The true origin of the See of Hereford is lost in remote antiquity.
However, it seems probable from the researches of many antiquarians that
when Putta came to preside here in the seventh century the see was
re-established.
The Rev. Francis Havergal writes on this matter in the beginning of his
_Fasti Herefordenses_.
"The Welsh claim a high antiquity for Hereford as the recognised centre of
Christianity in this district. Archbishop Usher asserts that it was the
seat of an Episcopal See in the sixth century, when one of its bishops
attended a synod convened by the Archbishop of Caerleon (A.D. 544). In the
_Lives of the British Saints_ (Rev. W. J. Reeves, 1853), we learn that
Geraint ab Erbin, cousin of King Arthur, who died A.D. 542, is said to
have founded a church at Caerffawydd, the ancient British name for
Hereford. In Wilkin's _Concilia_, I. 24, it is recorded that beyond all
doubt a Bishop of Hereford was present at the conference with St.
Augustine, A.D. 601. Full particulars are given of the supposed time and
place of this conference. It is also stated--'_In secunda affuisse
perhibentur septem hi Britannici episcopi Herefordensis, Tavensis alias
Llantavensis, Paternensis, Banchoriensis, Chirensis alias Elinensis,
Uniacensis alias Wiccensis, Morganensis._' It is styled '_Synodus
Wigornensis_,' or according to Spelman, '_Pambritannicam_.' Nothing
whatever is known of the names or of the number of British bishops who
presided over the earliest church at Hereford."
The boundaries of this diocese in the tenth century are defined in
Anglo-Saxon in an ancient volume known as the _Mundy Gospels_, now in the
library of Pembroke College, Cambridge.
"The condition of the Church of Hereford (_circa_ 1290 A.D.) gave clear
testimony to the liberal piety of its founders by the extensiveness of its
lands. The diocese itself was richly endowed by nature, and enviably
situated. Those of St. Asaph, Lichfield, Worcester, Llandaff, and St.
David's, were its neighbours. On the north it stretched from where the
Severn enters Shropshire to where that river is joined on the south by the
influx of the Wye. From the west to the east perhaps its greatest width
might have been found from a point where the latter river, near Hay,
leaves the counties of Radnor and Brecon, by a line drawn to the bridge at
Gloucester. It embraced portions of the counties of Radnor, Montgomery,
Salop, Worcester, and Gloucester, and touched upon that of Brecon. It
included the town of Monmouth, with four parishes, in its neighbourhood.
The Severn environed its upper part. Almost midway it was traversed by the
Teme, and the Wye pursued its endless windings through the lower
district,--a region altogether remarkable for its variety, fertility, and
beauty, abounding in woods and streams, rich pastures, extensive forests,
and noble mountains. In several of the finest parts of it Episcopal manors
had been allotted, furnishing abundant supplies to the occupiers of the
see."(8)
In the early history of British dioceses, territorial boundaries were so
vague as to be scarcely definable, but one of the earliest of the bishops
holding office prior to the landing of Augustine was one Dubric, son of
Brychan, who established a sort of college at Hentland, near Ross, and
later on removed to another spot on the Wye, near Madley, his birthplace,
being guided thither by the discovery of a white sow and litter of
piglings in a meadow; a sign similar to the one by which the site of Alba
Longa was pointed out to the pious son of Anchises.
Dubric probably became a bishop about 470, resigned his see in 512, and
died in Bardsey Island, A.D. 522.
It was this Dubric who is said to have crowned Arthur at Cirencester, A.D.
506. When he became bishop he moved to Caerleon, and was succeeded there
by Dewi, or David, who removed the see to Menevia (St. David's).
The Saxons were driving the British inhabitants more and more to the west,
and before the close of the sixth century they had founded the Mercian
kingdom, reaching beyond the Severn, and in some places beyond the Wye.
The See of Hereford properly owes its origin to that of Lichfield, as
Sexwulf, Bishop of that diocese, placed at Hereford Putta, Bishop of
Rochester, when his cathedral was destroyed by the Mercian King Ethelred.
From Bede we learn that in 668 A.D. Putta died, and that one Tyrhtel
succeeded him, and was followed by Torhtere.
Wahlstod, A.D. 731, the next Bishop, is referred to by both Florence of
Worcester and William of Malmsbury, as well as Bede. We also hear of him
in the writings of Cuthbert, who followed him in 736. Cuthbert relates in
some verses that Wahlstod began the building of a great and magnificent
cross, which he, Cuthbert, completed.
