The Cathedral, Lichfield (Bishop Woods Memorial)

Oh dear... this looks definitely spooky! Perhaps it isn't so bad seeing it in the flesh, but to me, this looks like the head and upper body of a figure rising from a tomb - or have I been reading too many horror stories? In fact it's a likeness of Bishop Edward Sydney Woods (1937-1953), created by the sculptor Jacob Epstein in 1958, set under the window in the Pedilavium - a short corridor leading to the Chapter House. Literally, a place where you wash your feet? Well perhaps it was, for those who attended Chapter House meetings - a rite of passage before going into the swimming pool, and meeting all the ‘Big Fish’?

(Information provided by Rosemary Lockie)