HEREFORD, the capital city of the above county, is situ-ated on the left bank of the Wye, which is crossed there by a bridge of six arches. The see of Hereford was de-tached from Lichfield in 673, Putta being its first bishop. The removal of murdered Ethelbert's body from Marden to Hereford led to the foundation of a superior church, reconstructed by Bishop Athelstan, and burnt by the Welsh in 1055. Recommenced in 1079 by the first Norman bishop, Robert of Lorraine, it was carried on by Bishop Reynelm, and completed in 1148 by Bishop B. de Betun. The lady chapel, clerestory of the choir, and north transept date between 1226 and 1269, while succes-sive additions and reconstructions have extended over 450 years. In 1786 the great western tower fell and carried with it the west front and the first bay of the nave, since which date there have been two modern restora-tions, in 1842 and 1863. The total length of the cathedral outside is 342 feet, inside 327 feet 5 inches, the nave being 158 feet 6 inches, the choir from screen to reredos

Plan of Hereford Cathedral.
A. West Door. E. Choir Screen. I I. N.E. Transept.
B. Font. F. Vestries. ] K. S.E. Transept.
C. Door to Cloisters. G. Altar. I L. Entrance to Crypt.
D. Central Tower. H. Bp.Stanhery's Chantry. | M. Audley Chapel.

75 feet 6 inches, and the lady chapel 93 feet 5 inches. The breadth of the nave (span of roof) is 31 feet 4 inches, the nave and aisles, internally, 73 feet 4 inches, and the central transept 146 feet 2 inches. The height of choir is 62 feet 6 inches, of nave 64 feet, of lantern 96 feet, of tower to top of the leads 140 feet 6 inches, and to the top of the pinnacles 165 feet. The pillars and arches of the nave, the north and south arches of the choir, and the triforium are Norman in their architecture, as is also the font; the lady chapel, the clerestory, and stone vault-ing, Early English. The north transept is of the date of Bishop Aquablanca (1245-68), the south-east transept of Late Decorated. As the late Sir Gilbert Scott pointed out at Hereford to the Archaeological Institute, but for the fall oof the western tower, the consequent curtailment of the nave, and other solecisms, few cathedrals could offer so complete a field of progressive architectural study from Early Norman to latest Perpendicular. The cathedral can boast some fine monuments, notably St Thomas of Can-tilupe's shrine in the north transept, and Bishop Aqua-hlanca's tomb. The " Mappa Mundi," compiled in 1300 or thereabouts by a monk of Lincoln, one of the largest and most curious of all the old maps, is preserved in the south choir aisle. The bishop's palace overlooks the Wye on the south of the cathedral, and to the left of it lies the castle green, the site of the historic castle, which is utterly effaced. One only of the six gates of the old walls is still to be seen, but there are ruins of the Black Friars' Monastery in Wide-marsh, and a mile out of Hereford on the Brecon Eoad, the White Cross, erected in 1347 by Bishop Charlton, and restored by Archdeacon Lord Saye and Sele, commemorates the departure of the Black Plague. For its loyalty and sufferings in the civil war Charles I. gave the city its motto " Invictse fidelitatis praemium." It was incorporated in 1189 by Richard I., and is governed by a municipal council, consisting of a mayor, 6 aldermen, and 18 coun-cillors. It has no manufactures. Its population at the census of 1871 numbered 18,355, or an increase of more than a third in twenty years; its area was 4969 acres. Its public buildings are the shire hall in St Peter's Street, in the Grecian Doric style, with a statue of Sir George Cornewall Lewis in front of it; the corn-exchange (1858), the Rankin free library and Woolhope Club museum in Broad Street, and the Herefordshire middle-class college. The most noteworthy churches are All Saints and St Peter's.

For the bibliography of the city and county of Hereford, see Duncumb's Collections for a History ; Robinson's Castles, Manors, and Mansions, 2 vols., 1869 and 1873 ; Webb's History of the Civil War in Herefordshire, 1879 ; Havergal's Fasti Herefordenses; Quarterly Review, art. "Herefordshire," July 1879 ; and the Woolhope Transactions. (j. DA.)