UK 2026 Diary, Day 5

In which I visit Lichfield Cathedral and Monica Thornton's church

Greetings, dear readers! I have for you my exposition of day 5 of our time in England. Continue to comment or write me if you have any questions or feedback about this diary account. I very much appreciate your prayers and support for this endeavor! And I would appreciate as well if you would consider signing up for a paid subscription to Anglican Ascetic, which you can do at this link:

The day began with Twyla and I grabbing a morning coffee and pastry at a spot near our hotel. Then it was off to the studio of her instructor Dylan Hartley and her second day of the gesso board preparation workshop. This second day was devoted to applying the many layers of gesso on top of the linen which had been affixed to the surface of the board the previous day. Here is a photograph Twyla took of the end product of the day’s work:

There are twelve separate layers of gesso on each piece. After each layer, any little air bubbles had to be pressed out, and this was done by hand. Any air bubbles will ruin the board and make it unsuitable for icon painting. I asked Twyla if she was pleased by her work, and she indicated she was. These have to dry for several days; she will bring them home for the final step, which is sanding them very smooth. That process she will learn today on this the final day of the workshop, and do so on different boards than her own. Her day today will be about 3 hours long, much shorter than her previous two.

To resume the narrative of the day, after I dropped her off I found a new cafe at which to encamp to draft my diary entry for day 4 (yesterday’s account). After I completed that, I saw that I had sufficient time to visit Lichfield Cathedral. It was a 45-minute drive away, which would leave me plenty of time to take in and savour the experience of the cathedral and surrounding close (“close” means the mostly enclosed area that surrounds a cathedral).

The drive was swift—although I am very keen to obey the posted speed limits in England, because there are speed cameras everywhere and I do not want to receive an email after I return home with a bill attached for any speeding violations! I find the whole thing here with speed cameras quite Orwellian, to be honest. But there are some British colleagues who sing the praises of the system for the safety and reliability it provides. Fine, I think to myself, but let me tell you about a book called 1984 . . .

Why did I want to visit Lichfield Cathedral? It is known as a very beautiful center of Christian worship, with its history dating to the late 600s and the missionary work of Saint Chad, whom we met in the diary for Day 4. The current building has exemplifies gothic style architecture. The cathedral is unique in that it has three spires, and the front of the building has more than 100 statues of Saints, kings, and queens. Here are the photographs I took as I approached and beheld it:

Pretty spectacular even from a distance down the road! Here is a short video I took of the immediate area:

I spent about ten minutes in silent prayer beholding it in full:

And then I approached to see the details.

Here is a video of the next row down of statues:

Approaching the entrance, I noticed it too had much detail:

For example

:And Saint Hilda I believe:

That one lit me up to see!

Here’s another short video of what was around a nearby door.

Then it was to the interior of the cathedral. There was an admission charge, which I am happy to pay, as it goes to support the daily operations costs of the cathedral, which, according to the guidebook, are upwards of $7,000 US dollars—per day.

Here are the sights I took in. The first is a large banner of the patron of the cathedral, Saint Chad (patron along with Blessed Mary Theotokos):

There was a “french market” of sorts in the nave. I basically ignored it and pretended it was not there, haha.

Here is a closer view of that Cross:

That Cross, the wood and structure of it, was prepared by Twyla’s instructor, Dylan Hartley! He showed us photographs and videos of his team building and preparing it, including the gesso process, to then hand it off to the icon painters. Utterly magnificant to behold.

Here is a large baptismal font, so big it requires a step up:

These two large icons were in the nave:

These of course capture the Annunciation, with Blessed Mary Theotokos and the Archangel Gabriel. Lovely to have the arrangement, wherein what is between them is the worship space, the nave and the rest.

Here is the Quire, where Evensong and other services are held:

And here it is from the other end:

Evensong is such a treasure of the Anglican tradition, for it even forms the architectural presentation of it.

