Editing Hereford (section)

==History==
{{see also|History of Herefordshire}}
[[File:Hereford Cathedral, from Church Street.jpg|upright|thumb|Hereford Cathedral, from Church Street]]

Hereford became the seat of [[Putta]], [[Bishop of Hereford]], some time between 676 and 688 AD, after which the settlement continued to grow due to its proximity to the border between [[Mercia]] and [[Wales]], becoming the [[Anglo-Saxons|Saxon]] capital of West [[Mercia]] by the beginning of the 8th century.<ref name=DNB>{{cite odnb |first=Patrick |last=Sims-Williams |title=Putta (died c.688) |year=2004 |id=22912 }}</ref>

Hostilities between the Anglo-Saxons and the [[Britons (historical)|Welsh]] came to a head with the [[Battle of Hereford]] in 760, in which the Britons freed themselves from the influence of the English.<ref>''Annales Cambriae''</ref> Hereford was again targeted by the Welsh during their conflict with the [[Anglo-Saxon]] King [[Edward the Confessor]] in 1056 when, supported by [[Viking]] allies, [[Gruffydd ap Llywelyn]], King of Gwynedd and Powys, marched on the town and put it to the torch before returning home in triumph.<ref name=Archenfeld>{{cite web |url=http://www.archenfield.com/history_anglosaxon.htm |title=Archived copy |website=www.archenfield.com |access-date=15 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304124557/http://www.archenfield.com/history_anglosaxon.htm |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Hereford had the only mint west of the [[Severn]] in the reign of [[Athelstan]] (924–939), and it was to Hereford, then a border town, that Athelstan summoned the leading Welsh princes.<ref>J and M Tonkin, The Book of Hereford, 1975</ref>

The present [[Hereford Cathedral]] dates from the early 12th century, as does the [[Wye Bridge, Hereford|first bridge]] across the Wye.<ref>J. Hillaby, Bishop Richard de Capella and the foundation of Herefordshire's market towns, in Woolhope Naturalists Field Club,Essays in honour of Jim and Muriel Tonkin, 2011</ref> Former [[Bishop of Hereford|Bishops of Hereford]] include [[Thomas Cantilupe|Saint Thomas de Cantilupe]] and Lord High Treasurer of England [[Thomas Charlton (bishop)|Thomas Charlton]].

Hereford was home to a small but relatively important [[History of the Jews in England (1066–1290)|Jewish community]] until 1290, when Jews were [[Edict of Expulsion|expelled from England]] by [[Edward I of England|Edward I]]. Jews from [[Worcester, England|Worcester]] and [[Gloucester]] moved to Hereford after their expulsion in January 1275 by the Queen mother, [[Eleanor of Provence]]. The Bishops of Hereford campaigned against the presence of the community, including Cantilupe, and [[Richard Swinefield]], who tried to stop social contact between Christians and Jews.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Hillaby, Joe |title=The Hereford Jewry, 1179-1290 (third and final part) Aaron le Blund and the Last Decades of the Hereford Jewry, 1253-90 |journal=Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club |date=1990 |volume=XLVI |issue=III |pages=432–487|url=https://www.woolhopeclub.org.uk/document/transaction/transactions-1990}}; esp pp. 463-466</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Hillaby |first1=Joe |last2=Hillaby |first2=Caroline |title=The Palgrave Dictionary of Medieval Anglo-Jewish History |year=2013 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |location=Basingstoke |isbn=9780230278165 |ol= OL28086241M |pages=141–43, 157–67}}</ref>

The city gave its name (translated to French) to two suburbs of [[Paris]]: [[Maisons-Alfort]] (population 54,600) and [[Alfortville]] (population 36,232), due to a manor built there by [[Peter of Aigueblanche]], [[Bishop of Hereford]], in the middle of the 13th century.

A base for successive holders of the title [[Earl of Hereford]], the city was once the site of [[Hereford Castle]], which rivalled that of [[Windsor Castle|Windsor]] in size and scale. This was a base for repelling Welsh attacks and a secure stronghold for English kings, such as [[Henry IV of England|King Henry IV]] when on campaign in the [[Welsh Marches]] against [[Owain Glyndŵr]]. The castle was dismantled in the 18th century and landscaped into Castle Green.

After the [[Battle of Mortimer's Cross]] in 1461, during the [[Wars of the Roses]], the defeated Lancastrian leader [[Owen Tudor]] (grandfather of the future [[Henry VII of England]]) was taken to Hereford by Sir Roger Vaughan and executed in High Town. A plaque now marks the spot of the execution. Vaughan was later himself executed, under a flag of truce, by Owen's son [[Jasper Tudor|Jasper]].

