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Hereford Cathedral
New faces look out from Hereford Cathedral
29 April 2008
Restoration of south-east clerestory continues
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About » History


HISTORY

There has been a place of worship on the cathedral site since at least the 8th century, although no part of any building survives earlier than the 11th century bishop's chapel.

The medieval cathedral was not monastic: the governing body, known as the Dean and Chapter, were not monks but secular priests who led active lives in the world. They employed the Vicars Choral, a body of clergy who lived a collegiate life in the Vicars Cloister, to sing the daily cathedral services for them.

Statue of St Ethelbert housed in the Cathedral
St. Ethelbert
Welcome

From Michael Tavinor the Dean
The Dean regularly looks at features in the cathedral, seeking to find spiritual meaning in each.
»More

Tuesday 13 May 1.15 pm
Hereford Cathedral
Lunchtime organ concert

Sunday 18 May 3.30 pm
Hereford Cathedral
Choral Evensong
676 Traditional date of the founding of the diocese of Hereford.
794 Ethelbert, young king of the East Angles, comes to Mercia (western England ) to marry the daughter of King Offa. He is murdered by the order of Offa or of the Queen, and later canonised. Saint Ethelbert's remains are interred in Hereford Cathedral and become the centre of a pilgrim cult. The cathedral is dedicated jointly to Ethelbert and the Virgin Mary.
1020-40 Athelstan, bishop 1015-56, rebuilds the Saxon cathedral.
1055 Hereford Cathedral is destroyed by a Welsh army.
1107-48 The building of the Romanesque (Norman) cathedral, much of which survives today.
1282 Thomas Cantilupe, bishop of Hereford , dies in Italy while on a visit to the Papal Court . His bones are buried in the Lady chapel in 1283 and transferred to the shrine in the north transept in 1287.
1320 17 April: Thomas Cantilupe is canonised as Saint Thomas of Hereford.
1349 Cantilupe's remains are moved to a new shrine in the Lady chapel.
1538 The Reformation: Saint Thomas's shrine in the Lady chapel is destroyed.
1640s The Civil War: Hereford is occupied by Parliamentary forces. Under the Commonwealth, cathedral administrations are abolished and their property confiscated.
1660 Restoration of the monarchy under Charles II: cathedral administrations are also restored.
1786 17 April, Easter Monday: the west front and west tower of the cathedral collapse.
1788-95 Restoration of the cathedral by James Wyatt.
1841-48 Restoration of the cathedral by L.N. Cottingham and Dean John Merewether. The medieval screen and many of the 17th and 18th century monuments are removed.
1858-63 Restoration by Sir George Gilbert Scott. Wrought iron choir screen by Francis Skidmore is installed.
1897-1908 Restoration under Dean James Wentworth Leigh.
1967 The Scott screen is removed. (It was restored at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2001.)
1996 New Library Building to house Mappa Mundi and the Chained Library is opened by H.M. Queen Elizabeth II.

Architectural Dates

1079-95 Bishop's chapel of Saints Katherine and Mary Magdalene.
1107-48 Romanesque (Norman) cathedral: nave, choir, transepts, central and western towers.
1186-98 Eastern transepts and retrochoir.
1220-40 Lady chapel and crypt.
1230-40 New Gothic vault and clerestory in choir.
1240-68 New north transept.
1287 Cantilupe shrine in north transept; inner north porch.
1290-1310 Gothic vaults and windows throughout nave and choir aisles; bishop's tombs in choir aisles.
1319 New central and western towers.
1340-55 Bishop's throne and choir stalls; pulpitum (stone screen at east end of nave).
1340-70 Chapter house.
1389-1404 New south window in south transept.
1412 South-west cloister in progress.
1421-48 New west window in south transept.
1472-75 Vicars Choral cloister.
1480s Stanbury chapel.
c.1500 Audley chapel.
1518 Booth porch.
1897 Dean Leigh library.
1902-8 New west front.
1996 New library building.

The most comprehensive history of the cathedral is Hereford Cathedral: a history, edited by Gerald Aylmer and John Tiller, Hambledon Press, 2000, ISBN 1 85285 1945 (available in the Cathedral Shop)
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