Here is a short video of much of the quire, but from a different, elevated angle:

Finally, I reached the Lady Chapel, which is the best known part of the cathedral. It is the best known part because it houses the Shrine of Saint Chad.

The shrine dates to the late 7th century and the burial of the great Saint. Soon there was a proper shrine built, under the direction of Bishop Hedda. It was described by the Venerable S. Bede as a simple, wooden coffin-like structure shaped like a little house. Owing to this shrine, Lichfield became a center of pilgrimage, that is, of Christians traveling to Lichfield to venerate S. Chad and his shrine, and through him, worship Jesus Christ.

The shrine was destroyed during the 16th century reformation era, under the orders of King Henry VIII; this was part of the dissolution of the monasteries. But only four years ago, a new Shrine was consecrated, in the Lady Chapel, with a relic of the Saint translated to Lichfield and installed in a new altar-like structure. You can see it here:

It is quite lovely! And it is surrounded by plenty of holy things in the Lady Chapel. Here are many of them:

Firstly, the icon of Saint Chad, seen above on the left. It was painted by Twyla’s iconography teacher, Aidan Hart.

It was this which was reproduced on that enormous banner I showed earlier.

Also is statuary of Our Lady and our Lord:

A Lady Altar as well:

Along with a series of Icons on the north wall:

And that was Lichfield Cathedral! Having visited a number of English cathedrals, this was definitely is near the top of the list of favorite holy houses of English worship.

After the Cathedral, I ambled about the shop area nearby. I was rather hungry and it took a while but I found a place that made a sandwich to order to “take away,” which is British for “to go.” It was cranberry sauce, brie, and bacon on a ciabatta roll. I got back to my car, ate the sandwich there, and then hit the road to return to Telford. The timing worked well as when I arrived in Telford it was time to go an pick up Twyla. I hung out a bit at the studio, chatting with her instructor, his wife, and the other student. Once we got outside to the car, Twyla indicated she could use a pick me up of coffee and baked good; we settled for a nearby Starbucks. What we got looked this this:

Attentive readers will notice the Victoria Sponge Cake that Twyla ordered. American Starbucks do not, to my knowledge, carry this delicacy. They should!

After our snack and chat, we were off to an Orthodox Chapel in Shrewsbury, the market town about 30 miles away. The reason was threefold. The first was to take in their Great Vespers Saturday service, which is similar-ish to traditional Anglican Evensong. The second was to see this small church, which is understood to be the oldest sacred worship site still in use in Britain. The formal name for the church is the Church of the 318 Holy Fathers of Nicea. And the third reason is that I knew a number of icon painted by Monica Thornton (Martin’s wife) were installed there, as she donated them to the church when she was close to death, about 18 months ago. She was a parishioner at this church for many years after her husband Martin died; she was received into the Orthodox Church three years before he died, in the early 1980s. She told me he was very proud for her to do so, and granted his blessing.

The service was stated to begin at 6 pm, and we arrived at quarter to. Here are the photographs I took:

It is quite small, but extremely charming.

On a nearby brick wall and icon was installed, which was painted by Aidan Hart:

Finally, one of the priests arrived and opened up the church. We were the first to arrive, but soon there were a total of 10 people in the space, including two priests. It looked this this:

The service was about 45 minutes long, during which we stood for the whole time. It was beautifully chanted by one of the priests. Unlike Anglican Evensong, there were no readings from Scripture, the Gospels, or the Epistles. There were other differences, but it was a very holy thing, and the candlelight (the only sources of light in the space) made for mystical ambiance. Such a feel is definitely something that Anglican priests can experiment with in Anglican services, especially Evensong, as it is around nightfall much of the year.

After the service, I spoke with both priests and a woman, and they pointed out Monica Thornton’s icons. They were glorious! As the light was too dim, I decided against photographs. Those will have to come at my next visit, whenever that will be, hopefully during a morning service of Matins.

Thus concludes my diary for day 5.