Lichfield: Difference between revisions

<!-- | local_name = City of Lichfield -->

| population = 3334,816738

'''Lichfield''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|l|ɪ|tʃ|f|iː|l|d}}) is a [[city status in the United Kingdom|cathedral city]] and [[Civil parishes in England|civil parish]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/about-statistics/geography/products/geog-products-area/names-codes/administrative/index.html |title=Names and codes for Administrative Geography |date=31 December 2008 |publisher=Office for National Statistics |access-date=15 September 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20100403045115/http://www.ons.gov.uk/about-statistics/geography/products/geog-products-area/names-codes/administrative/index.html |archive-date=3 April 2010 }}</ref> in [[Staffordshire]], [[England]]. Lichfield is situated roughly {{convert|18|mi|km|0}} south-east of the county town of [[Stafford]], {{convert|8|mi|km}} south-east of [[Rugeley]], {{convert|9|mi|km|0}} north-east of [[Walsall]], {{convert|8|mi|km}} north-west of [[Tamworth, Staffordshire|Tamworth]] and {{convert|13|mi|km|0}} 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Statistics - Lichfield City Council |url=https://www.lichfield.gov.uk/Statistics_749.aspx |access-date=2023-03-18 |website=www.lichfield.gov.uk}}</ref>

Notable for its three-spired medieval [[Lichfield Cathedral|cathedral]], Lichfield was the birthplace of [[Samuel Johnson]], the writer of the first authoritative ''[[A Dictionary of the English Language|Dictionary of the English Language]]''. The city's [[recorded history]] began when [[Chad of Mercia]] arrived to establish his [[Diocese of Lichfield|Bishopric]] in 669&nbsp;AD and the settlement grew as the ecclesiastical centre of [[Mercia]]. In 2009, the [[Staffordshire Hoard]], the largest hoard of [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] gold and silver metalwork, was found {{convert|5.9|km4|mi|km|abbr=on}} south-west of Lichfield.

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>

[[ChrisSarah PincherEdwards (British politician)|ChristopherSarah PincherEdwards]] iswas currentelected Memberto of Parliament forthe [[Tamworth and(UK areasParliament ofconstituency)|Tamworth Lichfieldconstituency]] Districtin (seea [https://web.archive.org/web/20180824194404/http://christopherpincher.com/in-your-area/map[2023 Christopher PincherTamworth by-election|byelection Inin your Area | Map2023]]).<ref andname="bbc2023">{{cite wasnews elected|title=Labour asoverturn the19,000 ConservativeTory Membermajority infor May'incredible' 2010,Tamworth andwin was|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-67165541 re|access-electeddate=20 inOctober May2023 2015,|work=BBC JuneNews 2017|date=20 andOctober December2023}}</ref> 2019[[Chris withPincher|Christopher aPincher]] majority ofwas 19,634.the Inprevious 2022,MP due tountil a [[Chris Pincher scandal|highly publicised scandal]], Pincherin 2022 after which he had the Conservative [[Whip (politics)|whip]] revoked and currentlysubsequently sitssat as an [[Independent politician|independent]] before announcing his resignation in September 2023.

Lichfield has regular bus services in and around the city, in addition to longer distance services. The bus station is located on Birmingham Road, opposite Lichfield City railway station, although as part of the Friarsgate development plans have been approved for it to be moved next to the railway station. [[Arriva Midlands]], [[Diamond East Midlands]], [[Diamond(formerly WestMidland Midlands]]Classic), [[D&G BusChaserider]], Select Bus and [[National Express West Midlands]] are the main bus operators in Lichfield. These companies run regular services to [[Birmingham]], [[Aldridge]], [[Brownhills]], [[Burntwood]], [[Rugeley]], [[Burton upon Trent]], [[Stafford]], [[Sutton Coldfield]], [[Tamworth, Staffordshire|Tamworth]] and [[Walsall]]. Service X12 to Burton also operates on Sundays with funding from the Roman Heights housing development.

Lichfield has college services for the [[Rodbaston]] campus of [[South Staffordshire College]], run by [[MidlandDiamond Classic]]East Midlands, and school-only journeys for local high schools. Seasonal bus routes run for Boots and Amazon employees only are usually operated by MidlandDiamond East ClassicMidlands and National Express West Midlands.