Lichfield City Council is the custodian of many historical customs and traditions. Some of which date back for centuries and most relate to the office of the Mayor and Sheriff, with their origins in civil legislation and governance.
The two Court Leets, both now held in a light hearted manner; on St George’s Day and Spring Bank Holiday, hark back to medieval England when the Lord of the Manor held rights of administration over his tenants. This included the ’view of frankpledge’ or literal translation ‘peace-pledge’ by which tenants were responsible for the actions of their kinsmen – at the courts, petty grievances would be resolved.
The St George’s Day Court – still appoints 7 Dozeners, who originally would have been responsible for approximately 12 households, and would report to the court annually.
The Court of Arraye still has an inspection of ‘men-at-arms’, originally this would effectively have been the audit of potential military strength – should the Lord of the Manor need to conscript his tenants.
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Invite the Mayor
Mayoral Invitations
The Mayor and Sheriff are invited to many events during their year in office. Such events vary from charity functions, to the opening of shops and new developments, visits to care homes, civic ceremonies and much else besides. If you would like a civic representative to attend your function, meeting or event, please contact the Civic Officer on 01543 309858 or civic@lichfield.gov.uk
Civic representatives will only normally attend events within the City boundary, but exceptions can be made for specific occasions/events and applications should be submitted via the details given above.
Please note that the order of precedence is Mayor, Deputy Mayor and then Sheriff. The City Council’s adopted Civic Guidelines state that the Sheriff will not ordinarily attend an event without either the Mayor or the Deputy Mayor.