Cuthbert died, A.D. 758, and was followed by Podda, A.D. 746. The names of
these early Bishops cannot all be regarded as certain, and their dates
are, in many cases, only approximate. Some of them may have been merely
assistants or suffragans to other Bishops of Hereford.
The remaining Bishops of Hereford, prior to the Conquest, we give in the
same order as the Rev. H. W. Phillott in his valuable little _Diocesan
History_.
A.D. 758, Hecca.
777, Aldberht.
781, Esne.
793, Cedmand (doubtful).
796, Edulf.
798, Uttel.
803, Wulfheard.
824, Beonna.
825, Eadulf (doubtful).
833, Cedda.
836, Eadulf.
838, Cuthwulf.
866, Deorlaf.
868, Ethelbert.
888, Cynemund.
895, Athelstane I.
901, Edgar.
930, Tidhelm.
935, Wulfhelm.
941, Elfric.
966, Ethelwolf.
1016, Athelstane II.: he rebuilt the cathedral "from the foundations";(9)
but also saw it destroyed in a raid of the Welsh and Irish under Elfgar.
1056, Leofgar, slain in a fight with the Welsh.
*Walter of Lorraine*, A.D. 1061-1079. The diocese had been administered
for the last four years by the Bishop of Worcester, when Queen Edith's
chaplain, a foreigner by birth, Walter of Lorraine, was appointed. Beyond
a probably satirical reference by William of Malmsbury, all that is known
of Walter is an account of a discreditable death.
*Robert de Losinga*, A.D. 1079-1095. A man of much learning and ability.
During his episcopate, according to William of Malmsbury, the cathedral
was rebuilt after the pattern of Charlemagne's church at Aix-la-Chapelle.
In his time also Walter de Lacy built the Church of St. Peter at Hereford.
He was a keen man of business, and it has been suggested that he was open
to bribery, but this accusation is hardly compatible with his intimate
companionship with the high-minded Wulstan, Bishop of Worcester, the date
of whose death, January 19, 1095, is included in the calendar of the
Hereford Service-Book.
[Illustration: A GARGOYLE IN THE CLOISTERS. DRAWN BY A. HUGH FISHER.]
A GARGOYLE IN THE CLOISTERS. DRAWN BY A. HUGH FISHER.
*Gerard*, A.D. 1096-1101. Three days after the body of William Rufus had
been brought from the forest to Winchester by Purkiss, the charcoal
burner, Gerard, who was the Bishop of Winchester's nephew, assisted at the
coronation of Henry I., for which service it was said he was promised the
first vacant archiepiscopal see. The King tried to evade the bargain a few
years later by promising to increase the Hereford income to the value of
that at York, but Gerard carried the day and obtained his promotion.
*Reynelm*, A.D. 1107-1115, Chancellor to Queen Matilda; he resigned his
appointment as soon as it was conferred, on account of the King's quarrel
with Anselm on the question of investiture, was banished for six years,
and was only consecrated in 1107. He is said to have been the founder of
the hospital of St. Ethelbert, and continued the work in the Cathedral
begun by Robert de Losinga. He regulated the establishment of prebendaries
and canons living under a rule.
*Geoffrey de Clive*, A.D. 1115-1119. During the latter years of this
episcopate, a question of jurisdiction over the districts of Ergyng and
Ewias, which had begun in the previous century, was revived between the
Bishop of Llandaff and the Bishops of Hereford and St. David's.
*Richard de Capella*, A.D. 1120-1127, King's chaplain and keeper of the
Great Seal under the Chancellor. He helped to build at Hereford a bridge
over the Wye.
During his episcopate the Royal Charter was granted for the annual holding
of a three days' fair (increased to nine days later) commencing on the
evening of the 19th of May, called St. Ethelbert's Day.
Nine-tenths of the profits of this fair went to the Bishop and the rest to
the Canons of the Cathedral. The bishop's bailiff held a court within the
palace precincts, with pillory and stocks. The bishop also had a gaol for
the incarceration of offenders against his rights during fair-time.
Tolls were levied at each gate of the city. The suspension of civic
authority during fair-time was for centuries a source of frequent
quarrels. As late as the eighteenth century a ballad-singer was punished
by the bishop's officers.
The wreck of the "White Ship" occurred during this episcopate (Nov. 25th,
1120), and one of the victims was Geoffrey, Archdeacon of Hereford.