[[File:The Old House, High Town, Hereford - geograph.org.uk - 11172.jpg|thumb|[[The Old House, Hereford|The Old House]], High Town. This timber-framed Jacobean building, built in 1621, is now a museum]]

During the [[English Civil War]], the city changed hands several times. On 30 September 1642, [[Parliament of England|Parliamentarians]] led by [[Robert Harley (1579–1656)|Sir Robert Harley]] and [[Henry Grey, 1st Earl of Stamford]] occupied the city without opposition. In December they withdrew to [[Gloucester]] because of the presence in the area of a [[Cavalier|Royalist]] army under Lord Herbert. The city was again occupied briefly from 23 April to 18 May 1643 by Parliamentarians commanded by [[William Waller|Sir William Waller]], but it was in 1645 that the city saw most [[Military action|action]]. On 31 July 1645, a [[Scotland|Scottish]] army of 14,000 under [[Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven]] [[Siege of Hereford|besieged the city]] but met stiff resistance from its [[garrison]] and inhabitants. They withdrew on 1 September when they received news that a force led by [[Charles I of England|King Charles]] was approaching. The city was finally taken for [[Parliament of England|Parliament]] on 18 December 1645 by [[John Birch (soldier)|Colonel Birch]] and [[Sir Thomas Morgan, 1st Baronet|Colonel Morgan]]. King Charles showed his gratitude to the city of Hereford on 16 September 1645 by augmenting the city's coat of arms with the three lions of [[Richard I of England]], ten Scottish [[Saltire]]s signifying the ten defeated Scottish regiments, a very rare lion crest on top of the coat of arms signifying "defender of the faith" and the even rarer gold-barred peer's helm, found only on the arms of one other municipal authority: those of the [[City of London]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ngw.nl/int/gbr/h/hereford.htm |title=Coat of arms of Hereford (England) |publisher=Ngw.nl |access-date=28 January 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315090804/http://www.ngw.nl/int/gbr/h/hereford.htm |archive-date=15 March 2012 }}</ref>

[[Nell Gwynne]], actress and mistress of King [[Charles II of England|Charles II]], is said to have been born in Hereford in 1650 (although other towns and cities, notably [[Oxford]], claim her as their own); Gwynn Street is named after her.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Weaver |first1=Phillip |title=A Dictionary of Herefordshire Biography |date=2015 |publisher=Logaston Press |location=Almeley, Herefordshire |page=185 }}</ref> Another famous actor born in Hereford is [[David Garrick]] (1717–1779).<ref>Text of plaque on site of Garrick Theatre, Hereford.</ref>

The Bishop's Palace next to the cathedral was built in 1204 and is still in use today.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-769-1/ahds/dissemination/pdf/vol04/4_069_080.pdf |title=Archaeology Data Service |access-date=6 September 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101217231722/http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/arch-769-1/ahds/dissemination/pdf/vol04/4_069_080.pdf |archive-date=17 December 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.localhistories.org/hereford.html |title=A History of Hereford |publisher=Localhistories.org |access-date=28 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107033042/http://www.localhistories.org/hereford.html |archive-date=7 January 2012 }}</ref> Hereford Cathedral School is one of the oldest schools in England. The [[Harold Street drill hall|Harold Street Barracks]] were completed in 1856.<ref name=redditch>{{cite web|url=http://www.redditchadvertiser.co.uk/news/regional/14972455.Plans_to_demolish_former_barracks_to_build_boarding_school_refused/|title=Plans to demolish former barracks in Harold Street, Hereford to build Hereford Cathedral School boarding school refused|date=16 December 2016|publisher=Redditch Advertiser|access-date=24 September 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170924225934/http://www.redditchadvertiser.co.uk/news/regional/14972455.Plans_to_demolish_former_barracks_to_build_boarding_school_refused/|archive-date=24 September 2017}}</ref>

During [[World War I]] in 1916, a [[Garrick Theatre fire, Hereford|fire at the Garrick Theatre]] killed eight young girls who had been performing at a charity concert.<ref name="Chester">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-25154112|title=World War One: Hereford theatre fire killed eight at fundraiser|last=Chester|first=Jerry|date=24 February 2014|work=[[BBC Online]]|access-date=27 February 2014|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140303121958/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-25154112|archive-date=3 March 2014}}</ref>