Herefordshire

Not to be confused with Hertfordshire.

For the UK Parliamentary constituency (abolished 1885), see Herefordshire (UK Parliament constituency).

Herefordshire County of Herefordshire
Ceremonial county
Flag Arms of County of Herefordshire Council Coat of arms
Motto:  "Pulchra terra Dei donum" ("This fair land is the gift of God")
Coordinates: 52°05′N 2°45′W
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Region	West Midlands
Established	1 April 1998
Established by	Local Government Commission for England
Preceded by	Hereford and Worcester
Origin	Ancient
Time zone	UTC+0 (GMT)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+1 (BST)
UK Parliament	List of MPs
Police	West Mercia Police
Ceremonial county
Lord Lieutenant	Susan Bligh
High Sheriff	Bob Tabor
Area	2,180 km2 (840 sq mi)
• Rank	26th of 48
Population  (2022)	188,719
• Rank	45th of 48
Density	87/km2 (230/sq mi)
Ethnicity	97.1% White, 1.3% Asian, 0.8% Mixed, 0.5% Black, 0.3% Other
Unitary authority
Council	Herefordshire Council
Control	No overall control
Admin HQ	Hereford
Area	2,180 km2 (840 sq mi)
• Rank	12th of 296
Population  (2022)	188,719
• Rank	106th of 296
Density	87/km2 (230/sq mi)
ISO 3166-2	GB-HEF
GSS code	E06000019
ITL	UKG11
Website	www.herefordshire.gov.uk

Herefordshire (/ˈhɛrfərdʃər/; abbreviated Herefs. or Hfds.) is a historic English county in the West Midlands. It is a ceremonial county and a unitary non-metropolitan county and district, also named in legislation as the County of Herefordshire and governed by Herefordshire Council. It borders the English ceremonial counties of Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh preserved counties of Gwent to the south-west and Powys to the west. The Welsh unitary county covering the part of Gwent next to Herefordshire is Monmouthshire.

Hereford is a cathedral city and is the county town; with a population of approximately 55,800 inhabitants it is also the largest settlement. The county is one of the most rural and sparsely populated in England, with a population density of 82/km² (212/sq mi). The land use is predominantly agricultural and the county is well known for its fruit and cider production, and the Hereford cattle breed.

Constitution

From 1974 to 1998, Herefordshire was part of the former non-metropolitan county of Hereford and Worcester.

Herefordshire was reconstituted both as a new district (effective 19 July 1996) and as a new county (coextensive with the area of the aforementioned district) (effective 1 April 1998) by Statutory Instrument as defined in The Hereford and Worcester (Structural, Boundary and Electoral Changes) Order 1996. This Order established Herefordshire as a unitary authority on 1 April 1998, combining county and district functions into a single council. Herefordshire is also commonly called a unitary district, but this is not official nomenclature. Herefordshire is officially known as a unitary authority for local government purposes. It is governed by Herefordshire Council which was created in 1998 with the new unitary district that absorbed the previous administrative areas of Leominster District Council, South Herefordshire District Council, Hereford City Council, parts of Hereford-Worcester County Council, and parts of Malvern Hills District Council.

The Lieutenancies Act 1997 made Herefordshire a ceremonial county, covering the exact area of the unitary district. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region (code UKG11) and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region.

Physical geography

The River Wye near Ross-on-Wye.

The River Wye, which at 135 miles is the fifth-longest in the United Kingdom, enters the county after briefly being its border with Powys. It flows through both Hereford and Ross-on-Wye before returning to Wales. Leominster is situated on the River Lugg, a tributary of the Wye.

There are two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the county. The Wye Valley is located in the river's valleys south of Hereford, while the Malvern Hills are in the East of the county, along its border with Worcestershire.

History

Main article: History of Herefordshire

Herefordshire is one of the 39 historic counties of England.

In 1974 it was merged with neighbouring Worcestershire to form the Hereford and Worcester administrative county. Within this, Herefordshire was covered by the local government districts of South Herefordshire, Hereford, and part of Malvern Hills and Leominster districts. However, the county was dissolved in 1998, resulting in the return of Herefordshire and Worcestershire as counties.

