Hereford was one of the first towns founded in England after the end of Roman Rule. Early Hereford was a frontier town on the border between kingdoms inhabited by the ancestors of the Welsh and of the English before there were such countries as 'Wales' and 'England'.
The English never totally conquered what is now modern Herefordshire as the many Welsh place-names in the county attest - parts of Herefordshire were never in 'Anglo-Saxon' England. Hereford expanded under the Norman and French kings who ruled England from 1066.

French immigrants brought over by the new nobility formed part of the local community, slowly losing their separate identity. With a massive stone castle and a thriving market place, the town became one of the most important in the country. The city’s isolation contributed largely to its economic stagnation in the post-medieval period and many attempts were made to improve Hereford’s communications with the outside world. A horse towing path on the banks of the navigable River Wye was opened in 1810 and a horse-drawn railway opened to the canal wharf at Abergavenny in 1829.

One of the last canals to be built in Britain reached Hereford in 1845. In December 1853 the City of Hereford celebrated the opening of its first railway connection. Regular railway services to South Wales began in January 1854 and lines to Gloucester, Worcester and Brecon were opened in the following ten years.

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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 cross the Wye. Hereford has a cathedral dating from 1079 which contains the Mappa Mundi, a medieval map of the world dating from the 13th century which was restored in the late 20th.

It also contains the world famous Chained Library. An early town charter from 1189 granted by King Richard describes it as 'Hereford in Wales'. [1] This charter also gave Hereford city status, the earliest example of city status being granted, since all earlier cities had been so since time immemorial. See City status in the United Kingdom It is now known chiefly as a trading centre for a wider agricultural and rural area. Products from Hereford include: (Bulmer's) cider, beer, leather goods, nickel alloys, poultry from Sun Valley, chemicals and cattle, including the famous Hereford breed. Hereford is one of only five Historic cities of Britain (see also London and Chester).

The city is the home of the British Special Air Service (SAS). The current member of the House of Commons for Hereford constituency is Paul Keetch. On January 28, 2005, Hereford was granted Fairtrade City status. History Hereford was founded in around 700 AD and became the Saxon capital of West Mercia. The present cathedral dates from the 12th century. Former Bishops of Hereford include Saint Thomas de Cantilupe and Lord High Treasurer of England Thomas Charlton. During the civil war the city changed hands several times. On September 30, 1642, Parliamentarians led by 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 Royalist army under Lord Herbert. The city was again occupied briefly from April 23 to May 18, 1643 by Parliamentarians commanded by Sir William Waller but it was in 1645 that the city saw most action.

On July 31 a Scottish army of 14000 under Alexander Leslie, 1st Earl of Leven besieged the city but met stiff resistance from its garrison and inhabitants. They withdrew on September 1 when they received news that a force led by King Charles was approaching. The city was finally taken for Parliament on December 18 by Colonel Birch and Colonel Morgan. Nell Gwynne, the mistress of King Charles II, is said to have been born in Hereford in 1650 (although other towns and cities, notably Oxford claim her as their own), and a street 'Gwynn Street' is named after her. Hereford is also home to the oldest inhabited building in Britain, the Bishops Palace, built in 1204 and continually used to the present day.