Civil War damage and restoration.

Summary. After three sieges, including heavy bombardment, the cathedral was looted and badly damaged. Cromwell wanted it demolished. The bishop’s palace and many houses in the Close were ruinated. During the Commonwealth, 1649–60, the Close was inhabited by squatters plying various trades. When Charles II became king, he supported the rebuild of the cathedral and a new dean, bishop and others oversaw the work. The frame of the cathedral was repaired in eight years, however, much of the interior would take many decades to restore.

 Lichfield Cathedral was said to be the most damaged cathedral resulting from the Civil War; Carlisle and Durham also suffered desecration. A survey[1]  of the cathedral in 1649 found there was nothing left of value; the whole fabric was ruinated.[2] The cost for restoration was estimated at £14,000.¹ 

Damage to the cathedral by the end of 1646.

All wood, lead and iron had been stripped and taken. There was not one piece of brass remaining. Browne Willis recorded 67 gravestones in the cathedral and all had suffered in some way. The middle spire had fallen, but surprisingly the west end towers and spires were largely intact.[3] Almost all the sculptured heads around the inside walls had either been knocked off or their noses removed.

Examples left after the restoration to show the wilful damage done to the sculptured heads.

 There was extensive damage to property on the north side of the Close with two houses and the library ruined. At least 13 out of 34 houses in the Close were destroyed. The Bishop’s Palace was looted and totally lost. Little remained of two canonical houses. The west gate and the southeast gatehouse were badly damaged.

 

Reconstructed view of the southeast postern gate. There is a reference to the wall east of the gate being breeched. The gate and towers must have been badly damaged.

 

Much of Beacon Street, with over 50 houses, and part of Dam Street had been destroyed. Houses would have been timber framed, with wattle-and-daub walls and a thatched roof and most had been set on fire. The steeple of St Mary’s church was damaged together with the market cross. The chapel of St John’s hospital was badly damaged.

Three days after the surrender of the Close, instructions were given to Sir William Brereton to demolish the walls around the close.[4] Walls and towers were reduced in height or removed completely and the heavily damaged gates with portcullis were dismantled. The two gateways were allowed to remain open. 

Remains of north-east tower after slighting.

Remains of north-east tower after slighting.

South-east tower foundation.

 

In 1648, an order was passed in Parliament to sequester all the houses, rents, revenues, books, deeds and records belonging to the Dean and priests. Also, all money, pensions and revenues. A similar confiscation occurred with other churches in the diocese. In 1651, a proposal in Parliament to demolish all cathedrals and dispose of the materials to help the poor was not passed. However, a troop of Parliamentarian soldiers arrived to strip off remaining lead from the roof. The twelve broken bells were taken away and sold. One was known as the ‘Jesus Bell’ and had been given by Dean Thomas Heywood in 1477. Another order was passed in 1653 to complete the demolition of the cathedral, but never followed. Why the demolition was ignored is unclear, perhaps the cost could not be met. The bishop’s palace at Eccleshall Castle was given to William Brereton.

A 1660 survey showed the Close was occupied by 112 squatters. Two squatters had set up a tobacco pipe making business. Six alehouses had appeared in the ruins of the Close.[5] A large number of widows and single women were recorded inhabiting the Close. Looting continued.

Throughout the Commonwealth, 1649–60, the cathedral and Close lay in ruins and any worship, now having to conform to puritan rites, could only be held in the Chapter House, thought to still have an intact roof. There were no stipends for clergy and many were dependent on charity.

Roundel in the presbytery floor showing a procession. It is said to represent the worship within the Chapter House at the beginning of the restoration.

    

    Preparatory drawing of the roundel.

 

Soon after restoration of the king, Elias Ashmole told Charles II[6] of the parlous state of the cathedral, June 1660. At this time an altar was set up in the Chapter House and regular worship began again. The arrival of Dean Paul in April 1661 and together with precentor William Higgins marked the start of restoration of the cathedral and Close. When John Hacket, aged 69, was appointed bishop, two applicants having been turned down, a new determination to complete the restoration occurred.[7] The authority of bishops was restored in 1662; and when Hacket arrived in August there is a story of him immediately starting to clear up. He raised £8,000 from donors, and personally gave £3,500.[8] The king allowed 100 or 200 tall trees[9] from his Royal Forest of Needwood to be felled for scaffolding and his brother gave money for a new west window. Christopher Wren was consulted and he must have advised Hacket.[10]

Christopher Wren’s statue on the east side of the cathedral.

 

Hacket's reredos drawn by Wyatt. Reredos design has been attributed to Wren, but Dean Savage stated this was fiction. Remains of the woodwork were in the sacristy in 1813.[11]

 

In eight years, the frame of the cathedral was repaired; an impressive undertaking that must have used numerous masons and labourers.[12] The Bishop led the re-consecration on December 24 1669. Hacket died the following year; it is said he died shortly after hearing the first ringing of a new bell. He gave money for six new bells in 1670s, which were then recast in 1688 with a peel of ten bells.

Bishop John Hacket the founder of a new cathedral.

 

   Effigy of John Hacket.

 

Hacket window showing John Hacket at the table planning the restoration of the cathedral. The figure to his right is the Duke of York who gave money to restore the windows. Note the loss of the central spire, the lack of sculptures on the west front and the tall scaffolding.