The current ceremonial county and unitary district have broadly the same borders as the pre-1974 historic county.

Demographics

Population growth

Herefordshire's growth rate has in recent decades been higher than the national average, with the population increasing by 14.4% between 1991 and 2011 - the population of England as a whole increased by only 10.0%. However this has been from a lower base, with only Northumberland and Cumbria having lower population densities than Herefordshire.

Year	Population	% Change
1991	160,400
2001	174,871	9.0%
2011	183,477	4.9%

Ethnicity

The population is 97.1% White, 1.3% Asian, 0.8% Mixed, 0.5% Black and 0.3% Other.

Travellers

Gypsies and Travellers have historically been Herefordshire's largest minority ethnic group. They are made up of three main groups:

• Romanichal or Romany "Gypsies"
• Irish Travellers
• New Travellers or New Age Travellers

Romany Gypsies and Irish Travellers fall within the definition of a minority ethnic group under the Race Relations Amendment Act (2000). They have contributed to the development of the county, for example through seasonal working in orchards.

Cities, towns and villages

Hereford Cathedral. Owing to its cathedral, Hereford is a city; the only one in Herefordshire.

Main article: List of places in Herefordshire

The major settlements in the county include Hereford, which is the county town and Herefordshire's only city, as well as the towns of Leominster, Ledbury, Ross-on-Wye, Kington and Bromyard.

See also Category:Towns in Herefordshire and Category:Villages in Herefordshire.

Economy

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Herefordshire at current basic prices published by the Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Year	Regional Gross Value Added[6]	Agriculture[7]	Industry[8]	Services[9]
1995	1,622	218	567	836
2000	1,885	155	643	1,087
2003	2,216	185	708	1,323

^ includes hunting and forestry

^ includes energy and construction

^ includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured

^ Components may not sum to totals due to rounding

Many well-known cider produces are based in Herefordshire. These include Weston's cider of Much Marcle, and Bulmer's cider, from Hereford, which produces the UK market leader Strongbow.

Employment

Most employment in Herefordshire is in agriculture, manufacturing and services. According to Herefordshire Council's online document "worklessness", 10% of people are unemployed in Herefordshire including out-of-work, homeless, ill and disabled and their carers. Cargill Meats and H.P Bulmers are two of the largest private sector employers, with the Council and NHS being the largest public sector employers.

Politics

Westminster Parliamentary

Main article: List of Parliamentary constituencies in Herefordshire and Worcestershire

There are 2 parliamentary constituencies in Herefordshire, both of which are served by Conservative MPs. The combined vote share at the 2010 General Election was as follows:

General Election 2010 : Herefordshire
Conservative	Liberal Democrats	Labour	UKIP	Green	BNP	Others	Turnout
46,997 +2,267	34,629 +2,124	6,879 −5,345	4,339 +1,758	1,533 −1,710	986 N/A	586 +182	95,949 +262

Council

Main article: Herefordshire Council

The Council operates a cabinet-style council and is Conservative controlled. The Chairman is Councillor Olwyn Barnett, the Cabinet Leader for Herefordshire is Councillor John Jarvis.

The Cabinet Leader is appointed yearly by the full council of 58 councillors. The Cabinet Leader then picks their deputy and six more councillors to form the executive cabinet with a further four councillors holding cabinet support roles. Each cabinet member makes the decisions about the portfolio that they are allocated. Elections to the council are held every 4 years. Elections are conducted under the FPTP system with 31 of the 40 wards returning 1 councillor and 9 returning 2. Elections have been held in 2000, 2003, 2007, and 2011, with the next election due in 2015.

The Herefordshire Youth Council has been running for 4 years; it is chaired by Amy Saunders.

Education

See also: List of schools in Herefordshire

Herefordshire has a comprehensive education system that also includes several independent schools. Most state secondary schools are for ages 11–16. Colleges of further and higher education in the county include Hereford College of Arts, Hereford College of Education, Hereford Sixth Form College, Herefordshire and Ludlow College and the Royal National College for the Blind.

