Lichfield Cathedral: archaeology of the nave sanctuary

Excavation in the second bay of the nave of Lichfield Cathedral yielded remarkable and wholly unexpected results. These included elements of the Anglo-Saxon church and a sunken chamber over which a canopy of honour had been erected. This may be the primary site of the shrine of St Chad, which remained a focus through the Norman and Gothic reconstructions of the building. The position was finally abandoned in the 14th century, when Bishop Langton erected a costly new shrine in the eastern arm. The discovery of a pre-Viking sculptured and painted limestone panel, potentially an Annunciation scene from the shrine, is an art object of European importance. Several medieval priests graves were found: one contained a partially preserved oak coffin and other accoutrements of exceptional interest. No English medieval burial has hitherto yielded evidence of a painted cross on the fabric covering of the coffin lid, or of the consecrated Host being buried with the funerary chalice and paten. The remnants of the eucharistic wafer and linen napkin (corporal,) must surely be the oldest found in Britain. It has hitherto been held that pewter chalices and patens were made especially for mortuary use and were only symbolic. That they could be buried holding the Host sheds new light on English sepulchral history."