Hereford

Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and the county town of Herefordshire, in which it is by far the largest settlement with a population of around 53,000.

Located on the River Wye in central Herefordshire with largely rural surroundings, Hereford is one of England's remotest cities. The Black Mountains lie to the west and the Malvern Hills to the east. The border with Wales is around 15 miles to the west of the city, with the cathedral cities Worcester and Gloucester being around 25 miles to the north-east and south-east respectively.

Within the historic Welsh Marches region of Britain, Hereford has its roots as a garrisoned market town within the Anglian kingdom of Mercia (527–918).

Name

The name Hereford is generally agreed to derive from Old English here ("army") + ford ("ford"). Similar formations include the Herford in Germany. The city is known as Henfordd in Welsh.

History

In the early 5th century, immediately after the Romans left but before the Anglo-Saxons arrived, modern-day Hereford was part of the Brittonic kingdom Ergyng.

Hereford was the site of the Battle of Hereford of 760 AD, in which the Britons defeated the Anglian kingdom Mercia.

In the mid-13th century the Bishop of Hereford, Peter of Aigueblanche, built a mansion near Paris in France. As a result, there are two settlements, both suburbs of Paris, named with Alfort, which is from Hallefort and, ultimately, Harfort, a corruption of Hereford

Wye Bridge, one of the city's most prominent landmarks, was constructed in the year 1490.

The Seige of Hereford took place between July and September 1645 as part of the English Civil War, when the Scottish Covenanters besieged an English Royalist Garrison in the city. A considerable amount of fighting took place on Wye Bridge.

Administration

The administrative headquarters of Herefordshire Council, which covers a similar area to the county, is located in Hereford at Council Offices on Plough Lane. The council area makes up a part of the West Midlands statistical region.

Transport

The town is traversed by the long-distance route A49, which links the town with Leominster, Shrewsbury and the North West to the north, as well as Ross-on-Wye to the south. No motorways serve Hereford; the nearest is the M50, which passes through southern Herefordshire, which forms part of Northern and Midland England's link with South Wales.