Agriculture

The agricultural economy has changed massively in recent years within the county. The county is on the western edge of England which has been historically pastoral as opposed to the east which was more arable.

Beef

Hereford cattle, such as this bull, originated in the county and are now bred throughout the world.

Probably Hereford's most famous export is its Hereford beef cattle. Herefords are docile but extremely hardy creatures and these attributes have led to their proliferation across the world, particularly the USA, South America and Australia. The breed is so gentle that a Hereford bull has been used as the mascot for Hereford United Football Club for many years, led around the club's Edgar Street ground before major matches.

Fruit

The county is famous for its apple and pear orchards, and its cider. There are many orchards around the county but not as many as there once were.

In the last few years, soft fruits such as strawberries have become a new and rapidly expanding area of the agricultural economy of the county. One of the main reasons for this was the introduction of the polytunnel or French tunnel. This allows the strawberries to be grown for a far longer season and with a higher quality (with no blemishes from the rain). The strawberries are mainly picked by Eastern European workers who come over for the season and often earn more money, more than they could working in their own country and with the bonus, for many of them, of learning or improving their English. The polytunnels have been a major issue in the county, as some people see them as a "blot on the landscape".

Although some polytunnel sites are illegal, Herefordshire Council has turned a blind eye in the belief that agriculture must be allowed to innovate; otherwise it will stagnate and the county will suffer.

Dairy

Previously, most farms in the county had dairy cattle. Due to the cost of investing in new equipment, long hours, BSE, foot-and-mouth disease and mainly falling milk prices, the county's milk production has drastically reduced, with only a few farms still in dairy farming.

Potatoes

As mentioned above, the county is historically pastoral. The soils are mostly clay, meaning that large scale potato production was very difficult, as tractors were not powerful enough to pull the large machinery required to harvest the crop. Around the early 1990s new technology and more powerful machines overcame this problem. Potato production started to increase, fuelled by a few other key factors: The previously pastoral soils had not had potatoes grown in them; consequently they were not infected with eelworm (Heterodera rostochiensis and Heterodera pallida), which in the east of England had to be sprayed against weekly (a large cost). Also, the clay soil produced an unblemished potato of the highest grade. The intensive nature of the crop meant that potatoes could be grown viably on a given field in only one of every five years. Because potato growers always needed more land than they owned, they rented extra. This demand for rental fields came at a time when the rest of the industry was struggling and in serious decline. The potato farmers' rents of £300-500 per acre (as opposed to normally £80 per acre) were very helpful to many farmers in a difficult period.

Emblems

Coat of arms

Herefordshire County Council was granted a coat of arms on 28 February 1946. The arms became obsolete in 1974 on the abolition of the council, but were transferred to the present Herefordshire Council by Order in Council in 1997.

The arms are blazoned as follows:

Gules on a fesse wavy between in chief a lion passant guardant argent and in base a Herefordshire bull's head caboshed proper, a bar wavy azure; and for a Crest on a wreath of the colours a demi lion rampant gules holding in the sinister claw a fleece or; and for Supporters, on the dexter side a lion guardant or gorged with a wreath of hops fructed proper and on the sinister a talbot argent gorged with a collar or charged with three apples proper.

The red colouring ("gules") of the shield is taken from the arms of the City of Hereford. The red colour also represents the red earth of Herefordshire. The silver and blue wave across the centre of the shield represents the River Wye. The lions that form parts of the arms, crest and supporters are also taken from Hereford's arms. The agricultural produce of Herefordshire is represented by the bull's head, fleece, hops and apples. The talbot dog comes from the heraldry of the Talbot family, Marcher Lords of Shrewsbury and also from that of Viscount Hereford.

The Latin motto is: Pulchra terra Dei donum ("This fair land is the gift of God").

