[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 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.

[9][10] Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People, completed in 731, states that Chad acquired Licidfelth as his episcopal seat (sedes episcolpalem).

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.

The first authentic record of Lichfield occurs in Bede's history, where it is called Licidfelth and mentioned as the place where St Chad fixed the episcopal see of the Mercians in 669.

It was because of this that the ecclesiastical centre of Mercia became settled as the Diocese of Lichfield, which was approximately 7 miles (11 km) northwest of the seat of the Mercian kings at Tamworth.

In July 2009, the Staffordshire Hoard, the largest collection of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found, was discovered in a field in the parish of Hammerwich, 4 mi (6.4 km) south-west of Lichfield; it was probably deposited in the 7th century.

[16] In 786 King Offa made the city an archbishopric with authority over all the bishops from the Humber to the River Thames; his appointee was Archbishop Hygeberht.

This may have been motivated by Offa's desire to have an archbishop consecrate his son Ecgfrith as king, since it is possible Jænberht refused to perform the ceremony, which took place in 787.

After King Offa's death in 796, Lichfield's power waned; in 803 the primacy was restored to Canterbury by Pope Leo III after only 16 years.

[17] Bishop Roger de Clinton was responsible for transforming the scattered settlements to the south of Minster Pool into the ladder-plan streets existing today.

The Reformation brought the disappearance of pilgrim traffic following the destruction of St Chad's shrine in 1538, which was a major loss to the city's economic prosperity.

Lichfield's position as a focus of supply routes had an important strategic significance during the war, and both forces were anxious for control of the city.

The Parliamentary commander Lord Brooke led an assault on the fortified close, but was killed by a deflected bullet on St Chad's day in 1643, an accident welcomed as a miracle by the Royalists.

Lichfield started to develop a lively coaching trade as a stop-off on the busy route between London and Chester from the 1650s onwards, making it Staffordshire's most prosperous town.

In the 1720s Daniel Defoe described Lichfield as 'a fine, neat, well-built, and indifferent large city', the principal town in the region after Chester.

[23] An infantry regiment of the British Army was formed at Lichfield in 1705 by Col. Luke Lillingstone in the King's Head tavern in Bird Street.

[22] The arrival of the Industrial Revolution and the railways in 1837 signalled the end of Lichfield's position as an important staging post for coaching traffic.

[34] Christopher Pincher was the previous MP until a highly publicised scandal in 2022 after which he had the Conservative whip revoked and subsequently sat as an independent before announcing his resignation in September 2023.

Lichfield covers an area of approximately 5.41 sq mi (14.0 km2) in the south-east of the county of Staffordshire in the West Midlands region of England.

By the end of the 19th century, brewing was the principal industry, and in the neighbourhood were large market gardens which provided food for the growing populations of nearby Birmingham and the Black Country.

The district is famous for two local manufacturers: Armitage Shanks, makers of baths/bidets and showers, and Arthur Price of England, master cutlers and silversmiths.

The library moved into the newly renovated St Mary's church on Market Square in 2018 The city is served by the Samuel Johnson Community Hospital located on Trent Valley Road.

Additionally, Trent Valley station is on the West Coast Main Line with semi-fast services between London Euston, Stoke-on-Trent, Stafford and Crewe.

These companies run regular services to Birmingham, Aldridge, Brownhills, Burntwood, Rugeley, Burton upon Trent, Stafford, Sutton Coldfield, Tamworth and Walsall.

There is a Pentecostal Church under the name Emmanuel Christian Centre in Nether Stowe and the Christadelphian Hall on Station Road.

Historically rugby was more popular in the city than football largely due to the fact that it was the main sport at Lichfield Grammar School.

[56] The team plays at Cooke Fields, located south east of the city on Tamworth Road, behind the Horse and Jockey public house.

Lichfield Diamonds LFC is at the forefront of girls' football in Staffordshire, being the first all female club to achieve Charter Standard Status.

The Wandering Angels, a team from Lichfield in Staffordshire took part in the first known Women's FA Cup Match on 1 November 1970 against Leicester City Supporters Ladies FC.