Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Lichfield / A Description of Its Fabric and A Brief History of the Espicopal See

by A. B. Clifton

Lord Brooke was a fanatic, and ever fierce against cathedrals: he had, according to the diary of Archbishop Laud, two years before, as he was passing in a boat upon the Thames, said he hoped to see St. Paul's with not one stone left upon another. It was in this spirit that he set about the siege of the cathedral, and of his fate there are many accounts. Perhaps the following, taken from Dugdale's "View of the Late Troubles in England," is as good as any:—"This lord (Lord Brooke) being strangely tainted with fanatic principles, by the influence of one of his near relations, and some schismatical preachers (though in his own nature a very civil and well-humoured man), became thereby so great a zealot

against the established discipline of the Church, that no less than the utter extirpation of Episcopacy, and abolishing all decent order in the service of God, would satisfy him; to which end he became leader of all the power he could raise for the destruction of the cathedral of that diocese of Coventry and Litchfield. In order whereunto, when he had marched within half a mile of Litchfield, he drew up his army, and then devoutly prayed a blessing upon his intended works; withal earnestly desiring that God would, by some special token, manifest upon them His approbation of that their design: which being done, he went on and planted his great guns against the south-east gate of the close, himself standing in a window of a little house near thereto, to direct the gunners in their supposed battery; but it so happened that, there being two persons placed in the battlement of the chiefest steeple to make shot with long fouling guns at the cannoniers, upon a sudden accident, which caused the soldiers to give a shout, this lord, coming to the door (completely harnessed with plate armour cap-à-pie) was suddenly shot into one of his eyes; but the strength of the bullet, so much abated by the glance thereof on a piece of timber which supported a pentiss over the door, that it only lodged in his brains, whereupon he suddenly fell down dead; nor is it less notable that this accident fell out on the second day of March, which is the festival of that sometime famous Bishop S. Chad, to whose memory Offa, King of the Mercians, first erected this stately church and devoutly dedicated it."

Tradition has always asserted that the shot which killed Lord Brooke was fired by one of the sons of Sir Richard Dyott, who, with the Earl of Chesterfield, was commanding the cathedral garrison. This son was deaf and dumb, and was known as "Dumb Dyott." The gun is preserved in the family, and they are supported by other historians, disagreeing with Dugdale, in their account that the shot was no accidental one, but that Dyott, who was an accomplished marksman, recognising Lord Brooke, aimed at him and killed him.

In those days—and indeed even to the present day—it was believed that one who was afflicted with dumbness, idiocy, or any natural disease which showed God's hand, was especially His agent. Dumb Dyott was looked upon as being the agent of divine vengeance, and the fact of its being St. Chad's Day strengthened the belief. Here is an extract from a very courtly letter written a few days afterwards by a young cavalier to Lady Dyer; in it the feeling that a miracle had been performed is clearly shown. The writer says: "We have had the honour in these parts to bring my Lord Brooke to a quiet condition. That enemy of our Church (March 2) was slain in his quarrel against our Church, by the God of our Church, with a shot out of the Cathedral, by a bullet made of Church lead, through the mouth which reviled our Church; and (if this be worth your reading) this Cathedral was dedicated to the memory of an old Saxon holy man (called Ceadda, commonly Chad); the blow of death came from St. Chad's Church upon St. Chad's Day. This, being a verity, is fit for a lady of rare worth." The incident is constantly referred to in contemporary literature, where the miracles claimed on behalf of the Royalist party are worthy of a better result. One more quotation will suffice. The celebrated preacher, Dr South, in his sermon on the text, "God hath loved the gates of Sion more than all the dwellings of Jacob," says: "Nor is that instance to be passed over of a commander in the Parliamentary army, who, coming to rifle and deface the cathedral at Lichfield, solemnly, at the head of his troops, begged God to show some remarkable token of His approbation or dislike of the work they were going about. Immediately after which, he was shot in the forehead by a deaf and dumb man; and this was on St. Chad's Day, the name of which saint that church bare, being dedicated to God in memory of the same: where we see that as he asked of God a sign, so God gave him one in the forehead, and that with such a mark as he is like to be known by all posterity."

The house in which Lord Brooke was killed is in Dam Street, at a distance, it is said, of about 185 yards from the central spire of the cathedral; the late Mr Green caused the following inscription to be put up over the doorway:—

"March 2, 1643.—Lord Brooke, a general of the Parliament forces preparing to besiege the Close of Lichfield, then garrisoned for King Charles the First, received his death wound on the spot beneath this inscription by a shot in the forehead from Mr Dyott, a gentleman who had placed himself on the battlements of the great steeple to annoy the besiegers."

The death of Lord Brooke was kept a secret as much as possible, for fear the soldiers should indeed take it for a sign; Sir John Gell was appointed in his place, and the siege continued. Under his direction "all such townsmen that had any sons, apprentises, or other servants within the close, and likewise all citizens' wives that had their husbands there, whether magistrates or other persons whatsoever," were collected together and put in the front of the soldiers against the close, but after a while, it not appearing to make much difference, they were all sent home again. The close meanwhile had been bombarded with cannon, and finally there arrived from Coventry a new engine, called a mortar, which cast burning shells. Most of these fell into the mill pool or went over the close altogether; but it is said to have caused so much fright, no one there having seen such an engine before, that the Earl of Chesterfield, knowing also that his provisions could not last another day, and that there was little likelihood of their being reinforced, decided to yield the close on the best terms he could. These included free quarter to all, and on the 5th March, after a siege of three days, the close was yielded.

The damage that had been done was terrible; not only was the whole fabric much injured, and all the stained glass destroyed, but the great steeple had been blown down and had in its fall broken in the roof of the church in several places. But even now the work of desecration was not complete. The close having been taken, the Parliamentary forces and their prisoners were all housed in and round the cathedral, and the most sacrilegious conduct is attributed to the former. The wanton soldiers pulled down the curious carved work, and battered in pieces what was left of the beautiful old stained glass; they stripped the gravestones of their brasses, and destroyed the ancient records which were stored in the cathedral. These acts of destruction were no doubt due to the religious mania of the Roundheads against any form of ceremony or beauty in the House or Service of God; but their passion became keener when they found what rich spoils were ready to their hands. It happened during their riotous proceedings that one of the soldiers raised the covering of the tomb containing the remains of Bishop Scrope, and found in it a silver chalice and a crozier of considerable value. This discovery naturally excited the soldiers, and every

tomb was at once taken to pieces and its contents scattered; it is not wonderful therefore that the tombs that remain to the present day are few in number and these terribly mutilated. The crozier was afterwards sold to Elias Ashmole, the antiquarian, who took so great an interest in Lichfield. Nor was the sacrilege confined to destruction and spoliation. Dugdale tells us that "every day they hunted a cat with hounds through the church, delighting themselves with the echo from the goodly vaulted roof; and to add to their wickedness, brought a calf into it, wrapt in linen; carried it to the font, sprinkled it with water; and gave it a name in scorn and derision of that holy sacrament of baptism."