*Robert de Bethune*, A.D. 1131-1148, had become prior of his monastery at
his native place of Bethune, in French Flanders, and thence had gone to
Llanthony, a priory in a glen of the Hatteral Hills in the disputed
district of Ewias.
When later on the country was torn and despoiled with the bitter struggle
for the Crown, Bishop Robert, who was a personal friend of Henry, Bishop
of Winchester, the King's brother, sided with Stephen.
Hereford was seized near the beginning of the campaign by Geoffrey de
Talebot, and held by him for four or five weeks for the Empress Matilda.
It was then captured by Stephen, and the victory celebrated in the
cathedral on Whitsunday (A.D. 1138), when the King attended mass wearing
his crown, and seated, it is said, in the old chair described in an
earlier chapter.
In 1139, the Empress's army again attacked Hereford, and seizing the
cathedral, drove out the clergy, fortified it, and used it as a vantage
ground from which to attack the castle. The tower was used as a platform,
from which missiles were thrown, and the nave as a stable; while a trench
and rampart was carried across the graveyard.
Bishop Robert was present at Winchester when the Empress was accepted
there by the clergy, and returned thence to Hereford to purify the
cathedral. He died at Chalons of a disease contracted while attending a
council of Pope Eugenius III.
The Pope decided that his body should be taken to Hereford, and it was
enclosed in the hide of an ox for the journey. Both at Canterbury and at
London were great demonstrations of grief, which were again repeated at
Ross, and on a still larger scale at Hereford. Bishop Robert was
undoubtedly a great man, and his reputation for fine character, bravery,
and ability was well deserved.
*Gilbert Foliot*, A.D. 1148-1163, the next Bishop, had been consecrated as
Abbot of St. Peter's, Gloucester, by Bishop Robert, with whom he had
contracted an early friendship as far back as 1139.
On the death of Bishop Robert, he was consecrated at St. Omer. He assisted
at the consecration of Becket at Canterbury, and the next year was
transferred to the See of London. He was followed by *Robert of Maledon*,
A.D. 1163-1168, said to have been remarkably wise.
Amongst his pupils he numbered John of Salisbury. He attended the council
of Clarendon, A.D. 1162, and in 1164 was present at the meeting at
Northampton between Becket and the King.
Such was the fury and importance of the Becket controversy that even
distant Hereford was entangled with it. Two Hereford Bishops took part in
the quarrel, and it was through this that the see continued vacant for six
years after Bishop Robert's death.
Notwithstanding the rigorous order of Henry VIII., A.D. 1538, for the
destruction of all images and pictures of Bishop Becket, there still
existed in the cathedral, till late in the seventeenth century, a wall
painting of the Archbishop, and even yet in the north-east transept there
remains a figure of him in one of the windows in good preservation. The
enamelled chasse or reliquary, with scenes of Becket's murder and
entombment, and its dark but doubtful stain, has already been described
among the treasures of the cathedral.
Some four miles from Hereford is yet another memorial still remaining in a
well-preserved window of painted glass at Credenhill, a part of which
represents the murdered Becket. Lastly, the festival of the translation of
St. Thomas of Canterbury, July 7, is still included in the cathedral
calendar.
*Robert Foliot*, A.D. 1174-1186, had been a friend of Becket's, and may
have had some share in his education.
*William de Vere*, A.D. 1186-1199, removed the apsidal termination at the
east end of the cathedral, and is said to have erected chapels, since
replaced by the Lady Chapel and its vestibule.
*Giles de Braose*, A.D. 1200-1215, a stubborn opponent of King John.
*Hugh de Mapenor*, A.D. 1216-1219, received his appointment by the
influence of the papal legate, who, after King John's submission, claimed
the right of nomination to all vacant sees and benefices.
*Hugh Foliot*, A.D. 1219-1234, founded the Hospital of St. Katherine at
Ledbury, in which still hangs a portrait of him, painted from an older
picture. A tooth of St. Ethelbert was presented to the cathedral during
his episcopacy. He endowed the Chapels of St. Mary Magdalene and St.
Katherine, in the ancient building adjoining the Bishop's palace,
destroyed in the eighteenth century.
*Ralph de Maydenstan*, A.D. 1234-1239, presented to the see a house in
Fish Street Hill, London, as a residence for the bishops when in the
metropolis. He also made various gifts to the cathedral, the chapter, and
the college of vicars choral. This Bishop was one of the commissioners to
settle the marriage of Henry III. with Eleanor of Provence.
