Lichfield Cathedral is an inspiring place. But by the standards of contemporary Britain, we are not at present able to show it off as well as we might like. The time has come to invest heavily in the future - in conservation, education and interpretation.

Conservation

The most urgent piece of work relates to the Herkenrode windows in the Lady Chapel, the lovely 16th century Flemish stained glass at the East End of the Cathedral. The mullions which hold the glass are badly decayed. There is also some modest work to be done conserving the glass itself, enhancing the detail where the paint has worn out. On the outside it is hoped to remove the protective iron grills, which are an unsightly green, and to replace them with isothermic double glazing.

There is also conservation work to do on the Skidmore choir screen and pulpit. These are special pieces of craftsmanship, because they exemplify the guiding principle of the Victorian architect who commissioned them. His maxim was: ‘let the spirit of the place, be the glory of the place’. George Gilbert Scott tried, in all his work, to ensure that local materials and local skills were used to beautify the buildings he developed, to the glory of God. The Skidmore screens are a wonderful example: they use locally made iron, local precious stones and local craftsmanship, so that the best of this region is offered to God in worship. Both pieces need restoration.

There is other less glamorous but quite urgent conservation to be done to the stonework of the Cathedral: to buttresses, floor paving and to parts of the West Front. In all, the conservation work may cost as much as £4 million.

Education

The present Visitor Study Centre was, when it was built in the late 1970s and early 1980s, a state of the art facility. It won several Standford awards for education. But it is now looking tired and needs some serious fresh investment if it is to be fit for purpose in the 21st Century.

There is a need for improved toilet facilities, especially to accommodate parties of school children. We also need reception and locker room space for school visits, as well as teaching rooms that are sound proof and equiped with the kind of Information Technology (computers, interactive white boards, digital projectors) which are taken for granted in most educational venues today.

Our library facilities also need to be overhauled. The Cathedral has a contemporary theological lending library, called the Dean Savage Library. But it is presently stored in such an inadequate space, damp and cold and isolated, that the books are deteriorating; and readers are really only comfortable to use the place from May to October. New purpose built library accommodation in the new purpose built Education Centre will be better in terms of conditions for both book storage and reader use.

We also need an Education Officer. What we currently offer schools is amazing, given that our efforts rest only on the work of volunteers. But at present we only engage 25% of schools within a 30 mile radius of the Cathedral, and that’s not enough. We believe that a full time Education Officer will enable us both to improve what we are able to offer schools in terms of the National Curriculum, and to increase the number of schools who visit. Our forecasts suggest that such a person could increase visitor numbers sufficiently in two years’ to pay for their own salary. We estimate that those education costs will amount to £2 million

Interpretation

We live in a culture in which ‘access’ is a watchword. We are under an obligation to make the Cathedral and what it represents ‘accessible’ to the widest possible audience.Lichfield Cathedral is Staffordshire’s premier heritage tourist attraction. Yet we only attract 100,000 visitors a year, and our commitment under Lichfield InSpires is to double visitor numbers within five years.

How do we expect to do it? In four ways. First, we are the custodians in this Cathedral of some amazing treasures, and we need to display them more boldly, more effectively. The return of the Lichfield Angel is a step in the right direction. But there is much to do both to promote and to exhibit our treasures more fully. We have a magnificent collection of early printed bibles in the English language in our Cathedral Library, as well as a breathtaking manuscript of the Canterbury Tales – dating from about 1420. The plan is to bring these onto the ground floor of the Cathedral.

Secondly, we need to improve the quality of interpretative media on offer to visitors: leaflets, guidebooks and probably some carefully conceived audio-visual materials too, to help visitors access the stories our Cathedral has to tell: the Saxon story, the Norman story, the Gothic story, the reformation story, the Civil War story, the Enlightenment story, the Victorian story – and the contemporary story too.

Thirdly, we intend to rebuild the north west porch. In terms of physical access, the present facility could hardly be worse. At present, visitors are required to descend a steep ramp before entering through a heavy wooden door, to be confronted with an uninspiring view of the north wall of the building merely five feet away, and then, as they turn right, by an imposing barrier composed of tatty noticeboards.

The plan is to slope the paving outside the West Front so that the Cathedral is entered on the level, and to install sliding glass doors, which will give the visitor a view of the north aisle even from the outside, and then to build a dedicated reception area in which individuals and groups can find their bearings once they’re inside.

Fourthly, we intend to market the Cathedral more energetically – a process to which this revamped website bears witness. The Lichfield InSpires project also includes plans to improve the lighting of the Cathedral, both inside (to help visitors see and appreciate the architecture) and outside (in terms of floodlighting). We estimate that those education costs will amount to a further £2 million

Conclusion