Lichfield

Lichfield
City and civil parish
From top left: Lichfield Cathedral; Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum; Quonians Lane; Garrick Theatre and skyline of the city.
Lichfield Location within Staffordshire
Area	14.02 km2 (5.41 sq mi) [1]
Population	34,738
• Density	2,478/km2 (6,420/sq mi)
OS grid reference	SK115097
• London	110 miles (180 km) NNW
Civil parish	Lichfield
District	Lichfield
Shire county	Staffordshire
Region	West Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LICHFIELD
Postcode district	WS13, WS14
Dialling code	01543
Police	Staffordshire
Fire	Staffordshire
Ambulance	West Midlands
UK Parliament	Lichfield
Website	www.lichfield.gov.uk
List of places UK England Staffordshire 52°40′55″N 1°49′44″W / 52.682°N 1.829°W / 52.682; -1.829 City map

Lichfield (/ˈlɪtʃfiːld/) is a cathedral city and civil parish^[2] in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated 18 miles (29 km) south-east of Stafford, 9 miles (14 km) north-east of Walsall, 8 miles (13 km) north-west of Tamworth and 13 miles (21 km) south-west of Burton Upon Trent. At the time of the 2021 Census, the population was 34,738 and the population of the wider Lichfield District was 106,400.^[3]

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.