Summary. Pilgrimage began after Chad’s burial in 672 and continued until Reformation. It restarted in 1860 and is now a central rite in the cathedral.
Pilgrimage to the cathedral-church began when people heard about the miracle of a young man described as having some mental illness, freneticus, who lay down by Chad’s grave, 672 or later, and fell asleep. In the morning, he was healthy, sanato sensu.[1] The miracle published in Bede’s book, 731, parallels Cuthbert’s sainthood.[2] Bede’s translation is, “For example, quite recently a madman, who had been wandering from one place to another, came there one evening, unknown to or un-regarded by the guardians of the church, and spent the whole night there. The next morning, he came out in his right mind and, to the amazement and joy of all.” [3]
Ceadda’s
grave. Taken from Caspar David Friedrich’s ‘Boy sleeping on a grave,’ dated c.
1801–03.
Bede described ‘those who visit out of devotion’ who were
able to insert their hands through an aperture in ‘the little wooden house’
over the grave and obtain soil or sand, pulveris, from the grave to take
away (a foramina shrine). They mixed the pulveris with water and either drank
the infusion if they were ailing, or gave it to their unwell cattle. This shows
pilgrimage started soon after Chad’s burial. Faith led them to believe that
being close to a saint caused miracles.
Bishop Michael
Ipgrave venerating the reliquary cross that held one of Chad’s relics at St
Chad’s Catholic Cathedral, Birmingham. A cathedral canon opined, up to the
Reformation St Chad was a saint for all people and was now uniting people
again.
If Bishop Headda of Lichfield under the guidance of Bishop Wilfrid of the Middle Angles laid out a mynster as a ‘sacred landscape’ early in the 8th-century, then pilgrimage was enhanced.[4] Visitors would be reminded they were at a site like Jerusalem with buildings arranged along a particular path. They would visit first the main church, St Peters, with St Chad’s gospels on the altar, thought to be around 720–740, then a middle area with a cross and perhaps a holy well and finally a shrine tower containing Chad’s grave. The cemetery church of St Mary was close-by. In Jerusalem the pilgrim would move from the basilica church built by Constantine, to Calvary and the cross and finally to the Holy Sepulchre. The chapel for St Mary was close-by. Pilgrimage was a journey and travelling across a sacred landscape facilitated the numinous experience.
Imagined
monasterium at Lichfield as a Sacred Landscape
Early Mercian kings linked with Lichfield were prone to go on journeys like pilgrimages. King Æthelred, reigning 675–704, abdicated to become a monk at Bardney, West Lindsey, Lincolnshire. King Coenred, reigning 704–9, became a monk, travelled to Rome and stayed there until his death in 716. King Æthelbald, reigning 716–757, visited and stayed with Guthlac a hermit living in a simple barrow at Crowland in the East Anglian Fens. Guthlac was a Mercian (royal?) nobleman, warrior and a convert to monasticism. Æthelbald had dreams or visions in which Guthlac spoke to him.
Roundel from The Guthlac Roll showing King Æthelstan kneeling at Guthlac’s tomb
with his ghost looking on. Two accomplices are asleep.
Offa, reigning 757–796, could have built the second cathedral and would have valued the site and Chad. He might have arranged a new shrine chest over the grave with the left end showing the ‘Lichfield Angel’.[5] The elaborate detail must have been added to impress pilgrims. Offa funded the Schola Saxonum in Rome which later became a hostelry for English pilgrims. King Edgar the Peaceful, reigning 959–975, encouraged the collection of relics and might have spurred the building of a reliquary chapel to house them in readiness for the possible end-time of the millennium. The return of the St Chad’s gospels and obtaining the relics of Cedd, Chad’s older brother, might be part of this story.[6]
Norman conquest saw Lanfranc, an Italian lawyer given
the high post of archbishop by William I, and he was critical towards
indigenous cults, especially if Early Medieval. He and many Norman bishops
ignored many saints, though in time they changed and reinstated relics for
pilgrimage. The downgraded cathedral at Lichfield appeared to avoid this early iconoclasm
with the five canons maintaining some sort of shrine to Chad and having the
church in the Domesday Book known as St Chad. It is unclear whether or not
pilgrimage continued in this time.
