About Hereford

Hereford is the Cathedral City with the relaxed atmosphere of a country market town. Its origin dates back to Saxon times and today visitors delight in the harmony of a rich heritage and modern facilities.A historic centre of international importance, the magnificent Hereford Cathedral hosts Europe’s oldest Music Festival every three years- The Three Choirs FestivalHereford is a city of fascinating museums- Hereford museum Old House Museumand Art Gallery runs a regular programme of temporary exhibitions on Heritage and the Arts. The Old House is an impressive museum in the centre of Hereford and the Cider museum’s exhibits are gigantic with tasting’s on offer to excite the palate.The waterworks museum outside the city includes one of the largest working triple expansion steam engines in Britain.The courtyard centre for the Arts is a stunning modern venue for all the performing arts, including professional productions and local community companies: there is an art gallery and lively restaurant.Hereford is a city of great antiquity. Its medieval bridge across the River Wye and the Medieval BridgeCathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St Ethelbert towering above it, stand as monuments to its distinguished past. The City dates from the 7th century and the Cathedral from 1079 AD, making it one of the oldest in England. Its true origins may by earlier, its strategic position being based on geography as much as politics. Hereford is situated amid extensive rural landscape close to the Welsh border in theCider Museum United Kingdom. The area is devoted primarily to arable and livestock farming Hereford Bullin equal measure together with extensive woodland cultivation, forestry, plant husbandry, apple and soft fruit growing. Hereford is the home of the largest cider maker in the world and was the birthplace of the famous Hereford breed of cattle. The city is a gateway to Mid and SW Wales and lies on the the important road and rail links between South Wales and the NW of England.Locally produced high quality food and drink are an increasingly important element in the quality of lifestyle of Herefordshire…equally appreciated by visitors and residents. A benign climate and rich red fertile soil have long made Herefordshire famous for cattle, sheep, cider and hops: now increasingly vineyards are making a significant contribution to this gourmet’s paradise. Visit some of the producers at work – cheese production near Leominster and countywide, many cider producers open their doors to visitors.Hereford owes its origins to its strategic military position on the north bank of the River Wye. Taking advantage of a large gravel mound overlooking a reliable fording place across the river, Saxon settlers fortified the site as a defence against the marauding Welsh. This occurred during the early part of the 7th century. The town grew quickly, receiving its first bishop, Putta, in 676 AD. Its military role was expanded following the Norman conquest in 1066 AD, when it became a royal demesne, attaining its greatest significance during the 13th century. During this time the castle was extended to occupy the entire southeast quarter of the city. A twelve foot high, sandstone perimeter wall with six gatehouses and semicircular bastions at intervals, replaced the existing earth and timber palisade. City status was granted in 1189 AD by decree of Richard I. The Charter relating to this, and others more recent, remain intact.Hereford was one of the first towns founded in England after the end of Roman Rule. Early Hereford was a frontier town on the border between kingdoms inhabited by the ancestors of the Welsh and of the English before there were such countries as ‘Wales’ and ‘England’. The English never totally conquered what is now modern Herefordshire as the many Welsh place-names in the county attest – parts of Herefordshire were never in ‘Anglo-Saxon’ England.Hereford expanded under the Norman and French kings who ruled England from 1066. French immigrants brought over by the new nobility formed part of the local community, slowly losing their separate identity. With a massive stone castle and a thriving market place, the town became one of the most important in the country.The city’s isolation contributed largely to its economic stagnation in the post-medieval period and many attempts were made to improve Hereford’s communications with the outside world. A horse towing path on the banks of the navigable River Wye was opened in 1810 and a horse-drawn railway opened to the canal wharf at Abergavenny in 1829. One of the last canals to be built in Britain reached Hereford in 1845.In December 1853 the City of Hereford celebrated the opening of its first railway connection. Regular railway services to South Wales began in January 1854 and lines to Gloucester, Worcester and Brecon were opened in the following ten years.Hereford CathedralToday Hereford is supported by a varied mixture of light industry and commerce. Surrounded by some of the most rural landscape in England with around 150,000 people living less than twenty minutes travel from the city centre, Hereford’s busy markets continue to draw people from all parts of the UK and abroad. In spite of the recent turbulent economic conditions, Hereford’s local economy appears to have retained a degree of buoyancy.