Lichfield Cathedral Close and Bishop Palace

In the civil parish of Lichfield. In the historic county of Staffordshire (Modern Authority of Staffordshire, 1974 county of Staffordshire).

St Mary's Vicarage, built in 1710 incorporates the remains of C13 to C14 defensive close wall and tower built by Bishop Walter de Langton, forming its eastern and southern sides. The close was licensed in 1299, 1348 and 1523. Other parts of the Close defences remain. Medieval bishop's palace first documented in 1295, destroyed during the Civil War. Thompson writes "Bishop Langton received, in 1306, a licence to crenellate Beaudesert, Staffs and Ashby, Northants and all episocopal palaces in England." This must include Lichfield and Coventry but probably not Chester. Possible site of Lichfield Castle (qv). Grants of pavage for Lichfield city, in 1306 (for 7 years) and 1312 (for another 7 years) were specifically used for 'enclosing, with a stone wall, the houses of himself and the canons within the precinct of the cathedral church.' The close was called a castle in 1317.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SK11560991

Air Photo from Air Photo and general mapping	1st edition OS Map from Mid to late 19th century maps
Modern Map from Landscape form and features	Modern Map from General location and route planning
Geograph British Isles occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 306610; 306605; 306581
This site's County Historic Environment Record (formerly Sites and Monuments Record) number is 02029; 07517 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website.

• Books
  • Emery, Anthony, 2000, Greater Medieval Houses Vol2 (Cambridge) p409-11
    Thompson, M.W., 1998, Medieval bishops' houses in England and Wales (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing) p167, 173
    Salter, Mike, 1997, Castles and Moated Mansions of Staffordshire (Malvern) p32-3
    Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p228-9
    Tringham, N., 1993, 'The palace of Bishop Walter Langton in Lichfield cathedral close' in Maddison, J. (ed) Medieval Archaeology and Architecture in Lichfield
    Salter, Mike, 1993, Midlands Castles (Birmingham) p61
    Greenslade, M.W. (ed), 1990, VCH Staffordshire Vol14 p3, 11, 16, 57-67, 103, 152, 217, 220
    Drury, P., 1987, The Capitular Estate of Dean and Chapter of Lichfield Cathedral
    King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p454
    Pevsner, N., 1974, The Buildings of England: Staffordshire (London, Penguin) p187-8
    Greenslade, M.W. (ed), 1970, VCH Staffordshire Vol3 p22-3, 150, 159
    Morewood, Caroline C., 1910, 'Introductory Chapter' in Rait, R.S. (ed), English Episcopal Palaces (Province of Canterbury) (London; Constable & Co) p11-13 http://www.archive.org/details/engepiscopalaces00raituoft
    Lynam, C., 1908, in Page, Wm. (ed), VCH Staffordshire Vol1 p370-1
    Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p404, 405
    Shaw, Stebbing, 1798, The History and Antiquities of Staffordshire (J.Nichols abd Son) [Republished 1976 by EP Publishing] Vol1 p234-
• Journal Articles
  • Coulson, C., 1982, 'Hierarchism in Conventual Crenellation: An Essay in the Sociology and Metaphysics of Medieval Fortification' Medieval Archaeology Vol26 p69-100 [downloadable via http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/resources.html?medarch]
    Beresford, W., The Reliquary Vol7 p249
• Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
  • Calendar of Patent Rolls (1292-1301) p408, 409; (1301-7) p462; (1348-50) p56 [licences to crenellate]
    Calendar of Patent Rolls (1301-1307) p463; (1307-1313) p440-1 [grants of pavage to be used for wall]
    Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII Vol3 pt2 p1316 no3146.20
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • Speed, John, 1611-12, The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britain [http://faculty.oxy.edu/horowitz/home/johnspeed/Cities16.htm]
    William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/warkseng.html#staf9]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p439, 443
• Other sources, 'grey' literature, unpublished works, etc. (Theses, in-house reports and other such)
  • Payne, Naomi, 2003, The medieval residences of the bishops of Bath and Wells, and Salisbury (PhD Thesis University of Bristol) Appendix B: List of Medieval Bishop's Palaces in England and Wales [available via http://ethos.bl.uk ]