And we’re off! To the Peak District and to Buxton, Derbyshire.
But first, we’ll make two stops en route to break up the monotony of a long motor coach ride: Litchfield, a small cathedral town of renown, and Hamster Ridware, one of Jane’s known haunts.
Not a whole lot of Austen in Lichfield. In fact, none. It is known mostly for its cathedral and its two local luminaries: Man of Letters, Dr. Samuel Johnson and Greatest Actor of His Day, David Garrick.
Lichfield Cathedral: Exterior
The cathedral was gorgeous. But it won’t be the last. On this or future trips.
I was amused by the fact that there is a special affinity between this cathedral and a dubious St. Chad.
CHAD! As every good pre-Vatican II Catholic grade school student knew, when one was given a name at Baptism (with no say in it) or Confirmation (Huzzah! You choose!), said name had to be from one of the saints. To my knowledge, there was no St. Chad. Chad Everett? Yes. But a saint? He was not listed in my go-to source book of the halo’d: Saints To Remember from January to December*.
Yet, here in Lichfield, there had once been a shrine and a chapel dedicated to the head of this man.
Of course, the whole thing blew up at the Reformation when the veneration of relics business was banned by Henry VIII. The skull of St. Chad was sent packing, to be remembered now by a 2nd floor chapel with no purpose. But in a time when church-sanctioned names such as John and Mary have given up their spots in the top ten lists of names, replaced by the likes of Jayden and Luna, it brings a smile to my face to think that “Chad” could have been my Confirmation name well before becoming trendy in the ’70s.
Lichfield Cathedral: Interior Views
Findings in The Samuel Johnson Birthplace Museum
Lichfield was the birthplace of Samuel Johnson, the man who is best known for compiling A Dictionary of the English Language. He was a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor, conversationalist…and lexicographer. Later in life, he received two honorary doctorates and, thereafter, the more-familiar moniker of Dr. Johnson. His former family home is a multi-story museum adjacent to Lichfield’s market square.
As I climbed from floor to floor, several things caught my eye. (See below) It wasn’t a museum for the shutterbug, so the pictures are scarce. There was, however, a very entertaining video about his life.
Hamstall Ridware
We made a stop in Hamstall Ridware, a small, shrinking village that once was home to a Leigh family manor. Jane Austen’s mother’s family were Leighs and her aunt raised Jane’s two cousins here: Jane (it’s a family name!) Cooper and her brother (the eventual Rev.) Edward Cooper.
Not only did Jane Austen, her sister Cassandra and cousin Jane Cooper attend girls’ school together (until a “putrid fever” outbreak caused their parents to remove them), but Jane actually spent time in Hamstall Ridware with her cousins in 1806.
Our visit focused on the small parish church of St. Michael and All Saints. Construction started in 1130 AD on the current building, although there is evidence there may have been an earlier house of worship here once. Jane’s cousin, Edward Cooper, was rector here for over 30 years, following in the ministerial footsteps of his father.
BTW, Jane did not have a high opinion of Edward, reverend or not.
Several members of the Jane Austen Society Midlands Chapter were on hand to greet us and provide some parish history and related material on the Austen connections to St. Michael’s. The church is pretty much the only accessible artifact of Austen-alia. What remains of the Leigh manor house is a farmer’s home. The former pastor’s residence is now privately-owned and completely off-limits to visitors and viewers alike. Besides the church itself, the only other “public” site is the derelict watch tower adjacent to the church cemetery originally built for and used by the lord of the manor to survey his estate and lands beyond.
After time spent in and about the church, our tour group and our local hosts paraded to the village pub, The Shoulder of Mutton, where there were to be refreshments before we started out on the final leg of this day’s travels. Tea, coffee and water were the beverages of choice.
However, when the JAS members joined us, each was carrying a pint! So who am I not to follow in their footsteps?
I left the gathering, went into the pub room and got myself a half pint of a locally-brewed pale ale. And there was an added bonus. Three gentlemen, imbibing in the pub, chatted me up, which I did not expect but really appreciated. It was the smallest of small talk but friendly, welcoming and, if truth be told, I wished I’d had the presence of mind to spend a bit more time with the Hamstall Ridwarians before rejoining the JASNA crew. It was a complete 180 degrees from the less cordial atmosphere experienced at the Windsor pub.
Refreshed and “toiletted”, we boarded the bus and continued on to the Peak District and the city of Buxton where the Lee Wood Hotel awaited our arrival. After time to unpack and decompress, we reassembled for a delicious, made-to-order “Welcome” dinner before settling in for the night, dreaming of Pemberly (version 2005.)
* I still have this book. (Roll eyes here.)
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Dave In Austenland 