Hereford, Hereford And Worcester
Hereford local area guide
Picture shown above: Hereford, the historic capital city of the Wye Valley, photograph courtesy of Hereford Tourist and Travel Guide website
Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire with a population of 50,400 which makes it the largest settlement in the county. Hereford is on the River Wye approximately 16 miles east of the border with Wales. It is now known chiefly as a trading centre for a wider agricultural and rural area. Products from Hereford include: cider, beer, leather goods, nickel alloys, poultry, chemicals and cattle; including the famous Hereford breed.
History of Hereford
The name "Hereford" is said to have originated from the Anglo Saxon "here", an army or formation of soldiers, and the "ford", a place for crossing a river. It suggests that Hereford was a place where a body of armed men forded or crossed the Wye.
Hereford was founded in around AD 700 and became the Saxon capital of West Mercia. The present Hereford Cathedral dates from the 12th century. Former Bishops of Hereford include Saint Thomas de Cantilupe and Lord High Treasurer of England Thomas Charlton.
Hereford, a base for successive holders of the title Earl of Hereford, was once the site of a castle, Hereford Castle, which was about the same size of Windsor Castle. This was a base for repelling Welsh attacks and a secure stronghold for English Kings such as King Henry IV when on campaign in the Welsh Marches against Owain Glyndŵr. The castle was dismantled in the 1700s and landscaped into Castle Green.
During the civil war the city changed hands several times. The city was finally taken for Parliament on 18 December 1645 by Colonel Birch and Colonel Morgan. King Charles showed his gratitude to the city of Hereford on the 16th September 1645 by augmenting the city's coat of arms with the three lions of Richard I of England, ten Scottish Saltires signifying the ten defeated Scottish regiments, a very rare lion crest on top of the coat of arms signifying 'defender of the faith' and the even rarer gold-barred peer's helm, found only on the arms of one other municipal authority - the City of London.
Transport in Hereford
Herefordshire is a rural county with main trunk roads heading towards the city from nearby Gloucester, Ledbury and Leominster and bus transport from neighbouring counties, with most local services stopping off at St Peter's Square in the centre.
The train station is about a ten minute walk from the main shopping district and close to the general hospital, with connections to Leominster, Ledbury and Abergavenny along with main line connections including London, Oxford and Manchester.
Education in Hereford
Herefordshire has 83 primary schools, 14 high schools (four with sixth forms), four special schools, five independent schools and three pupil referral units.
There are five colleges in the city: Hereford Sixth Form College, Herefordshire College of Art & Design, Herefordshire College of Technology, Holme Lacy College, Royal National College for the Blind.
Do you live in Hereford?
We would love to hear from you. Please email us your comments to hereford@annington.co.uk.