Having greeted the Welsh on their patronal feast day yesterday, I now greet my fellow Mercians! Above the high altar in the Metropolitan Cathedral and Basilica of Saint Chad in Birmingham may be seen the reliquary of Saint Chad- designed by none other than yesterday's birthday boy Augustus Welby Northmore etc. etc. Pugin! St Chad was the first bishop of Lichfield back in the seventh century. Mercia was one of the more important Anglo-Saxon kingdoms- subsequently eclipsed by Wessex- its most celebrated king being Offa famed not only for his "Dyke" but as the first English King to send Peter's Pence to Rome.Update: I see that the Clever Boy has already posted on St Chad.
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