A TRAVEL writer says Lichfield’s past helped captured his imagination during research for a new book.
Richard Collett’s Along the Borders has been published by Penguin Random House and chronicles his multi-year journey through Britain.
It includes a chapter which explores Lichfield’s history as he delves into the story of the Danelaw – a little-known medieval border.
Richard said:
“My three-year journey took me along hundreds of miles of Britain’s borders, boundaries and frontiers, by bus, boat, train, plane, car, ferry and on foot.
“But by far one of the most intriguing borders I explored was this little-known boundary that roughly follows the path of the modern A5 dual carriageway.
“It hugs the route of Watling Street, a Roman road which in the 9th century AD became the border between two worlds.
“To the north of Watling Street lay the Danelaw, a place where the Viking invaders ruled. To the south lay Wessex, from where King Alfred the Great and his son and grandson would eventually cross this boundary, retake the Danelaw, and unify England for the first time in its history.”
Richard said his visit to the city had shown plenty of heritage for him to get his teeth into.
He explained:
“I decided to explore the history of this pivotal medieval boundary when I was researching my book.
“The Midlands seemed like the best place to start, given I have family and friends across the region, near Leicester and Loughborough. When I visited nearby Tamworth, I was enthusiastically told that by all accounts, I simply had to visit Lichfield too, because the city was once the religious capital of Mercia.
“Lichfield’s wonderful three-spired cathedral really captured my imagination – and I knew I had to find a space for it in the book. Better yet, when I was given a tour of the cathedral by one of their incredibly knowledgeable local guides, I discovered how this had indeed been a borderland.
“I was intrigued to discover the city’s medieval history hidden away inside the cathedral’s crypts, including the famed Lichfield Angel, which the Vikings are said to have smashed to pieces during their raids.
“For such a small city, Lichfield played a vital yet largely unknown role in England’s early history. Because, as I discovered on my travels and explored in the book, without the Danelaw’s border, England may never have united into the country we have today.”
More details about Along the Borders can be found on the Penguin Random House website.
