Lichfield - Geography

Geography

Lichfield covers an area of approximately 5.41 sq mi (14.0 km2) in the south east of the county of Staffordshire in the West Midlands region of England. It is approximately 25 km (16 mi) north of Birmingham and 200 km (120 mi) north west of London. The city is located between the high ground of Cannock Chase on the west and the valleys of the Rivers Trent and Tame on the east. It is underlain by red sandstone, deposited during the arid desert conditions of the Triassic period. Mercia Mudstone underlies the north and north eastern edges of the city towards Elmhurst and Curborough. The red sandstone underlying the majority of Lichfield is present in many of its ancient buildings including Lichfield Cathedral and the Church of St Chad.

The ground within the city slopes down from 116m in the north west to 86m on the sandstone shelf where Lichfield Cathedral stands. To the south and east of the city centre is a ridge which reaches 103m at St Michael on Greenhill. Boley Park lies on top of a ridge with its highest point on Borrowcop Hill at 113m. To the south east the level drops to 69m where Tamworth Road crosses the city boundary into Freeford. There is another high ridge south west of the city where there are two high points, one at Berry Hill Farm at 123m and the other on Harehurst Hill near the city boundary at Aldershawe where the level reaches 134m.

The city is built on the two sides of a shallow valley, into which flow two streams from the west, the Trunkfield Brook and the Leamonsley Brook, and out of which the Curborough Brook runs to the north east, eventually flowing into the River Trent. The two streams have been dammed south of the Cathedral on Dam Street to form Minster Pool and near St Chad's Road to form Stowe Pool.