Herefordshire

Hereford's Anglican cathedral church of St Mary the Virgin and St Ethelbert the King was built mainly between the 11th and 14th centuries, but some substantial alterations were made in the late 18th century (see Hereford Cathedral). One of its greatest treasures is the Mappa Mundi, a map of the world drawn on vellum in about 1290 by Richard of Haldingham. The choir of the cathedral, together with those of Gloucester and Worcester cathedrals, participates in the annual Three Choirs Festival, which takes place in the summer.

Half-timbered houses are typical, and many towns and villages, notably Weobley, offer fine examples of these black-and-white buildings. Hellens, at Much Marcle, south-west of Ledbury, is a house that dates from the 13th century, while Croft Castle, near Leominster, has walls and towers built in the 14th and 15th centuries.

There are many prehistoric sites in Herefordshire; these are mainly concentrated in the western part of the unitary authority. Arthur's Stone, on a hill at Dorstone, where the River Dore enters the Golden Valley to flow through to Pontrilas, is a prehistoric burial chamber formed of large blocks of stone. Croft Ambrey is a particularly impressive site, which comprises 15 hectares (38 acres) and features an Iron Age fort with well-preserved ramparts. At Herefordshire Beacon, an Iron Age hill fort dating from c. 200 bc and the remains of an ancient British camp can be seen.

Herefordshire is largely rural and agriculture forms the mainstay of the local economy. There are many apple and pear orchards, and the city of Hereford is an important cider-making centre, producing over 50 per cent of all British cider. The local Hereford cattle, with their deep red coats and white faces, are one of the world's major breeds of beef cattle. Ryeland sheep, one of Britain’s oldest breeds of sheep, originated in Herefordshire and are still raised in the region. Hereford is the main employment and service centre for the area and food- and drink-processing industries are based in the city.

A quantity of evidence exists to show prehistoric settlement of the area, but the first main occupants were Anglo-Saxons, who arrived in the 7th century. Their territory soon became part of Mercia, and it was Offa, the Mercian king, who, in the 8th century, built the earthworks known as Offa’s Dyke as a defence against the Welsh. This part of England was in constant conflict for many centuries. Not only were there continuing skirmishes with the Welsh, but in the 10th century the local landowners were regularly threatened by Viking invaders. Although, shortly before the Norman Conquest, Harold II, king of England, had achieved some kind of order in the county, Welsh raiders continued to be a problem. For this reason, it was in the north and the south-west of Herefordshire that the Normans built the first two of their English castles.

In the second half of the 14th century, the county became sympathetic to the views of John Wycliffe, an early leader of the English Reformation, and over many decades gave sanctuary to his followers, known as the Lollards. During the Wars of the Roses, Herefordshire was firmly on the Yorkist side, and provided a major army for the Duke of York, later to become Edward IV, who defeated the Lancastrian forces at the Battle of Mortimer's Cross, north-west of Leominster, in 1461. Herefordshire supported the Royalists during the English Civil War, during which the city of Hereford changed hands several times before being finally subjugated.