The historic city of Hereford – Herefordshire, in England, is what is called a cathedral city (it has a historic cathedral). It’s also the county town of Herefordshire, and it can boast of more than 51,000 residents within the city. It’s population makes it the largest single hub of human settlement in the entire county, and it lays along the Wye River, about 16 or so miles to the east of the Welsh border.

It is believed that the name of the city comes from the Anglo-Saxon words “here, ” which means and army or group of soldiers, and “ford, ” which is a spot in a river that can be crossed. The implicit suggestion is that the city is where an army or body of armed men crossed over the Wye River. The city is home to Hereford Cathedral, which can be dated back to the year 1079 and also holds a 13th century map of the known world.

The city was able to attract a charter in 1189, granted by Richard I (“the Lionhearted”) and it’s been recognized as a city even before reliable record keeping was kept by the English. Today, Hereford is recognized as a center of agricultural activity in the wider area. Up until the late 1990s, Hereford was also home to the famous British Special Air Service (SAS), a special operations military executive of some note.

Other products of note to come from the city include cider and beer along with leather products, nickel alloy products, certain chemicals and the famous Hereford breed of cattle, which is one of the most popular breeds of beef cattle among ranchers in the southwest of the United States. Truly, the city can be justifiably proud of its contributions to the worldwide cattle and beef industry.

In terms of its historical development, Hereford is thought to have been founded sometime around 700 AD. It was at one time the capital of West Murcia, a Saxon kingdom. The city’s cathedral was built in the 12th century, and Hereford also was home to a castle that was the equal of Windsor Castle, which the current monarch, Elizabeth II, calls her ancestral home.

Over the course of the civil war that raged in England in the 17th century, Hereford was occupied on several occasions by both opposing forces. The English monarch at the time, King Charles, was deeply appreciative of the support the city gave to his forces and decorated the city’s coat of arms with a number of important symbols. One in particular is found on only one other city’s coat of arms, that of London’s itself.

Hereford resides within the ceremonial county of Herefordshire, which has a current population of around 180,000 people. The county is located in the West Midlands region of England and it is largely rural in nature and lightly populated, overall. It is famous not only for its cattle but for many other agricultural products.

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