From its early Gothic beginnings to its completion just before Perpendicular, Lichfield Cathedral represents a fine balance between development and refinement, is a magnificent example of patterns of embellishment and proves a great result for Decorated Gothic. Lichfield Cathedral developed on what was first a Saxon and then Norman site, but which became Gothic in 1195, as the style was emerging in England. The particular charm of this cathedral is its burial of St. Chad of Mercia, for which many pilgrims gathered, and apparently continued to gather, for according to the cathedral's website, "the cathedral was enlarged by the addition of a chapel of the Madonna, and there by 1500 there were perhaps at least twenty altars around the Cathedral.” As such, the Cathedral expanded to accommodate the masses, but even before they entered, it would regale them with its visual splendor and wonder. The towering spiers seem much more daunting than they actually try to be; for if the fleeting sunlight catches one of the golden cross finials, one might even find them more ecclesiastical than egregious they look like a suitably intimidating and harmonious blend of the facetless Romanesque pinnacles (when present) and the sharp peaks of the early Gothic. The smaller pinnacles of Lichfield have carvings and are typically decorated, but could move towards Perpendicular Gothic, albeit with the immense. decoration and detail work of the cathedral walls, Lichfield is evidently of the Decorated Gothic style. Lichfield's absolutely ornate exterior immediately overwhelms and clarifies its focus. From the geometric window tracery to the literally raised blind arches and paper ornaments, to be an exemplary model of decorated Gothic architecture. From its purpose to meet the expectations of pilgrims while visiting St. Chad, Lichfield evolved to simultaneously provide opposites in harmony: bringing heaviness over light in the nave and chancel; carvings and yet softness of shape; and the use of “egocentric models” to balance “the multiplicity of similar elements… destined to produce a crowding of lines”, as in the niches of the western front. The geometric tracery combined with the wall ornament and the rising value of the ceiling are illuminated in Lichfield; Civil War history is seen through the architectural distinctions of the north and south transepts; and the influences of and on other cathedrals make Lichfield's Ornate Gothic experience, embodied by its three spiers, a stunning and unique insight into the transitions and triumphs of design.