It is thought a chapel built to securely
house Chad’s relics was added on the south side of the choir, c. 1230,
in the construction of the current cathedral.[7]
Pilgrims now arrived at the south transept door[8]
and were escorted to the chapel (now St Chad’s Head Chapel) where they could
get close to Chad’s skull and be touched by a right arm bone reliquary. The
skull was kept in a painted wooden box on the altar. The relics were used in
processions, especially on St Chad’s Day, 2 March. New bishops would have had
to acknowledge their saint in some way. How the upper chapel was accessed is
unknown because the current stairs are thought to have been added later.[9]
Rodwell thought there might have been a holy well in the corner of the lower chapel.
There is an unverified, and probably unlikely, story of a priest holding Chad’s
skull, now lined in gold, over the balcony to show pilgrims in the aisle below.
Re-enactment
holding a skull over the balcony of the St Chad’s Head Chapel to pilgrims and
penitents below.
There are town records of a ferry carrying pilgrims and visitors across the middle of Minster Pool from Wroo Lane (later Cock Lane) which ran parallel with Bird Street, but behind the George Inn.[10] A path from Sadler Street to Minster Pool ferry and a path on the opposite bank to the cathedral was said to be shown on John Snape’s map of 1781.[11] John Leland, 1744 described the Close, its old walls and gates, but strangely did not mention a ‘pilgrim’s gate’. The ferry operated before the stone causeway joined Bacon, later Bird, Street with Beacon Street built by Bishop Langton around 1310. The ferry continued for some time after the causeway. A ferry midway across Minster Pool would fit the notion of pilgrims arriving at the south transept door. Having disembarked on the north side of the pool, the pilgrims would have had to walk through a doorway in the Old Cantarist’s College (the chantry priest’s college) to a guesthouse[12] (on the site of the college hall) where they would presumably be welcomed. On entering the south transept, they would see a compendium of the history of the cathedral on wall boards.
Pilgrim’s
way as shown on John Snape map of 1781 and also by H. Thorpe, ‘Lichfield: A
study of its growth and function,’ Historical Collections of Staffordshire,
Third Series, 1950‑51. 1954, 137‑211.
%20and%20the%20Pilgrim's%20path%20through%20the%20alley..jpg)
Old Cantarist’s College with the Pilgrim’s Path through the doorway.
The Sacrists Roll, [13]
1345 or 6,[14]
listed ten coffers each containing the relics of saints. The bones of St
Laurence, St William, St Helen, St James, St Barbara, St Blaze, St Symeon and
St Stephen, the dust of St Amphibalus, a relic of St Wulfad (a legendary
7th-century Christian martyr from the royal family of Mercia), part of the
hair shirt of St Cuthbert and much more were recorded. Some of the artefacts,
there were over 300 listed, were worn, or touched by saints. The large archive
of venerated objects shows widespread interest and need. Many could have been
the centrepiece of around 14 chapels set around the cathedral in the 13th and
14th-centuries.
Ampullae. The
lead containers, purchased outside of a cathedral, would contain supposed
blessed water and be used to drink, be given to valued farm animals or
sprinkled over a crop hoping for a good harvest. Many have been found on
fields.
Langton’s sumptuous shrine,[15] c. 1307–8, was placed in the retrochoir and eventually faced his Lady Chapel,[16] built c. 1315–1336. It must have sealed Chad as a major British Saint; Lepine thought it changed Chad from being essentially a local, diocesan saint to one observed across the whole province of Canterbury.[17] The shrine must have been as splendid as that at Canterbury for Thomas Becket and some believe both shrines were similar in construction.
Recreated Chad’s shrine much based on Becket’s shrine. If similar, pulleys lifted a wooden chest canopy upwards to expose the casket on an elaborate plinth. It was decorated with 6 rubies, 5 sapphires, 15 large emeralds, 16 pearls and many small stones. Some jewels were set in an image of Chad. It is unclear which relics were kept in the casket, and which were still in St Chad’s Head Chapel. Pilgrims would have left many valuable offerings around the shrine, such as rings, brooches and necklaces. Permission for the image was given from The Centre for the study of Christianity and Culture, University of York, 2018.