*Peter of Savoy (Aquablanca)*, A.D. 1240-1268, a native of Aqua Bella,
near Chambery, whose appointment was an instance of the preference Henry
III. showed for foreigners. One of the most unpopular men in England; he
was hand in glove with the weak-minded, waxen-hearted King in schemes for
money getting.
Bishop Aquablanca probably built the graceful north-west transept of the
cathedral, containing the shrine under which lie the remains of his
nephew, a Dean of Hereford, together with his own, except the heart. This
was carried, as he had requested it should be, to the church he had
founded in his native place.
*John de Breton*, or Bruton, A.D. 1268-1275.
*Thomas de Cantilupe*, A.D. 1275-1282. Born A.D. 1220, he showed, as a
child, unusual religious zeal, was educated at Oxford and Paris, and for
some years filled the office of Chancellor of England at the choice of the
barons. This post he lost on the death of Simon de Montfort. When he was
elected by the Chapter of Hereford to fill the episcopal chair on De
Breton's death he was only persuaded to accept it with difficulty.
Bishop Cantilupe was renowned for his extreme piety and devotional habits.
In a dispute concerning the chace of Colwall, near Malvern Forest, from
which was derived the Bishop's supply of game, he maintained successfully
the episcopal rights. He was also triumphant in a more important quarrel
with the Welsh King Llewellyn about the wrongful appropriation of three
manors.
When Lord Clifford was in trouble for plundering his cattle and
maltreating his tenants, Bishop Cantilupe inflicted personal chastisement
upon him with a rod in the cathedral. The clergy no less than laymen did
he subdue, appealing when necessary to the Pope.
In a quarrel arising out of a matrimonial case, in which the defendant
appealed to Canterbury against a sentence of the sub-dean of Hereford, he
was at last excommunicated by the Archbishop for refusing to go to discuss
the affair with him at Lambeth. At Rome he obtained a favourable decree,
but died in Tuscany on the homeward journey.
As already described, his remains were finally laid with great pomp in the
Lady Chapel.
Five years later the bones of Bishop Cantilupe were moved to the Chapel of
St. Katherine, in the north-west transept. Twice more were they moved,
finally resting in the same Chapel of St. Katherine.
*Richard Swinfield*, A.D. 1283-1316, the next Bishop, had been Bishop
Cantilupe's devoted chaplain. He kept wisely aloof from politics, but
offered a keen resistance to any infringement on the rights of his
diocese. Several boundary questions were settled by Bishop Swinfield, and
in 1289-90 he made a tour through his diocese, of which has come down to
us a journal of daily expenses.
Bishop Swinfield was the probable builder of the nave-aisles and two
easternmost transepts. In his time the "_Mappa Mundi_" came into
possession of the Chapter.
He worked hard to obtain the Canonisation of his illustrious predecessor,
but it was not till four years after his death that Pope John XXII.
granted an act for the purpose. He was buried in the cathedral.
*Adam Orleton*, A.D. 1316-1327, was a friend of Roger Mortimer, and
consequently was opposed to Edward II. Throughout the struggle of those
many miserable years the affairs of the diocese were dragged in the mire
of civil war. It was the Bishop of Hereford who, at Neath Abbey, took the
King, carried him to Kenilworth, and deprived him of the Great Seal. The
Queen was staying at Hereford, and thither many of the King's adherents
were taken with the Chancellor and Hugh Despenser. The last-named was
hanged in the town, decapitated, and quartered.
Bishop Adam showed much ability in managing the affairs of the cathedral.
He obtained a grant of revenues of two churches from Pope John XXII. for
monies necessary for the dedication of the Cantilupe shrine, and also for
repairs in the cathedral. He was followed on his translation to Worcester
by
*Thomas Charleton*, A.D. 1328-1343, who was made treasurer of England in
1329. In 1337 he went to Ireland as chancellor. He died in 1343.
*John Trilleck*, A.D. 1344-1360. The Black Death reached Herefordshire in
1349, and Bishop Trilleck is said to have kept it at bay in the city by a
procession of the shrine of the recently canonised St. Thomas of Hereford.
Bishop Trilleck was buried in the cathedral, and a fine brass effigy was
placed on his grave. "Gratus, prudens, pius" are among the words which may
be still read from the mutilated inscription, and they appear to have had
more justification than the rhetoric of the average epitaph.
