Lichfield, an episcopal city and municipal and parliamentary borough of Staffordshire, England, and a county in itself, situated on a small branch of the Trent, and on the London and Northwestern railway, 110m. N. W. of London; pop. in 1871, 7,380. It is well paved and lighted, and amply supplied with water, and the principal streets are lined with handsome and well built houses. The most interesting public edifice is the cathedral, parts of which display the early English architecture. It is 410 ft. long, 153 ft. wide across the transepts, and has three spires, the central one of which is 280 ft. high. It was founded in the 7th century, but the present building dates from the 12th and 13th centuries. It occupies an elevated site, and is visible from a great distance. Its interior corresponds with the exterior in the magnificence of its architectural decorations. Among its numerous monuments are those of Dr. Samuel Johnson, Garrick, and Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, and Chantrey's celebrated group of the sleeping infants. The cathedral suffered much during the siege of the town by the parliamentary forces in 1643, but has since been twice thoroughly repaired. Other notable churches are St. Chad's, St. Mary's, and St. Michael's, the first of which is the most ancient in the city.

There are also several national schools, a grammar school founded by Edward VI., a savings bank, a theatre, and a guildhall. On the W. side of the market place is the house in which Dr. Johnson was born, and in the same street is his statue in a sitting posture, 19 ft. high, on a pedestal ornamented with bass-reliefs illustrative of his life. The chief manufactures are paper, linen, coaches, and harness; and there are large breweries. The carpet manufacture, formerly extensive here, has declined. The city was incorporated by Edward II., and Queen Mary constituted it a separate county. The episcopal see was established about 670, and from 785 to the close of the century it was an archbishopric.

Lichfield Cathedral.