Hereford Castle

Hereford Castle is a castle that used to be in the cathedral city of Hereford, the county town of Herefordshire, England (grid reference SO511396). Founded sometime before 1052, it was one of the earliest castles in England. Hereford Castle was probably destroyed when the Welsh sacked Hereford in 1055, but seems to have been replaced by the following decade. During the civil war of King Stephen's reign, the castle was besieged three times; the garrison surrendered each time and control of Hereford Castle changed hands.

During the 11th century, the county of Herefordshire was subject to attacks from Wales. Rather than repairing the town defences of Hereford, the county town, Ralph (son of the Count of Vexin) chose to build a castle within the settlement's defences. Ralph was made Earl of Hereford in about 1046; the date of the castle's foundation is uncertain, but it was present by 1052. This first castle is thought to have occupied the area of the later castle, in the east of the town. The areas to the north and west were densely occupied, and to the south was the River Wye. In 1055, the town and castle of Hereford were sacked by the Welsh. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded the incident:

And they gathered a great force with the Irishmen and the Welsh: and Earl Ralph collected a great army against them at the town of Hereford; where they met; but ere there was a spear thrown the English people fled, because they were on horses. The enemy then made a great slaughter ther – about four hundred or five hundred men; they on the other side none. They went then to the town, and burned it utterly; and the large minster also which the worthy Bishop Athelstan had caused to be built, that they plundered and bereft of relic and of reef, and of all things whatever; and the people they slew, and led some away.

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