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Lichfield
Lichfield (/ˈlɪtʃfiːld/) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated 18 miles (29 km) south-east of the county town of Stafford, 9 miles (14 km) north-east of Walsall, 8 miles (13 km) north-west of Tamworth, 13 miles (21 km) south-west of Burton upon Trent and 14 miles (22.5 km) north of Birmingham. At the time of the 2021 Census, the population was 34,738 and the population of the wider Lichfield District was 106,400.
Notable for its three-spired medieval cathedral, Lichfield was the birthplace of Samuel Johnson, the writer of the first authoritative Dictionary of the English Language. The city's recorded history began when Chad of Mercia arrived to establish his bishopric in 669 AD and the settlement grew as the ecclesiastical centre of Mercia. In 2009, the Staffordshire Hoard, the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork, was found 4 mi (6.4 km) south-west of Lichfield.
The development of the city was consolidated in the 12th century under Roger de Clinton, who fortified the Cathedral Close and also laid out the town with the ladder-shaped street pattern that survives to this day. Lichfield's heyday was in the 18th century, when it developed into a thriving coaching city. This was a period of great intellectual activity; the city was the home of many famous people including Samuel Johnson, David Garrick, Erasmus Darwin and Anna Seward, prompting Johnson's remark that Lichfield was "a city of philosophers".
Today, the city still retains its old importance as an ecclesiastical centre, and its industrial and commercial development has been limited. The centre of the city has over 230 listed buildings (including many examples of Georgian architecture) and preserves much of its historic character.
The origin of the modern name "Lichfield" is twofold. At Wall, 3.5 km (2.2 mi) south of the current city, there was a Romano-British village, Letocetum, a Common Brittonic place-name meaning "Grey wood", "grey" perhaps referring to varieties of tree prominent in the landscape, such as ash and elm. In the post-Roman period, Letocetum developed into Old Welsh Luitcoyt.
The earliest record of the name in English is the Vita Sancti Wilfredi of around 715, describing when Chad moves from York to Lichfield in 669. "Chad was made Bishop of the Mercians immediately after his deposition; Wilfred gave him the place (locus) at Lichfield (Onlicitfelda)". The prefix "on" indicates that the place given to Chad by Wilfrid was "in Lichfield", indicating the name was understood to apply to a region rather than a specific settlement. Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, completed in 731, states that Chad acquired Licidfelth as his episcopal seat (sedes episcolpalem).
These and later sources show that the name Letocetum had passed into Old English as Licid, to which was appended the Old English word feld ("open country"). This word Lyccidfeld is the origin of the word "Lichfield".
The modern day city of Lichfield and the Roman villa of Letocetum are just two miles (3 km) apart. While these names are distinct in modern usage, they had a common derivation in the Brittonic original *Letocaiton, indicating that "grey wood" referred to the region inclusive of modern-day Lichfield City and the Roman villa.
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Lichfield AI simulator
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Lichfield
Lichfield (/ˈlɪtʃfiːld/) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated 18 miles (29 km) south-east of the county town of Stafford, 9 miles (14 km) north-east of Walsall, 8 miles (13 km) north-west of Tamworth, 13 miles (21 km) south-west of Burton upon Trent and 14 miles (22.5 km) north of Birmingham. At the time of the 2021 Census, the population was 34,738 and the population of the wider Lichfield District was 106,400.
Notable for its three-spired medieval cathedral, Lichfield was the birthplace of Samuel Johnson, the writer of the first authoritative Dictionary of the English Language. The city's recorded history began when Chad of Mercia arrived to establish his bishopric in 669 AD and the settlement grew as the ecclesiastical centre of Mercia. In 2009, the Staffordshire Hoard, the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork, was found 4 mi (6.4 km) south-west of Lichfield.
The development of the city was consolidated in the 12th century under Roger de Clinton, who fortified the Cathedral Close and also laid out the town with the ladder-shaped street pattern that survives to this day. Lichfield's heyday was in the 18th century, when it developed into a thriving coaching city. This was a period of great intellectual activity; the city was the home of many famous people including Samuel Johnson, David Garrick, Erasmus Darwin and Anna Seward, prompting Johnson's remark that Lichfield was "a city of philosophers".
Today, the city still retains its old importance as an ecclesiastical centre, and its industrial and commercial development has been limited. The centre of the city has over 230 listed buildings (including many examples of Georgian architecture) and preserves much of its historic character.
The origin of the modern name "Lichfield" is twofold. At Wall, 3.5 km (2.2 mi) south of the current city, there was a Romano-British village, Letocetum, a Common Brittonic place-name meaning "Grey wood", "grey" perhaps referring to varieties of tree prominent in the landscape, such as ash and elm. In the post-Roman period, Letocetum developed into Old Welsh Luitcoyt.
The earliest record of the name in English is the Vita Sancti Wilfredi of around 715, describing when Chad moves from York to Lichfield in 669. "Chad was made Bishop of the Mercians immediately after his deposition; Wilfred gave him the place (locus) at Lichfield (Onlicitfelda)". The prefix "on" indicates that the place given to Chad by Wilfrid was "in Lichfield", indicating the name was understood to apply to a region rather than a specific settlement. Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, completed in 731, states that Chad acquired Licidfelth as his episcopal seat (sedes episcolpalem).
These and later sources show that the name Letocetum had passed into Old English as Licid, to which was appended the Old English word feld ("open country"). This word Lyccidfeld is the origin of the word "Lichfield".
The modern day city of Lichfield and the Roman villa of Letocetum are just two miles (3 km) apart. While these names are distinct in modern usage, they had a common derivation in the Brittonic original *Letocaiton, indicating that "grey wood" referred to the region inclusive of modern-day Lichfield City and the Roman villa.