Hereford průvodce

Coordinates: 52°03′40″N 2°42′29″W / 52.0611, -2.7081

Hereford (pronounced ['hɛɹəfəd] or ['hɛɹɪfəd]) Welsh: Henffordd (pronounced ['hεnfɔrð] "Henforth") is a city and civil parish in the West Midlands of England, close to the border with Wales and on the River Wye. It is the county town of Herefordshire and with a population of 50,400 is the largest settlement in the county.

The name "Hereford" comes from the Anglo Saxon "here" referring to army or formation of soldiers, and the "ford" coming from an earlier Roman term, also used in Saxon periods, referring to an area of river that soldiers could cross in close formation. Essentially Hereford started out as a place where a body of armed men could ford or cross the Wye^{[citation needed]}.

Hereford Cathedral dates from 1079 and contains the Mappa Mundi, a medieval map of the world dating from the 13th century which was restored in the late 20th century. It also contains the world famous Chained Library.

An early town charter from 1189 granted by King Richard describes it as 'Hereford in Wales'. This charter also gave Hereford city status, the earliest example of city status in the United Kingdom being granted, since all earlier cities had been so since time immemorial.

Hereford was once rated the fourth best city in Britain to live in.^{[citation needed]} It is now known chiefly as a trading centre for a wider agricultural and rural area. Products from Hereford include: cider, beer, leather goods, nickel alloys, poultry, chemicals and cattle, including the famous Hereford breed. The city was the home of the British Special Air Service (SAS) for many years, although the Regiment relocated to nearby Credenhill in the late 1990s.

Licenced under GFDL, derived from Wikipedia.