County flower

As part of a competition organised by the charity Plantlife to raise awareness of conservation issues, the public were asked to vote for "county flowers" that they felt best represented their county. Mistletoe was announced as the winning choice for Herefordshire in 2004. The emblem has no official status, and has not been widely adopted. Herefordshire Council uses a logo consisting of a green apple.

Sport

Edgar Street is the home ground of Hereford United, the only club from the county to have ever played in The Football League.

Perhaps the most famous sporting team in Herefordshire is Hereford United football club, who have been members of the Football League and play at Edgar Street stadium in the city of Hereford. The club was founded in 1924 on the merger of two local teams - St Martin's and RAOC - and became members of the Birmingham Combination League. The club then made its way upwards to the Southern Football League, finally gaining election to the Football League in 1972 - the same year that the club famously defeated First Division side Newcastle United in an FA Cup tie. Two successive promotions saw the club reach the Second Division in 1978, but two successive relegations followed and saw the club side back into the Fourth Division. Despite being situated within England, the club has competed in the Welsh Cup on a number of occasions, winning the trophy in 1990. The club suffered relegation from the Football League in 1997 and fell into the Football Conference, not regaining its Football League status until 2006. The club then played in Football League Two - the fourth highest division of English football - for six years before once again being relegated out of the Football League at the end of the 2011-12 season. The club was wound up in 2014. A new phoenix club is being set up called Hereford F.C.

Cricket is widely played within the county, and Herefordshire County Cricket Club compete in the Minor Counties Championship, having been elected in 1992 to take Durham's place, when that county joined the First-class structure. The leading club sides in Herefordshire are Brockhampton CC and Eastnor CC, who both compete in the Birmingham and District Premier League, the ECB accredited Premier League for cricket clubs in the West Midlands, and one of the strongest cricket leagues in England. Below that in the cricketing pyramid system 7 other leading Herefordshire clubs compete in the Worcestershire County Cricket League, with the remaining 25 or so cricket clubs within the county competing in the Marches League, or just playing Sunday or mid-week 'friendly' matches.

Places of interest

• Abbey Dore Court
• Arthur's Stone
• Berrington Hall
• Courtyard Centre for the Arts - Hereford's main theatre and art performance centre
• Croft Castle
• Dore Abbey
• Eastnor Castle
• Edgar Street (Football Stadium Home to Hereford United F.C./Hereford F.C.)
• Eye Manor
• Goodrich Castle
• Hampton Court
• Hellens Manor
• Hereford Cathedral
• Kilpeck Church
• Malvern Hills
• Herefordshire Beacon
• Priory Church
• Sutton Walls Hill Fort
• Wigmore Castle

Transport

Road

The M50 motorway near Ledbury and Ross-on-Wye.

The M50, one of the first motorways to be built in the UK, runs through the south of the county and, with the A40 dual carriageway, forms part of the major route linking South Wales with Gloucester, Oxford and London

The hilly nature of the terrain in Mid Wales means that the main ground transport links between North Wales and South Wales run through Herefordshire. The other trunk roads in Herefordshire, the A49 and the A465, form part of these north–south routes as well as catering for local traffic. These are single-carriageway roads and mean that travelling through the county is often slow.

Railways

The Welsh Marches Railway Line also runs north–south with passenger trains operated by Arriva Trains Wales offering links to Manchester as well as to North and South Wales. Hereford is the western end of the Cotswold Line which runs via Worcester with through services to Oxford and London Paddington (operated by First Great Western) and to Birmingham (operated by London Midland).

Former lines which are now closed were Ledbury to Gloucester; Hereford to Ross-on-Wye and onward to Gloucester and Monmouth; Hereford to Hay-on-Wye; Pontrilas to Hay-on-Wye; Hay-on-Wye to Brecon; Leominster to New Radnor; Eardisley to Presteigne; and Leominster to Worcester via Bromyard. Part of the Titley Spur is opened annually by enthusiasts and a steam train is run along the track.

There has long been talk of a new station at Rotherwas, in the south of Hereford.

Arriva Trains Wales service passing the currently closed Pontrilas station on the Welsh Marches Line.

