Portal:Staffordshire/Selected article/5

Lichfield Cathedral, in Lichfield, Staffordshire, is the seat of the Bishop of Lichfield and the only cathedral in Staffordshire. The Diocese of Lichfield covers all of Staffordshire, much of Shropshire and part of the Black Country and West Midlands.

The cathedral is dedicated to Saint Chad and Saint Mary and is the only medieval cathedral in England with three spires. Its internal length is 113 metres (370 feet), and the breadth of the nave is 21m (68'). The central spire is 77m (252') high and the western spires are about 58m (190').

Although a cathedral has been on the site since circa 700AD, the present building was not started in 1195. It was completed by the building of the lady chapel in the 1330s. The choir dates from 1200, the transepts from 1220 to 1240 and the nave was started in 1260. The octagonal chapter house, which was completed in 1249 and is one of the most beautiful parts of the Cathedral with some charming stone carvings, houses an exhibition of the cathedral's greatest treasure, the Lichfield Gospels, an 8th-century illuminated manuscript.