HEREFORDSHIRE, an inland county of England on the south Welsh border, bounded north by Shropshire, east by Worces tershire, south by Monmouthshire and Gloucestershire, west by Radnorshire and Brecknockshire. The area is 839.6 sq.m. The county is almost wholly drained by the Wye and its tributaries, but on the north and east includes a small portion of the Severn basin. The Wye enters Herefordshire from Wales at Hay, and with a sinuous and beautiful course crosses the south-western part of the county, leaving it above the town of Monmouth. Of its tributaries, the Lugg enters near Presteign, and flows east to Leominster, where it turns south, receives the Arrow from the west, and joins the Wye 6 m. below Hereford, the Frome flowing in from the east immediately above the junction. The Monnow rising in the mountains of Brecknockshire forms the boundary between Herefordshire and Monmouthshire over one-half of its course (about 20 m.), but it joins the main river at Monmouth. Its principal tributary in Herefordshire is the Dore. The Wye is celebrated for its salmon fishing, which is carefully preserved, while the Lugg, Arrow and Frome abound in trout and grayling, as does the Teme, a tributary of the Severn, which forms parts of the northern and eastern boundary. The Laddon, also flowing to the Severn, rises in the county and leaves it in the south-east, passing the town of Ledbury. The greater part of the county is underlain by Old Red Sandstone, the harder bands in which form high ground (from 50o to Boo ft.) between the various valleys, while on the eastern boundary rise the Malvern hills, with Worces tershire Beacon (1,395 ft.) and Herefordshire Beacon (r,194 ft.). The Malvern hills form an inlier of Pre-Cambrian gneisses and volcanic rocks along the western edge of which occur Cambrian and Silurian rocks, the limestone bands of the latter forming wooded scarp faces. There is also a similar topography in the Woolhope region where there is an oval shaped inlier of Silurian rocks. Smaller patches crop out at Westhide east of Hereford and May Hill, but the most important form the hills between Presteign and Ludlow in the north of the county. The Brecknockshire boundary is formed by the Black Mts., which, formed of Old Red Sandstone, exceed 2,000 feet. On its south-eastern margin the county just reaches the Carboniferous Limestone cliffs of the Wye valley near Ross, the scenery of which is famous. Glacial deposits, chiefly sand and gravel, are found in the lower ground along the river-courses, while caves in the Carboniferous Lime stone have yielded remains of the hyena, cave-lion, rhinoceros, mammoth and reindeer.
Agriculture and Industries.—The soil is generally marl and clay, but in various parts contains calcareous earth in mixed proportions. Westward the soil is tenacious and retentive of water; on the east it is a stiff and often reddish clay. In the south is found a light sandy loam. More than four-fifths of the total area of the county is under cultivation and about two-thirds of this is in permanent pasture. Ash and oak coppices and larch plantations clothe its hillsides and crests. The rich red soil is famous for its pear and apple orchards, the county ranking in this respect next to Devonshire. The apple crop, generally large, is enormous one year out of four. Twenty hogsheads of cider have been made from an acre of orchard, 12 being the ordinary yield. Cider is the staple beverage of the county, and the trade in cider and perry is large. Hops are another staple of the county, the vines of which are planted in rows on ploughed land.
Herefordshire breeds bright red cattle with mottled or white faces and sleek silky coats, which though not good milkers, put on more meat and fat and produce finer beef at an early age, in proportion to food consumed, than almost any other variety. Its small, white-faced, hornless, symmetrical breed of sheep known as "the Ryelands," from Ross, made the county long famous. In its original form the breed is extinct, crossing with the Leicester having improved size and stamina at the cost of the fleece, and the chief breeds of sheep on Herefordshire farms at present are Shrop shire Downs, Cotswolds and Radnors, with their crosses. Agri cultural horses of good quality are still bred in the north, and saddle and coach horses may be met with at the fairs.
Manufacturing enterprise is insignificant. There are some iron foundries and factories for agricultural implements, and some paper is made. There are considerable limestone quarries, as, for example, near Ledbury.
Communications.—Hereford is an important railway centre. The Worcester and Cardiff line (G.W. railway) entering on the east, runs to Hereford by Ledbury and then southward. The joint line of the G.W. and L.M.S. companies runs north from Hereford by Leominster, proceeding to Shrewsbury, Crewe and Chester. At Leominster a G.W. branch crosses, connecting Worcester, Brom yard and New Radnor. From Hereford a G.W. branch follows the Wye south to Ross, and thence to the Forest of Dean and to Gloucester; another follows the Wye westward; a branch con nects Ledbury with Gloucester, and the Golden Valley is traversed by a branch from Pontrilas on the Worcester-Cardiff line. None of the rivers is commercially navigable and the canals are out of use.
Population and Administration.—The area of the ancient county is 537,363 ac., with a population (1931) of 111,755. The area of the administrative county is 538,924 ac. The county con tains 12 hundreds. It is divided into two parliamentary divisions, Leominster and Hereford, each returning one member. There are two municipal boroughs—Hereford (pop. 24,159) and Leominster (5, 707) . The other urban districts are Bromyard (1, 5 71) , King ton (1,742), Ledbury (3,283) and Ross (4,738). The county is in the Oxford circuit, and assizes are held at Hereford. It has one court of quarter sessions and is divided into r r petty sessional divisions. The boroughs of Hereford and Leominster have separate commissions of the peace, and the borough of Hereford has in addition a separate court of quarter sessions. The ancient county is almost entirely in the diocese of Hereford, with small parts in those of Gloucester, Worcester and Llandaff.