[Illustration: TOMB OF BISHOP THOS. CHARLETON.]
TOMB OF BISHOP THOS. CHARLETON.
*Lewis Charleton*, A.D. 1361-1369, was appointed by papal provision. The
Black Death made a second visitation in the first year of his episcopate,
and it was then that the market was removed to some distance from the town
on the west. The "White Cross" there placed, which bears the arms of
Bishop Charleton, may mark the spot. He bequeathed money and some books to
the cathedral.
*William Courtenay*, A.D. 1370-1375, was also appointed by papal
provision, which was necessary in consequence of his youth. Although he
had already held a canonry of York and prebends in Exeter and Wells in
addition to the Chancellorship of Oxford University, he was but
twenty-eight years of age. At Oxford he had, with Wicliff, opposed the
friars, though he afterwards turned against his former ally.
*John Gilbert*, A.D. 1375-1389, with partial success, went to make terms
of peace with Charles VI., the French King. He became treasurer of England
in 1386, an office of which he was deprived by Richard II. not long before
his translation to St. David's. Bishop Gilbert founded the Cathedral
Grammar School.
*Thomas Trevenant*, A.D. 1389-1404. An active politician, this Bishop
assisted in the deposition of King Richard II., and was one of the
commissioners to the Pope to announce the accession of Henry IV.
*Robert Mascall*, A.D. 1404-1416, was employed as a foreign ambassador by
Henry IV., who also made him his confessor. He attended the council of
Constance in 1414.
*Edmund Lacy*, A.D. 1417-1420. This Bishop began to build the cloister
connecting the cathedral with the Episcopal palace.
*Thomas Polton*, A.D. 1420-1421, was consecrated at Florence, and the next
year was translated to Chichester.
*Thomas Spofford*, A.D. 1421-1448, Abbot of St. Mary's at York, to which
post he returned on resigning his see in 1448. According to a papal bull
he laid out 2,800 marks on the buildings of the cathedral,--probably
completing the cloisters begun by Bishop Lacy. His pension on retiring was
L100 per annum. The great west window of the cathedral was put up in his
time by William Lochard.
*Richard Beauchamp*, A.D. 1448-1450. Son of Sir Walter, and grandson of
Lord Beauchamp of Powick, he was a great architect in his day, although
his chief work was done after his translation to Salisbury, when he was
appointed by Edward IV. to superintend the works at Windsor which included
the rebuilding of St. George's Chapel where he was buried. It is said he
was the first Chancellor of the Order of the Garter.
*Reginald Buller*, A.D. 1450-1453, Abbot of St. Peter's, Gloucester, was
translated to Lichfield. He was buried in Hereford Cathedral.
*John Stanberry*, A.D. 1453-1474, was a Carmelite friar at Oxford, and was
chosen by King Henry VI. to be his confessor, and also first Provost of
Eton. In 1448 he was made Bishop of Bangor, and five years later was
translated to Hereford. After the battle of Northampton (July, 1460), he
was taken prisoner and was incarcerated for some time in Warwick Castle.
On his release he retired to the convent of his order at Ludlow, where he
died in May, 1474. He was buried at Hereford, near his own Chantry Chapel,
which still bears his name. He gave land from the garden of the bishop's
palace for building a dwelling-house for the vicars choral, which was
completed in 1475.
*Thomas Mylling*, A.D. 1474-1492, the next Bishop, was Abbot of St.
Peter's, Westminster, where he had been a monk. King Edward IV. made him a
Privy Councillor and gave him the see of Hereford in remembrance of his
services to Elizabeth Woodville, whom he received into sanctuary when her
husband had to fly to Holland. After his death his body was carried to
Westminster, and the stone coffin is still there which is said to have
enclosed his remains.
*Edmund Audley*, A.D. 1492-1502, a prebendary of Lichfield, of Lincoln,
and of Wells, was Bishop of Rochester in 1480, translated to Hereford in
1492, and to Salisbury in 1502. The beautiful chantry chapel on the south
side of the Lady Chapel, near the shrine of St. Thomas of Cantilupe, was
founded by him. He also presented a silver shrine to the cathedral, and a
pulpit at St. Mary's, Oxford, is said to be his gift.
*Adrian de Castello*, A.D. 1503-1504. He conducted the negotiations
between Henry VII. and the Pope; and he was translated from Hereford to
Bath and Wells, but never visited either see.
