page_title: Church of St Chad, Lichfield
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Church of St Chad, Lichfield / History
caption_attribution_description: The interior of the Church of St Chad in Lichfield, UK
context_page_description: The Church of St Chad is a parish church in the area of Stowe in the north of the city of Lichfield, Staffordshire, in the United Kingdom. It is a Grade II* Listed Building. The church is located to the north of Stowe Pool on St Chad's Road. The current building dates back to the 12th century although extensive restorations and additions have been made in the centuries since.
context_section_description: Chad came to Lichfield a few years before he became Bishop of Lichfield in 669 CE for the purpose of religious solitude. He settled in a wood and led an eremitical life in a cell by the side of a spring. From this cell he was known to preach and baptize his converts in the spring. It is believed that the location of Chad's cell and spring was in the current churchyard.
  A monastery named the station of St Chad was built nearby the spring on the present site of the church around the time of St Chad. Of the original Saxon monastery nothing now remains.
  During the 12th Century the monastery was rebuilt as a church in stone and consisted of the nave, two side aisles and a chancel. The west door to the church stood where the tower now stands. The windows were set in gables and the lines of these gables and the rounded arches of the Norman windows in the south aisle are some of the oldest features still visible in today's building.
  During the 13th century the roof was replaced, the gables were dispensed with and the walls built up to the level of the window heads. The Norman windows were replaced with the Early English style pointed windows, still seen today. The south arcade of five bays with octagonal pillars is also Early English as is the chancel and the west doorway.
  The Tower on the west side was built in the 14th century to house the bells. The five-light chancel east window with cusped intersecting tracery was also built during this time as was the font, which is still in use today. 
  The church was visited in 1323 by the Irish pilgrim Symon Semeonis on his way to the Holy Land. He described it as "a most beautiful church in honour of St. Chad, with most lofty stone towers, and splendidly adorned with pictures, sculptures, and other ecclesiastical ornaments."
  During the Reformation many of the church's assets were confiscated. During the English Civil War the church was occupied by Parliamentary troops who besieged the Close of Lichfield, the church was considerably damaged and the roof had to be rebuilt. At this time the red brick clerestory was added and the single overall roof was replaced by three separate roofs, including a grained roof over the nave and panelled roof in the south aisle.
  In 1840 the decision was taken to demolish the north aisle and rebuild in a Victorian Gothic style. In 1862 the chancel and chancel arch were thoroughly restored and the brick clerestory extended over the chancel, a vestry was also added to the north side and the porch to the south. Further restoration work took place on the windows, the stained glass in the chancel and the east end of the south aisle seen today dates from this period.
caption: Interior of the church
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