This ancient glory was built originally in Norman times and was one of the marvellous achievements of the 12th century which was the golden age of English churchmanship. The Cathedral is thought to go back as far as 1030 but the facts and information on this are quite hazy unfortunately. The name 'cathedral' comes from the Greek meaning for bishop's seat which is 'cathedra'. The central tower is 165 feet high and was built in AD 1300, inside the magnificent cathedral are 12 massive Norman pillars which richly carved capitals and circular arches, the four embellished pennicles were erected in 1830, one of which is damaged. Apparently James Wyatt the architect was called in to restore the cathedral after a devastating fall of the west tower in 1786.When stepping inside the cathedral it really is breathtaking has there is so much architecture and we can't forget to mention the beautiful stain glassed windows. When looking upwards you will see four great Norman arches of the central tower which was built in AD 1200 and was rebuilt a century later, above the ceiling is the bell chamber and the tower clock which was made in 1861.

The choir was made in Norman times and then altered slightly in the 13th century, the bishop's throne goes back to the 14th century, tradition says it was used on Whitsunday of AD 1142 of King Stephen, the North Choir aisle was made by Italian workmen in the 13th century. The North east transept was restored by Sir Gilbert Scott in 1857 and the South east transept has undergone a great change since its original design. The Lady Chapel is from the 13th century and was used has a library hill until 1862.The cathedral organ was apparently a present from King Charles II in 1686 and has been replaced and enlarged from time to time over the years, the organ contains 3,455 speaking pipes. The Hereford cathedral is most famous for its Mappi Mundi which is still on show inside the cathedral. It is a famous world wide map and was designed in AD1300 by Richard de Bello of Haldingham, it was found under the wooden floor of a chantry in the cathedral and in 1813 it was neglected and torn so in 1855 it was sent to the British Museum for it to be cleaned and repaired, in 1863 it was then taken back to the cathedral where it still sits today, the map is 54 inches by 63 inches.

The chained library is also a must see for the cathedral's visitors, in the library are 1, 500 books and 500 are manuscripts, the earliest books at the library dates from 1012-1056, these books were the Hereford Gospels and were authorised by Bishop Athelsan. The library was moved to Lady Chapel in 1590 and in 1841 the books were removed and store din the Vicars Choral Cloister and the cases went to the crypt, in 1897 the books were all moved again, a new two storey building was made and this was called the Dean Leigh Library, the books remained on display to the public here until 1996. Now in the new library building the books have been returned to their bookcases which have all been re- assembled in their original form, this as been the first time this as happened in 150 years. In the medieval days the Cathedral Close was used as a city graveyard and it was also used as the grazing for pigs, it was also the centre for the Ethelbert's fair. The land was enclosed in 1389, this was done by the Dean and Chapter because the pigs were digging up human remains and the loss of grazing led to riots that got out of hand.

Back in the early days the library 1200's books were worth as much as a house and so they used to chain books up so they could not be taken from the library, as the books were so heavy they were moved around the cathedral by a large wooden book chest with a strong pole attached to the top so two men could easily carry the heavy chest around. In the Stanbury Chantry part of the cathedral lye's the tomb of Richard de Capella, Richard built the old wooden bridge Wye Bridge in the city and he was also the King's Chamberlain and Keeper of the Great Seal. There have been sightings of ghostly monks in and around the cathedral. One particular story that stands out was when a Three choirs festival took place in the Lady Chapel area of the cathedral when apparently a monk was seen standing at the end of aisle by a handful of people who were obviously very amazed to see that they had an extra guest! A phantom monk was also seen in broad daylight on the grounds of the cathedral, the monk was spotted five times walking around the grounds in the autumn and winter of 1934, believed afterwards to be at rest, locals were shocked to hear about an 11 year old girl that saw the apparition of a cowled monk in 1956.The ghostly monk apparently wears a brown habit with the hood up and walks along with his hands clasped in front of him, the apparition has also been seen walking along scaffolding back in the 1930's.

There has been many sightings over the years of the monk and history suggests that the monk was a friar defending the building when Hereford was attacked in 1055 has several friars were killed at the time. Not everybody believes that the Cathedral is haunted but with so many ghost sightings over time it is considered to be by some locals and these stories have even been featured in Hereford's local papers.

Text and images © 2010 Natalie Lawrence Haunted-Hereford.co.uk