Description:Separated from the Lichfield Cathedral by the length of Stowe Pool, St. Chad's church succeeds an early Saxon church of which nothing remains. The present church incorporates parts of a 12th century replacement but it was much modified in the 13th and succeeding centuries. In 1643, during the Civil War siege of the Cathedral Close Parliamentary troops used it as a store for their scaling ladders and equipment.
Behind the church lies St Chad's Well, close to the site of St. Chad's dwelling place and subsequently a place of pilgrimage. At the right of the photograph is the early 18th century grade II* listed Stowe House. The timber-framed buildings in the foreground no longer exist.
This picture is from an album of photographs taken by Thomas Harvey Boycott (1876-1949) who lived with his widowed mother, Fanny Maria, whose family had lived at Handsacre Hall as farmers, together with his unmarried aunt, Sarah Elizabeth Harvey. Harvey was a Clerk at Lichfield District Probate Court and a skilled amateur photographer. The album was a parting gift from Harvey and his mother to the Rev. R.E. Grice-Hutchinson (1885-1976) who was Curate of Armitage with Pipe Ridware 1909-1913.