruments. This chapel was now accessed by a staircase leading from a doorway in the fourth bay. This terminated in a gallery (incorrectly known as the minstrel gallery) from which two short flights of steps led into the chapel. The entrance was once a window, suggesting the chapel and balcony were an afterthought.

 

Gallery.

Paget's family tomb in the undercroft.

 

Summary with minimum conjecture

            It seems the building on the south side of the choir started as an attached, or stand-alone, chapel. It held the relics of St Chad for a short time before the shrine in the retroquire was built by Bishop Langton. It was dedicated to St Peter. The chapel then functioned as a prebendary’s sacristy and was connected internally on the western side to a smaller room which became a secure vestry and treasury. An upstairs room became an archive for the Dean and Chapter and probably for the chantries and muniments of the cathedral before the library above the Chapter House was completed. The downstairs room then in medieval times became a Consistory Court for the bishop. As happened elsewhere chantry chapels were removed in the Chantries Act of 1547; it is possible this did not happen at Lichfield because the ground storey room was now a Consistory Court. 

Bishop Hacket’s chair and two stalls added to the Consistory Court, 1814, for use by the Bishop-Judge. (J. C. Buckler 1822)

The smaller room might now have turned into a sacristy. In late Victorian times the upper room was restored as St Chad’s Head Chapel and the sacristy now became the verger’s office. A heating system was built under or external to the office.

            The standing rooms have an Early English, 13th-century dating. It is feasible there was an earlier single room. It is likely the two rooms were built at the same time as the south transept (finishing in the 1220s) and overseen by Dean Mancetter. The current stairway leading up to the gallery was added early in the 15th-century.[15] Further alterations and reparations were made during the cathedral’s late-Victorian restoration.

[1] W. Rodwell, Archaeology at the cathedral: a new study of St Chad’s Head Chapel. 48th annual report to the Friends of the Cathedral, (1985).

[2] For Lichfield, Early English could be 1200–1300.

[3] R. Willis, On foundations of early buildings recently discovered in Lichfield Cathedral. The Archaeological Journal, (1861), 18, 11.

[4] W. Rodwell, ‘The development of the choir of Lichfield Cathedral: Romanesque and Early English.’

in J. Maddison (Ed.), XIII Medieval archaeology and architecture at Lichfield. The British Archaeological Association. (1993), 24.  

[5] W. Rodwell, Archaeology of the Cathedral: A new study of St Chad's Head Chapel, Lichfield: Friends of Lichfield Cathedral, 48th Annual Report., held in the Cathedral Library. (1985).

[6] J. G. Lonsdale, Recollections of work done in and upon Lichfield Cathedral from 1856--1894. Lichfield, Alfred Charles Lomax: 1895).

[7] H. Snowden Ward, Lichfield and its Cathedral: a brief history and guide. (London: 1892), 47.

[8] See note 4 Rodwell (1993), 25.

[9] S. Shaw, The history and antiquities of Staffordshire, Volume 1. ( London: 1798) who copied from Gale, 1720.

[10] See note 4 Rodwell (1993), 31.

[11] Ibid, 32–3.

[12] W. Rodwell, The skeleton in the wall. Unpub. article in the Cathedral Library, (1983).

[13] VCH, ‘House of secular canons- Lichfield cathedral: To the Reformation.’ A History of the County of Stafford, Volume 3, (1970), 140–166, note 236 referencing S.H.C. (1924), 27–8, 19.

[14] A. B. Clifton, The Cathedral church of Lichfield. Bell Series. (London: 1900), 106–7.

[15] Rodwell thought previous access might have been by a wooden staircase, see note 5.