Hereford and Weobley castles were held against Stephen but were captured in 1138. Edward, afterwards Edward I., was im prisoned in Hereford castle, and made his famous escape thence in 1265. In 1326 the parliament assembled at Hereford which deposed Edward II. In the 14th and 15th centuries the forest of Deerfold gave refuge to some of the most noted followers of Wycliffe. During the Wars of the Roses the county supported the Yorkist cause, and Edward, afterwards Edward IV., raised 23,00o men in this neighbourhood. The battle of Mortimer's Cross was fought in 1461 near Wigmore. During the civil war of the 17th century, the county was royalist and Hereford, Goodrich and Ledbury all endured sieges.
The earldom of Hereford was granted by William I. to William FitzOsbern, about 1067, but the title lapsed until conferred on Henry de Bohun about 1199. It remained in the possession of the Bohuns until the death of Humphrey de Bohun in 1373; in Henry, afterwards King Henry IV., who had married Mary Bohun, was created duke of Hereford. Edward VI. created Walter Devereux, a descendant of the Bohun family, Viscount Hereford, in 1550, and his grandson, the famous earl of Essex, was born in this county. Since this date the viscounty has been held by the Devereux family, and the holder ranks as the premier viscount of England. Sir John Oldcastle, the leader of the Lollards, was sheriff of Herefordshire in 1406.
Herefordshire probably originated as a shire in the time of Aethelstan, and is mentioned in the Saxon Chronicle in 1051. In the Domesday Survey parts of Monmouthshire and Radnorshire are assessed under Herefordshire, and the western and southern borders remained debatable ground until with the incorporation of the Welsh marches in 1535 considerable territory was restored to Herefordshire. At the time of the Domesday Survey the di visions of the county were very unsettled. As many as 19 hundreds are mentioned, but these were of varying extent, some containing only one manor, some from 20 to 3o. Of the 12 modern hundreds, only Greytree, Radlow, Stretford, Wolphy and Wormelow retain Domesday names. Herefordshire has been included in the diocese of Hereford since its foundation in 676.
Herefordshire was governed by a sheriff as early as the reign of Edward the Confessor, the shire-court meeting at Hereford where later the assizes and quarter sessions were also held. In 1606 an act was passed declaring Hereford free from the juris diction of the council of Wales, but the county was not finally relieved from the interference of the Lords Marchers until the reign of William and Mary.
Herefordshire has always been a rich agricultural area, manu factures being unimportant, with the sole exception of the woollen and the cloth trade which flourished soon after the Conquest. Iron was worked in Wormelow hundred in Roman times, and the Domesday Survey mentions iron workers in Marcle. At the time of Henry VIII. the towns had become much impoverished. Hops were grown in the county soon after their introduction into Eng land in 1524. In 1 580 and again in 1637 the county was severely visited by the plague, but in the 17th century it had a flourishing timber trade and was noted for its orchards and cider.
Herefordshire was first represented in parliament in when it returned two members, the boroughs of Ledbury, Here ford, Leominster and Weobley being also represented. Hereford was again represented in 1299, and Bromyard and Ross in 1304, but the boroughs made very irregular returns, and from 1306 until Weobley regained representation in 1627, only Hereford and Leominster were represented. Under the act of 1832 the county returned three members and Weobley was disfranchised. The act of 1868 deprived Leominster of one member, and in i885 Leominster was disfranchised, and Hereford lost one mem ber. By the act of 1918, Hereford ceased to be a parliamentary borough. The entire county (inclusive of the boroughs) is now represented by two members.
are remains of several of the strong holds which Herefordshire possessed as a march county, some of which were maintained and enlarged, of ter the settlement of the border, to serve in later wars. To the south of Ross are those of Wilton and Goodrich, commanding the Wye. Of the several castles in the valleys of the boundary-river Monnow and its tributaries, those in this county include Pembridge, Kilpeck and Longtown. In the north the finest example is Wigmore.
Beside the cathedral of Hereford, and the fine churches of Ledbury, Leominster and Ross, described under separate head ings, the county contains some churches of almost unique interest. In that of Kilpeck Norman work is seen. It consists of the three divisions of nave, choir and chancel, divided by ornate arches, the chancel ending in an apse, with a beautiful and elaborate west end and south doorway. A similar plan is seen in Peterchurch and in Moccas church, above Hereford. The church at Bromyard exhibits Norman details. At Abbey Dore, the Cistercian abbey church, still in use, is a large and beautiful specimen of Early English work. At Madley, south of the Wye, 5 m. W. of Here ford, is a fine Decorated church (with earlier portions), with the rare feature of a Decorated apsidal chancel over an octagonal crypt. Of the churches in mixed styles those in the larger towns are the most noteworthy, together with that of Weobley. The half-timbered style of domestic architecture beautifies many of the towns and villages. Among country houses, that of Treago, 9 m. W. of Ross, is a remarkable example of a fortified mansion of the 13th century. Rudhall and Sufton Court, be tween Ross and Hereford, are good specimens of 15th century work, and portions of Hampton Court, 8 m. N. of Hereford, are of the same period. Holme Lacy, 5 m. S.E. of Hereford, is a fine mansion of the latter part of the 17th century. Downton castle possesses historical interest in having been designed in 1774, in a strange mixture of Gothic and Greek styles, by Richard Payne Knight (1750-1824), a famous scholar, numismatist and member of parliament for Leominster and Ludlow; while Eaton hall, now a farm, was the seat of the family of the famous geographer Richard Hakluyt.