Day 145 - Here forward to Hereford

Exhausted from our "monumentous" walk yesterday, we decided that today we would take it easy and enjoy the sunshine by getting on the train and making our way to the end of the Cotswold Malvern Railway at Hereford. The train route is sometimes referred to as the Cathedral Express because, in addition to the Cathedral in Worcester (see a previous blog) that is on this line, there is also the Hereford Cathedral. Hereford is the County Town of Herefordshire and lies a further 25 miles or so from Worcester. In between lies the Great Malverns, a series of large hills that rise dramatically from the surrounding farmland (more about them tomorrow).

Old Market Square

Hereford derives its name from the Anglo Saxon word "here" which stands for army or formation of soldiers and "ford" which is a place you cross a river. The city sits on the river Wye, which flows from the Welsh highlands to the Severn River, travelling a distance of 215 or so kilometres making it the sixth longest river in the U.K. Richard I gave Hereford a town charter in 1189. Its location was perfect as a trading centre for the local agriculture and forestry.

The city has been the site of many a conflict during the post-Roman time between the Welsh and the Anglo-Saxons. During the time of King Edward the Confessor in 1056, the Welsh under Gruffydd ap Llywelyn (try and say that quickly -- no wonder the Welsh are known for their consonants), who was then the King of Gwynedd and Powys, joined up with his Viking allies, put the city to flame and then left. The troubles with the Welsh lasted on and off for another 400 years, with Henry IV battling it out with them in the early 1400s. 

Given its early history as a key strategic location it is not surprising that the city also played a role in the War of the Roses, where the head of the Lancaster House, Owen Tudor (grandfather of Henry VII), was executed by Sir Roger Vaughan (a Welshman and supporter of the House of York). It also played a role inthe English Civil War (from 1642 to 1645 the city switched control between Cromwell's Parliamentarians and Charles I's Royalists repeatedly).

St. Thomas de Cantilupe

Our mission today was to get to the Cathedral. It dates back to 1079, but was constructed on the site of an earlier cathedral that dated back to the 8th century. An earlier place of worship had been constructed in the 7th century and it was here that the body of Ethelbert the King of East Anglia -- an Anglo-Saxon kingdom (now Suffolk and Norfolk) -- was brought in 792 by a monk and thought to have been buried. Ethelbert had been on his way to this area, which at the time was the Kingdom of Mercia. It was ruled by King Offa who had promised his daughter's hand to Ethelbert, but the King must have had second thoughts and had Ethelbert murdered. Ethelbert was eventually canonized, albeit locally instead of by the Pope, and is now, along with the Virgin Mary, the Patron Saint of the Cathedral.

He was not the only Saint associated with the Cathedral. Thomas de Cantilupe was the Bishop of Hereford and Lord Chancellor of England in the early 13th century and after coming into a dispute with the Archbishop of Canterbury, England's leading clergyman, De Cantilupe was excommunicated from the Catholic church. He went to Rome to plead his case with the Pope, but died shortly after getting to Italy. He was buried in the Cathedral and you can visit his tomb. When miracles start to be reported by those who visited his tomb, the site became a pilgrimage for many and he was canonized a Saint by the Pope in the 14th Century.

Mappa Mundi - So Where's Canada?

The Cathedral also hosts the Mappa Mundi, a map of the world as they new it in 1300 A.D. and the oldest medieval map still in existence. It has Jerusalem at its center and the Garden of Eden in a circle at the edge of the world. Great Britain occupies the northwestern part of the map with Hereford noted by the drawing of a cathedral. The circular nature of the map suggests the notion that the world may be round and that this is a projection of that -- well before Columbus sailed the ocean blue. 

When we left the Cathedral, we walked through the nearby Castle Green, which was the site of Hereford Castle. This castle supposedly rivaled Windsor Castle, but fell into ruin and was replaced by gardens. The remnant of the castle moat still exists. 

A brief walk along the river ended with us returning to the old market place in order to catch our Sunday train home.