Air

There are no airports with scheduled air services in Herefordshire. Birmingham, Cardiff both have railway stations and Bristol (which involves bus travel from Bristol Temple Meads as well as a change of train in Newport) international airports are the nearest. The RailAir coach operated by First Great Western provides connections to London Heathrow via Reading station or passengers can change at Reading station and then go all the way by train via Hayes & Harlington to Heathrow Airport. Shobdon Aerodrome near Leominster is a centre for general aviation and gliding. Hot air ballooning is also popular with Eastnor Castle being one of the favourite launch sites in the area.

Waterways

Historically, the rivers Wye, Teme and Lugg were navigable but the wide seasonal variations in water levels mean that few craft larger than canoes and coracles are now used. There are canoe centres at The Boat House, Glasbury-on-Wye (in Powys, Wales), the Hereford Youth Service and Kerne Bridge in Ross-on-Wye, as well as rowing clubs in Hereford and Ross-on-Wye.

The early 19th century saw the construction of two canals, The Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal and The Leominster & Stourport Canal but these were never successful and there are now few remains to be seen. The Herefordshire and Gloucestershire Canal is currently the subject a restoration project, which includes the construction of a new canal basin in Hereford city centre as part of the regeneration of the Edgar Street Grid. The project, however, is being undertaken by a small voluntary group and there is no expected date for any part of the canal to re-open for boating.

Notable people

Classical composer Sir Edward Elgar lived in Hereford from 1904 to 1911. His association with the city is commemorated with this statue.

Roman Catholic martyr St. John Kemble's grave in the Herefordshire village of Welsh Newton.

• Elizabeth Hurley, actress
• Dennis Potter, Writer
• Elizabeth Barrett Browning, poet
• Richard Hammond, Top Gear presenter
• Mary Duggan, Women's Cricketer
• Noele Gordon, Actress
• Shane Warne, Cricketer
• Richard Ashcroft, songwriter and lead singer of The Verve
• Monty Don, BBC TV presenter
• Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, favourite of Queen Elizabeth I
• Conroy Maddox, artist
• Beryl Reid, actress
• Jessica Raine, actress
• Sir Edward Elgar, famous composer
• David Garrick, renowned actor of the 18th century
• Lady Godiva, wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia
• Harold Godwinson, Earl of Hereford and last Anglo-Saxon King of England
• Ellie Goulding, musician
• Nell Gwynne, mistress of King Charles II of England
• Terry Jenkins, professional darts player
• St. John Kemble (martyr) Catholic priest
• Francis Kilvert, 19th century diarist and Church of England clergyman
• Albert Lee, legendary country guitarist
• John Masefield, Poet Laureate
• Sidney Nolan, Australian Artist (from the late 1970s)
• John Oldcastle, Lollard leader and basis for Shakespeare's character Falstaff
• Blanche Parry, Lady in Waiting to Queen Elizabeth I
• Peter Scudamore, jockey
• James Honeyman-Scott, guitarist The Pretenders
• Pete Farndon, bass guitarist The Pretenders
• Martin Chambers, drummer The Pretenders
• Tom Spring, bare-knuckle boxer, champion of England in the 19th century
• Thomas Traherne, 17th century poet
• Fred West, serial killer
• Alfred Watkins, pioneering archaeologist and photographer
• Richard Johnson, jockey
• Sir Walter Roper Lawrence, author
• Allan Leonard Lewis Posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, Died 21 September 1918, commemorated on Vis-En-Artois Memorial, France
• Richard Hakluyt Elizabethan writer and geographer who recorded contemporary voyages of exploration and promoted the settlement of North America

See also

• List of Lord Lieutenants of Herefordshire
• List of High Sheriffs of Herefordshire
• Custos Rotulorum of Herefordshire - Keeper of the Rolls
• Herefordshire (UK Parliament constituency) - Historical list of MPs for Herefordshire constituency
• List of schools in Herefordshire

External links

• Herefordshire travel guide from Wikivoyage
• Media related to Herefordshire at Wikimedia Commons
• Template:Dmoz
• Herefordshire Council