Lichfield Heritage Centre

Lichfield Heritage Centre stood on the second floor of St Mary’s Church in the heart of Lichfield’s market square. The church itself dates from the 19th century and once served as a multi-purpose community building. In 1981 the Earl of Lichfield opened the centre, which was run mainly by volunteers and supported as an independent charity. The space displayed objects linked to the city, the Diocese of Lichfield and the Staffordshire Regiment. A treasury exhibition showed chalices, goblets and centrepieces from these collections. The centre held over six thousand photographs, negatives, newspapers and reports from the past century and a half. A muniment room housed the city’s oldest charters, beginning with Queen Mary’s Charter of 1553. The Guild Book of St Mary’s Guild from 1387 to 1680 was the earliest document on display. Audio-visual shows told stories of Lichfield’s past, the building of the cathedral and the sieges during the Civil War. Visitors could take tours up the 158-year-old spire to a platform forty metres above the market square. From there they saw views across the city and the surrounding countryside. Sylvia Everitt’s Staffordshire Millennium Embroideries, created over five years, showed a panel for each century of the county’s history. These embroideries in silk, wool, cotton, metallic thread and leather were donated to mark the Millennium.