Herefordshire

Map of the Herefordshire Area

Herefordshire is located in the West Midlands of the UK and is a historical and ceremonial county. It is bordered to the north by Shropshire, to the east by Worcestershire, to the south east by Gloucestershire. The west of the county is bordered by the Welsh counties of Gwent and Powys. The county was created as a unitary authority from part of the former county of Hereford and Worcester in 1998. Its county town is Hereford which is also a cathedral city and the largest settlement in Herefordshire with a population of 50,000 (source: link). The total population of the county is 177,800 (source: link) with a density of 82 people per km square. This makes it one of the most rural and least densely populated areas in the UK.

The county covers an area of 839.6 (source: link) and it is almost completely drained by the river Wye and in its borders is included a small portion of the Severn Basin. Its highest elevation point is 1194 ft above sea level at the Malvern Hills.

The county is mostly agricultural in economic activity with over four fifths of the area under cultivation and almost two-thirds of this is under permanent pasture. It is famed for its pear and apple orchards which are used to make the largest product of the Herefordshire industry: cider. However, with the introduction of the polytunnel other soft fruits such as strawberries are increasingly grown. The county has always been known for its dairy farming, however the recent foot-and-mouth disease scares along with decreased profitability of new investment has caused the cattle rearing industry in the area to decline. Another prominent product of the agricultural market of Hampshire is potatoes which are grown on the clay soils that the county features.

Some of the notable features of the county are the Herefordshire Beacon, Iron Age Forts, the Hereford Cathedral (built in the 11th century) and the Chained Library which contains over 200 manuscripts and 1400 chained books which date back to the 8th and 12th centuries. Walter Map, the 12th century author, came from Herefordshire as did John Masefield the poet.