Pilgrims arriving at Lichfield by road had to pass
through a town gate with each gate displaying a cross. At the Culstubbe Street
gate (St John’s Street) stood two crosses known as Bishop Durdent and Bishop
Pucelle.
Location of gates (red) in 1350 according to H. Thorpe, Historical
Collections of Staffordshire, 1950-51, (1954).
Anyone, arriving at the gate after it was shut for the
day, from the year 1135, could stay at St John the Baptist without the Barrs, a
priory providing hospitality for men. Otherwise, they would stay at one of the
many hostelries in the town. In 2015, part of the grounds of the priory was
being redeveloped and archaeologists found a cemetery with around fifty
burials. Many pilgrims came to Lichfield to be healed, so it is possible some
of these burials were those who died on their journey.
St Johns
Priory from H. Snowden Ward, 1892.[18]
AI generated 14th-century pilgrim
In 2003, excavation of the nave ‘rising
platform’ revealed 22 burials. One was an aged man, a little twisted, with a
leather belt and bag. He was crudely buried by being laid on top of a board,
possibly a coffin lid. He was thought to have been a pilgrim. The depth of
burial suggested 15th-century. The burial was on top of Chad’s grave, now
filled in and having tiles placed across. On his pelvis and legs was a tree
branch around 3cm thick thought to have been his staff. By his right side of
his thigh was the remains of a large round bag.
Pilgrim
and staff reconstructed
Langton’s shrine was desecrated in 1538[19] by Reformation Commissioners who came to stop pilgrimage and confiscate valuables accrued from the practice. A canon in the cathedral secreted away (some?) Chad’s relics.[20] So how popular was pilgrimage up to this change of response to relics, saints and pilgrimage? No records were kept of the numbers of pilgrims and penitents, and no accounts have survived showing the income from pilgrimage and the number of Masses said and prayers given. Even the number of wills left to the cathedral is unrecorded. In 1536, the royal commissioners calculated pilgrimage to Lichfield was worth £400 each year.[21] This amount is far higher than recorded for other pilgrimage centres and is possibly inflated. From this Lepine thought the late medieval cult was remarkably vigorous and retained significant popularity in the diocese right up to Reformation.[22] He cited the support given by Bishops Langton, Stretton and Heyworth.
There is some evidence for
residents of the diocese had to provide an annual donation of money to fund the
cathedral, known as a mass membership fraternity. In 1322 it was described as
an ancient custom. The giving was called Chad farthings and several medieval bishops
ruled it was necessary for the spiritual health of the people. The mass
membership could have numbered tens of thousands and there were collectors to
ensure the alms were paid. At the same time members were required to visit the
cathedral and venerate the relics annually. This suggests pilgrimage within the
diocese was important and frequent.
Farewell to Lichfield pathway, originally Cross-of-the-Hand, then Cross and Hand and now Cross in Hand Lane. The name is thought to come from pilgrims, carrying a cross in their hand, wanting sanctuary at the Benedictine priory. It may have come from where a procession started on 8 September taking a perambulation of the city boundary for 16 miles. Another explanation is parishioners from Longdon raised a cross when they saw the cathedral on their procession to Lichfield. An ancient cross stood at the city boundary.
What happened to pilgrimage between Reformation and the Civil War, 1538–1643 is unclear. All relics were lost, no building took place in Elizabeth’s reign, there was a national shortage of clergy, conflicts arose over the book to be used in worship, the cathedral was poor and heretics were burned in the market square.[23] Violent factionalism wracked the church. Any pilgrimage must have been minimal and secretive or non-existent. After the Civil War the interior of the cathedral was in a poor state and Lonsdale[24] recorded that up to the 1850’s Victorian restoration the nave, transepts and choir aisles were limewashed, shabby and comparatively unused.[25] He stated pilgrimage started again in 1860. Restoration continued until the start of the 20th-century so the number of visitors must have been small. Today visitors are welcomed as pilgrims, penitents and refugees and arrive from all parts of the world and it is now a significant part of the work of the cathedral.
