Hereford Cathedral

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  Hereford Cathedral

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ereford Cathedral is dedicated to St. Mary and St. Ethelbert. In around 792 King Ethelbert of East Anglia was murdered on the order of Offa, King of the Mercians. Ethelbert's body was buried in a wooden church on the site of the present Cathedral. Between 1052 and 1056, in the reign of Edward the Confessor, Bishop Aethelstan built a new church on the site. The new church was destroyed in 1056 by Griffin King of the Welsh who killed the Cathedral's bishop and many of the clergy. The Norman invasion brought some stability and in 1080 under Bishop Losinga rebuilding work began on the Cathedral which had been in ruins since the Welsh attack. There is a chair within the Cathedral supposed to be the chair used by King Stephen at his royal proclamation in 1138.

St. Thomas Cantilupe was Bishop at Hereford from 1275. He was Lord High Treasurer and twice Chancellor of Oxford. He supported Simon de Montfort in his attempts to prevent foreigners taking religious posts in England, and left the country after Simon was defeated. Edward I brought Cantilupe back to become Hereford's Bishop. In 1786 the west end of the Cathedral fell down damaging the Norman nave. Repairs were undertaken by James Wyatt.

Year	Month	Event
1055	Oct	Hereford cathedral attacked
	A force of Welsh and Irish men led by Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, a Welsh prince attacked and burnt the building.
	Oct 24	Rebellion of Aelfgar of Mercia
	Aelfgar, earl of Mercia was outlawed by the witan. In revenge he built a force and allied himself with Welsh Gruffydd ap Llywelyn. After defeating the King's nephew, Radulf, they attacked Hereford and raided the church killing several canons and taking everything of value leaving the building on fire. The rebels also attacked Leominster.[1]
1056		Bishop of Hereford
	Death of Athelstan, bishop of Hereford; succeeded by Leofgar, who tried to take reprisals against Gruffydd, the Welsh Prince.[1]
	Jun	Death of Leofgar, bishop of Hereford
	In reponse to the attack on Hereford Catherdal, Leofgar the bishop of Hereford took an army into Wales to deal with the Welsh prince. In battle Gruffydd ap Llywelyn killed the bishop and others near Glasbury on Wye. Earl Godwin raised an army in response but the two side eventually came to peaceful terms and Aelfgar was later restored to his position.[1]
1080		Hereford Cathedral new building
	Robert de Losinga, a Norman Bishop started work on a new Cathedral at Hereford.[2]
1136		Stephen at Hereford
	Stephen visits Hereford Cathedral for his royal proclamation on Whitsunday. The chair reputed to have been used by Stephen still exists at Hereford.[2]
1226		Lady Chapel at Hereford
	From around 1226 until 1246, construction of the Lady Chapel at Hereford cathedral was undertaken.

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  Hereford Cathedral

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