Lichfield - Part 02 - The City
w/e 13 October 2019
All of this week's pictures were
taken with a Kodak DX6490
After our look around Lichfield Cathedral we decided to have
a walk around the city centre and almost immediately walked through
a short passage to the first attraction, Erasmus Darwin's house.
This led us through the garden (top left) to the rear of the
house passing his herb garden and "Medicine Chest"
(bottom left) en route. Having spent a fair amount of time in
the cathedral we decided not to enter the house, now a museum,
but walked by the side to view the front (above right) and then
continued towards the city centre along Beacon Street.
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Off Beacon Street but still in the shadow of the cathedral is
the Garden of Remembrance which was created after the First World
War and dedicated on October 20th 1920. Heritage Lottery and
The Big Lottery funding enabled restoration work to be carried
out in 2011/2012. Additional panels to commemorate those who
lost their lives in the Second World War and later conflicts
have been added to the original memorial that can be seen here
at the far side of the garden.
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On the other side of Beacon Street is a building (top right)
with a stone panel (left) proclaiming that this was the site
of actor David Garrick's home. Garrick (1717 - 1779) was also
a playwright, theatre manager and producer and the theatre (bottom
right) a little way away in the city centre that we passed later,
is named in his honour.
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Before reaching the Garrick Theatre though there were several
more places to see. One of the first was Beacon Park, a large
public park of some 70 acres that was created in 1859. There
are gardens and open spaces to be enjoyed and activities such
as golf, crazy golf, tennis, basketball etc are available plus
three historic figures in the form of statues can be viewed.
in the park There is a bronze statue of Commander Edward John
Smith (RD RNR), Captain of the ill-feted Titanic, another of
Erasmus Darwin and seen here from near to an entrance off Beacon
Road among the flower beds, is a statue of Kind Edward VII that
was presented by Robert Bridgeman, Sheriff of Lichfield in 1908.
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A little further on is another open space on The Friary. This,
as the interpretation board says was a Franciscan Friary and
was "the site of a thriving monastery for over three centuries
from 1230 to 1538." Along with a map, an artist's impression
and other information, it adds "Today the largely hidden
remains of the once impressive Friary are protected as a Scheduled
Ancient Monument."
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After The Friary, we sought out the Garrick Theatre before turning
into Bore Street where another interpretation board titled "Design
of the Times" gives details about the architectural designs
that can be seen in the Victorian, Georgian, Mediaeval and present
day facades. From left to right here are Five Gables, a late
16th to early 17th century herringbone, timber framed residential
building; the Guildhall (the tall building partially obscured
by the raindrop just right of centre) that had its frontage rebuilt
in the Gothic style in the 19th century; Donegal House next to
the Guildhall, a Georgian house built in 1730 and beyond that
Lichfield House a well-preserved example of "black and white"
construction that features four styles of timber framing and
which dates from 1510.
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By now it had started to rain quite heavily so we headed back
to the car but not before stopping to photograph the Samuel Johnson
Birthplace Museum on the corner of Breadmarket Street and Market
Street..
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Across from the museum and facing it from the Market Square is
the 1838 statue of Samuel Johnson himself by Richard Cockle Lucas.
Johnson was born in 1709 and left Lichfield in 1737 with his
friend and former pupil, David Garrick, to pursue a career as
a poet, critic and biographer in London where he was commissioned
to compile his famous dictionary. At the other end of the Market
Square is another statue and this is of James Boswell, Johnson's
biographer. This bronze statue is by Percy Fitzgerald and dates
from 1908.
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From the Market Square it was just a short walk along Dam Street
towards the cathedral and the corner of the Minster Pool which
is the site of Lichfield's Speakers' Corner. This was launched
in May 2009 and has become a site for events and activities where
people can "have their say on topics close to their hearts."
Continuing along Dam Street leads to the cathedral and that was
the way we had gone when first arriving in Lichfield.
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We now however turned left and walked past this flower bed for
the second time where the plaque reveals that "The original
building of the Lichfield School of Art stood on this site 1882
- 1952."
With one last look at the Minster Pool that lies between the
cathedral and the car park, we ended our day out and returned
home.
Back to Part 01
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