Bishop Lee, who had failed in his efforts to save the cathedral church of Coventry, also exerted himself on behalf of the shrine of St. Chad, and succeeded so well that, though the shrine was rifled of its jewels and precious metals, they were granted to the uses of the cathedral, instead of finding their way into the coffers of the king. The ashes of the saint were stolen by one of the prebendaries. Soon after, the collegiate churches were confiscated, and the diocese, like other dioceses, found itself stripped of all its finest churches. The royal chapels of Stafford, Shrewsbury, Chester, Bridgenorth, Derby, and Penkridge all went; and throughout the country, for want of the endowments which had been confiscated, churches and chapels were falling into ruin.
Henry seems to have had ideas of using some of the money thus obtained for ecclesiastical purposes, but his own needs did not permit him to do much. The bishopric of Shrewsbury, which he had planned, came to nothing, though a suffragan with that title was appointed; but at Chester the abbey of St. Werburgh became a cathedral church when, in 1541, the see of Chester was founded, and Cheshire and Lancashire were taken from Lichfield to form the new diocese.
=Richard Sampson= (1543-1553), dean of the cathedral, succeeded Lee as bishop, and died early in Mary's reign. His successor, =Ralph Bane= (1554-1558), lighted the fires in the diocese, and many perished at his hands. He was a bishop after Mary's heart, and sat with Tonstall and Bonner in the inquisitions which disgraced the reign. He resigned on the advent of Elizabeth. And then another kind of persecution commenced; this time it was the Papists who suffered, and many were done to death in the diocese.
Following Bane came =Thomas Bentham= (1560-1579), and =William Overton= (1580-1609); then =George Abbott= was bishop in 1609, and in one year was promoted to Canterbury, where he preceded Laud, whose life-long opponent he was. Then came =Richard Neill= (1610-1614), who was dean of Westminster as well, and earned an ignoble reputation by burning a Papist named Wightman, at Lichfield. He was consecrated to Rochester in 1608, and translated successively to Lichfield, 1610; Lincoln, 1614; Durham, 1617; Winchester, 1628; and York, 1632. =John Overall= (1614-1618) wrote that part of the "Church Catechism" which explains the sacraments; he afterwards went to Norwich. =Thomas Morton= (1619-1632) came from Chester; he was one of the most learned bishops of the time, and a noted advocate of the Church of England principles.