Page 64 - The Ultimate Herefordshire Guide 2017

mappa mundi ascension magna carta 3 choirs Hereford Cathedral
choral music tower tours world renowned
With a foundation beginning in 676, Hereford Cathedral has been welcoming visitors and pilgrims for over 1,300 years and contains some of the finest examples of art and architecture from Norman times to the present day.
2017 will see the unveiling of the stunning new sculpture and stained glass window commissioned by the SAS Regimental Association by the artist John Maine RA. Called Ascension, this will be a focus for reflection, pilgrimage and worship and is one of the most important pieces of new cathedral art in the world.
Tours of the cathedral, the tower, or 6 acres of award-winning gardens including private gardens can be taken by appointment and the pretty Café provides homemade lunches and tempting cakes. Since 1300C Hereford Cathedral has been the home of the Mappa Mundi, the only complete world map of its kind to have survived, and which contains a fascinating pictorial encyclopaedia of the medieval world. It is one of the cathedral’s greatest treasures and of international importance. The Chained Library, the world’s largest surviving example, was created in 1611 and contains 229 manuscripts dating back to the 8C.
It can be viewed in its original arrangement in a special environmentally controlled building.
The Great Charter of Liberties, or Magna Carta, agreed between King John and his barons at Runnymede in 1215, is one of the most famous documents in history. Considered the foundation of English common law, Hereford Cathedral is fortunate to possess one of the 1217 revised charters, only four of which survive, and the only surviving copy of the Kings Writ which accompanied its issue. Both
will be on display from end July to December 2017.
Recognised for its choral music Hereford will host the famous Three Choirs Festival again in 2018 with many occasions to enjoy listening to Evensong, organ recitals and jazz concerts throughout every year and even weekly.
Find out much more about one of Herefordshire’s most spectacular landmarks at herefordcathedral.org
62 The ULTIMATE Herefordshire Guide