Lichfield: Difference between revisions

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== Toponymy ==
The origin of the modern name "Lichfield" is twofold. At [[Wall, Staffordshire|Wall]], {{convert|3.5|km|mi|abbr=on}} south of the current city, there was a [[Romano-British culture|Romano-British]] village, [[Letocetum]], a [[Common Brittonic]] place name meaning "GreywoodGrey wood"; "[[grey]]" perhaps referring to varieties of tree prominent in the landscape, such as [[ash tree|ash]] and [[elm]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Lichfield: The place and street names, population and boundaries ', A History of the County of Stafford: Volume 14: Lichfield|year=1990|pages=37–42|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42340|access-date=22 November 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526054813/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42340|archive-date=26 May 2011|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Staffordshire/Lichfield |title=Lichfield |work=Key to English Place Names |publisher=Institute for Name Studies, [[University of Nottingham]] |access-date=12 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063744/http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Staffordshire/Lichfield |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> This passed into [[Old English]] as ''Lyccid'',<ref name=Delamarre>{{cite book|last=Delamarre|first=Xavier|title=Noms de lieux celtiques de l'europe ancienne (-500/+500): Dictionnaire|year=2012|publisher=Éditions Errance|location=Arles, France|isbn=978-2-87772-483-8|page=175}}</ref> cf. {{lang-owl|Luitcoyt}},<ref name=Sims>{{cite book|title=Britain 400–600: Language and History|year=1990|publisher=Carl Winter Universitätsverlag|location=Heidelberg|isbn=3-533-04271-5|page=260|author=Patrick Sims-Williams|author-link=Dating the Transition to Neo-Brittonic: Phonology and History, 400-600|editor=Alfred Bammesberger|chapter=2}}</ref> to which was appended {{lang-ang|feld}} "open country". This word {{lang|ang|Lyccidfeld}} is the origin of the word "Lichfield".<ref name=Delamarre /> The [[Medieval Latin]] form "Licitfelda" is recorded c. 710 – c. 720.<ref>Hanks, Patrick; Hodges, Flavia (2002). ''The Oxford Names Companion''. Oxford University Press; p. 1107. {{ISBN|0198605617}}</ref>
 
The modern day city of Lichfield, and the Roman villa of Letocetum, are just two miles (3 km) apart. While these names are distinct in modern usage, they had a common derivation in the Brittonic original Letocaiton, indicating that "grey wood" referred to the region inclusive of modern day Lichfield City and the Roman villa.<ref name=":0" />
 
The earliest record of the name is when Chad (later Saint Chad) moves from York to Lichfield in 669. "Chad was made Bishop of the Mercians immediately after his deposition; Wilfred gave him the place (locus) at Lichfield (Onlicitfelda)<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Sargent |first=Andrew |title=Lichfield and the Lands of St Chad |date=2020 |publisher=University of Hertfordshire Press |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-912260-24-9 |pages=Pages 90, 264 |language=English}}</ref>
 
The prefix "on" indicates that the place given to Chad by Wilfrid was "in LIchfield", indicating the name was understood to apply to a region rather than a specific settlement.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Johnson |first=Douglas |title=VCH Staffordshire |publisher=Greenslade |edition=Volume 14, page 38}}</ref>
 
In the Lastingham Narrative (LN) of the same time, it stated that Chad acquired Licidfelth as his episcopal seat (sedes episcolpalem).<ref>Lastingham Narrative section of the Ecclesiastical History of the English People by the Venerable Bede, 731 CE</ref>
 
Popular etymology has it that a thousand Christians were martyred in Lichfield around AD 300 during the reign of [[Diocletian]] and that the name Lichfield actually means "field of the dead" (see ''[[lich]]''). There is no evidence to support this legend, as with many [[Folk etymology|folk etymologies]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42340|title=Explaining the origin of the 'field of the dead' legend|publisher=British History Online|access-date=20 November 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526054813/http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42340|archive-date=26 May 2011|url-status=live}}</ref>
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* [[Denis Alva Parsons]] MBE, ARBS (1934–2012), sculptor<ref>[http://stjosephsdarlaston.co.uk/misc.htm St Joseph's R.C. Church, Church Street, Darlaston, Denis Parsons MBE – Artist in wood and stone] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180902074514/http://stjosephsdarlaston.co.uk/misc.htm |date=2 September 2018 }} retrieved December 2017</ref>
* [[Michael Laskey]] (born 1944), poet<ref>[http://www.poetryinternationalweb.net/pi/site/poet/item/10932 Poetry International Rotterdam, Michael Laskey, (United Kingdom, 1944)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223044526/http://www.poetryinternationalweb.net/pi/site/poet/item/10932 |date=23 December 2017 }} retrieved December 2017</ref> and editor
* [[Tony Christie]] (born 1943), singer<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/tv/tony-christies-heartbreaking-admission-breaks-26063806.amp | title=Tony Christie's heartbreaking admission as he breaks silence on dementia | date=24 January 2023 }}</ref>
* [[John Hinch (musician)|John Hinch]] (1947–2021) drummer, original drummer of [[Judas Priest]]
* [[Louis Lillywhite|Lieutenant General Louis Lillywhite]] CB, MBE, QHS (born 1948) retired British Army physician,<ref>[https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/58929/supplement/2 The London Gazette, Publication date: 31 December 2008, Supplement:58929, Page:2] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126031348/https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/58929/supplement/2 |date=26 January 2018 }} retrieved December 2017</ref> [[Surgeon-General (United Kingdom)|Surgeon-General]] 2006/2009