If pilgrimage is measured by the
number of people visiting the cathedral, then because it started early, appears
to be continuous until the Reformation and then picks up again in the late 19th-century,
Lichfield has been a major pilgrimage centre.[26]
Today there are pilgrim pathways to the cathedral from Lindisfarne (475 miles,
called The Two Kingdoms Way), Chester cathedral (92 miles, called The Two
Saints Way), from Tatenhill, St Michael’s Church (14 miles, called The Pilgrim
Way Church Trail), from St Chad’s cathedral, Birmingham (18 miles, called St
Chad’s pilgrimage) from Shrewsbury (Chad to Chad Pilgrimage) from Repton and
from Stafford. Bishop Michael Ipgrave has promoted and participated in these
pilgrimages.
Postscript
Lichfield
cathedral has been through dark times which have risked its existence; Viking
desecration, Norman marginalisation, Reformation iconoclasm, three sieges in
the Civil War and Bishop indifference. Like all cathedrals there was a distinct
possibility of joining Coventry, Pershore, Chertsey, Bury St Edmunds, Hailes
and the many monasteries and ending up as a ruin. Lichfield was a diminished
cathedral for two centuries after the Civil War before being largely rebuilt by
the Victorians. How did it survive? One good reason was its St Chad cult with
its relics and pilgrimage. Veneration and pilgrimage defined the cathedral and
sustained its significance and worth.
[1]
See the post ‘Miracles justified and sanctified the early church’
[2]
Bishop Cuthbert was buried on the south side of the high altar of his cathedral
church of St Peter on Lindisfarne in 687. Miracles too occurred soon after his
death and it was recorded a demoniac boy was cured by earth from the place
where water had been poured after washing the saint’s body. See Bede’s Prose
Life of St Cuthbert, cap. 41; B. Colgrave, Two Lives of St Cuthbert, 288-91.
[3] J. McClure and R. Collins, ‘Bede. The Ecclesiastical
History of the English People’, (Oxford: 2008), 178. This is Bede’s, Historia
Ecclesiastica Book 4 Chapter 3. Bede listed this work as Historiam
ecclesiasticam nostræ insulæ ac gentis in libris V, which translates to, The
ecclesiastical history of our island and nation in five books.
[4] See the post Chad’s mynster.’
[5] See the post ’Lichfield Angel.’
[6]
See the post ‘Langton’s shrine.’
[7]
See the post ‘Chad’s relics.’
[8]
See the post ‘South transept’.
[9]
W. Rodwell, ‘Archaeology at the cathedral: A new study of St Chad’s Head
Chapel’. Unpub. 48th annual report to the Friends held in Cathedral Library.
(1985), 1–5. Rodwell later surmised a wooden stairway was erected in the south
choir aisle.
[10]
‘Collections for a history of Staffordshire, Volume 6, part 2’. The William
Salt Archaeological Society (London: 1886), 184 note.
[11]
H. E. Savage, Bishop John Burghull. (Lichfield: 1924), 19. Held in the Cathedral Library. The Snape map appears
to ambiguously show a ferry crossing.
[12]
H. E. Savage, The Lichfield Chronicles. (Lichfield 1915), 9. Held in the
Cathedral Library.
[13]
J. C. Cox and W. H. S. J. Hope, ‘Sacrist's Roll of Lichfield Cathedral A.D.
1345’, Derbyshire Archaeological Journal (1882), 4, 107–138.
[14]
The date of this Roll is uncertain. The
Roll is dated 21 May 1345, but someone has added a second date of 10 June 1346
[15]
See the post ‘Langton’s shrine’.
[16]
See the post ‘Lady Chapel’.
[17]
D. Lepine, ‘Glorius Confessor: The cult of St Chad at Lichfield Cathedral
during the Middle Ages’. SAHS transactions, (2021), 29.
[18]
H. Snowden Ward, ‘Lichfield and its cathedral. A brief history and guide’.
(Bradford and London: 1892), 17.
[19]
Confiscation occurred over the next ten years.
[20]
See the post ‘Chad’s relics.’
[21]
Lepine (2021), 47.
[22]
Ibid, 52.
[23]
See the post ‘Dissidents, martyrs, George Fox.’
[24]
J. G. Lonsdale, ‘Recollections of the work done and in upon Lichfield
Cathedral, 1856–1894’. (Lichfield: 1895), 1–38.
[25]
See the post ‘Victorian revival’.
[26]
See the online description, www.lichfield.anglican.org/our-faith/pilgrimage/
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