The Great West Window.—The tracery of this window has already been discussed in the description of the exterior. The present glass was placed there in 1869, to the memory of Canon Hutchinson, who, perhaps, of all was most eager for the restoration of the cathedral, and to whose untiring energy, it is said, is due the wholesale renovation of the interior by Sir Gilbert Scott. This window was the result of a public subscription, and is the work of Messrs Clayton & Bell. The six large figures represent St. Michael, St. Joseph, St. Mary, and the Three Magi, while underneath are small pictures of the Annunciation, the Angel warning Joseph, the Nativity, the Journey of the Magi, the Magi inquire of Herod, and the Flight into Egypt. As to the previous glass in this window, there seems to be no record of that which must have decorated it before the Civil Wars. In Shaw's "History of Staffordshire," there are long lists of the glass to be found in the cathedral; but it is difficult to decide which window is being described. After the Restoration, we have in a Bodleian MS. the following record:—"Oct. 6, 1671. Arms in the Great West Window, Arms of King Charles the Second, Crest and Supporters; Arms of James Duke of York, his brother, Crest and Supporters. And beneath them, Serenissimus princeps Jacobus dux Ebor hanc fenestram. F.F." Britton says it was afterwards filled with painted glass, the work of Brookes, by the legacy of Dr Addenbroke, who died dean of this cathedral in 1776.
Over the great west door in the inside of the cathedral was formerly inscribed:—
Oswyus est Lichfield fundator, sed reparator
Offa fuit; regum fama perennis erit:
Rex Stephanus, rex Heniricus primusque Richardus,
Rex et Johannis, plurima dona dabant.
Pene haec millenos ecclesia floruit annos,
Duret ad extremum nobilis usque diem,
Daque deus longum, ut floreat hae sacra aedes
Et celebret nomen plebs ibi sancta tuum.