 

A new bishop’s palace was built in 1687 and deanery in 1707. The frontage of the bishop’s palace is 240 feet, the deanery is 120 feet and the frontage of the Canon’s house next door is 60 feet. This ranking of size post-Civil War rebuild is thought to have resembled the pre-Civil War order in size.[13] Ten new bells were ready by 1691. A statue of Charles II was placed high on the west front, but later replaced with that of Christ. Statues were once again added to the front[14], but the figures and appearance can only have been restored from memory. Around 1760, the cathedral library and an adjoining house were demolished, the ground of the cemetery was at the same time levelled and the tombstones were laid flat and some useless walls and gates were removed. The restored nave roof proved heavy and between 1788 and 1792 was replaced with a lighter weight wood and plaster roof covered in slate not lead.[15] In April 1800, the West Gate was pulled down to widen the road into the Close.

In 1676, there were only 1,949 Catholics and 5,042 non-conformists to 155,720 Anglicans in the diocese. Presbyterians were removed from the Corporation and Dissenters had difficulties worshipping in their preferred way. In time the number of Catholics in the town increased. Many workers moved into the town from neighbouring rural areas and the restored cathedral and town began to prosper again. This time, however, the glory was not so much in its buildings, but in its residents. The revival came with local writers, poets, actors, scientists, and clergy; ‘The Age of Enlightenment’ began to unfold at Lichfield.

 

Lichfield’s 1950 coat of arms showing Chad with a Guild Master. Salve Magma Parens (Hail Great Mother) is Samuel Johnson’s exclamation for Lichfield. Lichfield shaped by priests, pilgrims, philosophers, privateers and Saint Chad.

         

 

The Civil War in Staffordshire.

Appleby[16] has described the misery of people following the wars in Staffordshire. Between 1639 and 1652, hundreds of men left the County to fight in Ireland and Scotland as well as England. Well over half a million men, women and children are thought to have died in the wars. Afterwards, many families in Staffordshire depended on charity and war relief and this increasingly dwindled for maimed soldiers and war widows. This continued for decades and was particularly harsh for Royalist supporters who were still being called ‘enemies’ in the 1680s. Quarter session records also show widespread fraud involving pensioners and claims for relief funding.

 

Postscript on the post-Civil War restoration of the cathedral.

Between the Civil War reparation, c, 1670, and the Victorian Gothic restoration, 1854-1898, the inside of the cathedral could be described as bland and even uninspiring. The work of Wyatt, see the post ‘James Wyatt's restoration, 1787-92’, was criticised because he preferred simplicity, destroying chapels, tombs and rood screens in the name of architectural purification. It was an ordered, working church, but no longer awesome to visitors. Practical for worship but not a place to remember. Between 1680 and 1840, numbers recorded at Easter in a Church of England dropped by one fifth with increasing numbers of nominal Anglicans ceasing to attend a church.[17]

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[1] A. B. Clifton, The Cathedral Church of Lichfield. (London: 1900) George Bell and Sons.

[2] H. Clayton, Loyal and Ancient City. (Lichfield, self-published: 1987), 136.

[3] W. Rodwell, ‘Lichfield’s Cathedral west front’. (2008) 36–44, deposited in Cathedral archive. This cannot be reconciled with J. Britton, The history and antiquities of the See and cathedral church of Lichfield. (London: 1820) who claimed the front two spires were nearly demolished.

[4] Alongside the battlements of Eccleshall, Tutbury and Dudley.

[5] Brewhouses and malthouses also appeared in the ruins of Winchester Cathedral.

[6] Charles II (1660-1685) was not particularly religious but as far as he had any religion he secretly leaned towards Roman Catholicism.

[7] See the post, ‘Higgins and Hacket, rebuilders’.

[8] Clifton (1900), see note 1, recorded, “the bishop was so energetic that he was able to collect in the surrounding country about £8000, and so generous that he subscribed himself a sum of £1683, 12s.”

[9] Accounts vary. S. Shaw, The history and antiquities of Staffordshire, Vol. 1. (London: 1798), said a liberal donation of timber. T. Harwood, The history and antiquities of the church and City of Lichfield,  (London: 1806), 65, stated 100 trees from Needwood Forest.

[10] He is said to have helped with the architecture for the new spire, but there is no evidence. There is a statue to Christopher Wren on the east end, so the Victorians believed he played some part. Wren has been blamed for filling in the bay arches in the choir to avoid cold draughts.

[11] G. Cobb, English Cathedrals. The forgotten centuries. Restoration and change from 1530 to the present day. (London: 1980), 144–5.

[12] C. Bodington, Lichfield Cathedral. (London: 1899) said the restoration proceeded with incredible expedition.

[13] J. Britton, The history and antiquities of the See and Cathedral Church of Lichfield. (London: 1820), 25, stated, “the bishop's dwelling stands in the eastern corner of the north side (of the Close), and contains in length three hundred and twenty feet, and in breadth one hundred and sixty feet. The dean's habitation, adjoining the bishop's, contains half the dimensions of the former in length and breadth. The dwellings of the canons, built round the monastery, each contain half the dimensions of that of the dean.”

[14] The statues on the west front were supposedly restored, 1820–22, using Roman cement, but that gave them a grey appearance and not in keeping with the dark sandstone of the cathedral. The current statues were restored by Gilbert Scott from 1850s.

[15] The work of James Wyatt. At this time, he also blanked off more bays in the presbytery with plaster.

[16] D. J. Appleby, ‘Members of one another’s miseries: The culture and politics of war relief in seventeenth-century Staffordshire’, in Collections for a history of Staffordshire, fourth series. Staffordshire Record Society. (2022), 175–190.

[17] C. D. Field, ‘Counting religion in England and Wales: The Long Eighteenth Century, c. 1680 - c.1840.The J. of Ecclesiastical History, (2012), 63 (4). 693-720.