Lichfield Cathedral - the bells were ringing as we approached which was rather atmospheric :)
Timothy was a bit miffed I had forgotten to take him out of the backpack at Letocetum so here he is posing in front of the Cathedral.
Candles purchased we decided against visiting the Cathedral as a service was in progress and if access was allowed it would have been restricted. One of these days I will go back, probably on my own, and have a really good look round as I would so much like to see St Chad's Gospel and the Lichfield Angel which we missed last time.
Instead we paid our first visit to Erasmus Darwin's house (entry is free). Erasmus was Charles Darwin's grandfather. He was born in 1731 and moved to Lichfield in 1756 to work as a physician. He married Mary Howard (known as Polly) and lived in this house from 1758 - 1781. Erasmus Darwin was a man of many talents - he was a successful doctor, a scientist, an inventor, a poet, a botanist and a philosopher.
I would imagine the herb garden when in flower in the summer would look lovely attracting butterflies, bees and hoverflies.
There are quite a few rooms to visit in the house - on the ground floor a parlour, Inventions Room and Study and on the First Floor a library, the Lunar and Seminar Room and The Exhibition Room
The Parlour as it would have appeared in the 1770's.
Erasmus Darwin
The Inventions Room
The Study
Timothy enjoying his visit and
being a bit cheeky here!
The Flying Bird
A beautiful view from the landing
After leaving we went along to a tea room at the side of the Cathedral for hot chocolate and cake - I had Ginger Lemon Crumble :)
If you would like to see more of Lichfield then please follow the links below
For a brief visit to the Cathedral see here Edit apologies the link goes first to this post (for some unknown reason!!) but if you scroll down the Lichfield Cathedral post is (hopefully!) just below!
and for a visit to Samuel Johnson's birthplace museum please see here
*D = photos taken by my son with the Canon Bridge Camera SX50
15 comments:
The front reminds me of Exeter cathedral
Simon Douglas Thompson -Thanks Simon.Have just googled images of Exeter cathedral as I have never been and yes it does - all those figures of saints and kings etc.
Lichfield Cathedral has been on my list 'to do' for some time :-)
CherryPie - Thank you - from what I have seen so far it looks well worth a visit - a lot to see there :)
It's really only in modern times with telephoto lenses that the detail on many church / cathedral carvings can be appreciated.
Looking at the cast iron fireplace what immediately sprang to mind was wondering how often the servants would have had to black lead it. Like the kitchen range I remember from childhood there was no wastage of heat from a coal fire. Always somewhere to keep a kettle or pan of soup warm.
We are blessed with some truly magnificent ecclesiastic architecture here in the UK, fit to rival anything, anywhere in Europe and beyond.
Glad to see you had a delicious "peace" of cake {as in peace offering for Timothy} and that sounds like a recipe I'd like to try!
Midmarsh John - Thank you. I do find the bridge camera very useful for church/cathedral photos with the zoom - I can never be bothered to carry the 70-300 dslr lens around with me and the 14-42 just does not zoom in that well. The Canon bridge seems to perform well in low light too.
I think servants must have worked so hard in the old days - we never had a range when I was little but I do remember toasting crumpets and chestnuts by the coal fire :)
Deborah RusticPumpkin - Thank you - yes cathedrals are truly magnificent buildings.
Love the idea of "peace" of cake :) Can't seem to find a recipe for the exact cake but BBC Good Food have one which sounds delicious (although no crumble topping). https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2601638/sticky-ginger-lemon-drizzle-cake I might try that one day as I love ginger :)
Love the flying bird and I'm always fascinated by the members of the Lunar Society. Inside the house seems to have changed since we were last there, I don't remember the figures dotted about although there was a volunteer or memberof staff dressed in 18th century costume by the door, I think we must have visited when they had an event of some kind as I'm sure we paid a small sum for entrance. Glad Timothy enjoyed being let out of the backpack in time to see inside the house and to enjoy that lovely looking cake:)
I do hope you get chance to go back to the Cathedral as the out side looks stunning, and it would be so nice to see the inside.
I liked looking round Erasmus Darwin's house, to be fair I had not known about him, so it was interesting to see. Imagine having that view through your window of the cathedral :)
Amanda xx
Rosie - Thank you. The Lunar Society does sound interesting - unfortunately I couldn't see a guidebook for sale that may have given more information. There is a box where you can put donations so we gave some money as I think it is run by a charity who obviously do a super job :)
Amanda Peters - Thank you and yes I will go back. I like Lichfield a lot and the shops there are good too :)
Yes a beautiful view :). The whole Close near the Cathedral is lovely :)
Crikey, those Darwins were no slouches were they?
I have a book called The Lunar Men by Jenny Uglow which is fascinating. I got interested in them after seeing a programme on TV with Adam Hart Davis and also because of the Wedgwood connection too:)
Toffeeapple -Thanks and I thought exactly the same :)
This post brought back happy memories of our visit to Lichfield and the area around the cathedral. Timothy had a field day, by the looks of it... though I think he shouldn't be in a rush to hide the tufts of fur between his ears under that wig! We didn't see Erasmus Darwin's house, but found Samuel Johnson's birthplace museum very interesting. I hope we may be over in that direction again one day... Oh, and I hope Timothy didn't eat all the cake!
Rosie - Thanks so much for the information re: the book - I will definitely check it out on Amazon.
Caroline Gill - Thanks so much lol re: Timothy and the wig :) Lichfield is certainly a very interesting place and so pleased the post brought back happy memories for you. Do hope you can visit again. Timothy just had a spoonful!!!!!!
Post a Comment