*Richard Mayhew*, A.D. 1504-1516, was made in 1480 the first regular
president of Bishop Waynflete's new College of St. Mary Magdalene at
Oxford. He was also Chancellor of the University, and almoner to King
Henry VII., by whom he had been sent in 1501 to bring the Infanta
Katharine of Aragon from Spain as the bride of Prince Arthur.
He was buried near the effigy of St. Ethelbert on the south side of the
choir, where his tomb is still to be seen.
*Charles Booth*, A.D. 1516-1535, Archdeacon of Buckingham, and Chancellor
of the Welsh Marches, left a lasting memorial in the north porch of the
cathedral, which bears upon it the date of his death. He seems to have
been much in the King's favour, and was summoned in 1520 to make one of
the illustrious company on the Field of the Cloth of Gold. He was attached
to the company of Henry's "dearest wife, the queen," and was accompanied
by thirty "tall personages."
On his death he left some books to the library, as well as a tapestry for
the high altar; also to his successor a gold ring and other articles which
have disappeared.
*Edward Foxe*, A.D. 1535-1538. This "principal pillar of the Reformation,"
as Fuller calls him, is said by Strype to have been "an excellent
instrument" in its general progress.
A Gloucestershire worthy, having been born at Dursley in that county, he
was sent first to Eton and then to Cambridge, becoming, in 1528, Provost
of King's College. In 1531 he succeeded Stephen Gardiner as Archdeacon of
Leicester. For many years almoner to the King, he was employed in
embassies to France, Italy, and Germany, the most important of these
diplomatic missions being in February, 1527, when he was sent to Rome with
Gardiner to negotiate in the matter of Henry's separation from his
"dearest wife."
Foxe first introduced Cranmer to the King; and he, again, wrote the book
called _The Difference between the Kingly and the Ecclesiastical Power_,
which Henry wished people to think he had partly written himself,
intended, as it was, to make easier his assumption of ecclesiastical
supremacy.
In August, 1536, Bishop Foxe began, by deputy, a visitation of the diocese
for the valuation of all church property therein, in accordance with the
order referred to above. Dr. Coren, his vicar-general, actually carried
out the valuation, and its results are to be found in the pages of _Valor
Ecclesiasticus_, printed by the Record Commissioners in 1802.
In March, 1535-6, an Act was passed by Parliament granting to the King all
religious houses possessing a revenue under L200 per annum. There were
about eighteen houses in the diocese, excluding the cathedral, and of
these only the priories of Wenlock, Wigmore, and Leominster possessed
revenues exempting them from appropriation. Bishop Foxe died in London in
May, 1538, and was buried in the Church of St. Mary Monthalt.
*John Skypp*, A.D. 1539-1552. The Archdeacon of Leicester, Edmund Bonner,
was appointed to the see on Foxe's death, but was removed to London before
his consecration, and John Skypp, Abbat of Wigmore, Archdeacon of Dorset,
and chaplain and almoner to Ann Boleyn, became the next Bishop.
He was associated with Cranmer, though, after Cromwell's execution for
high treason in 1540, the Archbishop became distant towards him. He was
the part compiler with Foxe of the _Institution of a Christian Man_,
published in 1537, of the _Erudition_ or _King's Book_, published in 1543,
and was probably one of the committee employed to draw up the first Common
Prayer-Book of Edward VI., in 1548, although, on its completion, he
protested against its publication. He died in 1552 at the episcopal
residence in London.
*John Harley*, A.D. 1553-1554, was appointed by Edward VI. to hold the see
"during good behaviour." He was consecrated on May 26, 1553, but only to
be deposed in March, 1554. Soon after Mary came to the throne, she
appointed a commission of bishops to deprive the bishops appointed during
the reign of her brother. On various charges, and especially on that of
"inordinate life" (meaning marriage), the bishopric of Harley was declared
void. He is said to have spent the remainder of his life wandering about
in woods "instructing his flock, and administering the sacrament according
to the order of the English book, until he died, shortly after his
deposition, a wretched exile in his own land."
*Robert Parfew*, A.D. 1554-1557, also known as Wharton, was instituted to
the Hereford See at St. Mary's Church, Southwark, by Lord Chancellor
Gardiner. He had been Abbat of St. Saviour's, Bermondsey, as well as
Bishop of St. Asaph, attended the baptism of Prince Edward, and was one of
those concerned in the production of the _Bishop's Book_. On his death,
September 22, 1537, he bequeathed his mitre and other ornaments to
Hereford Cathedral, though whether he was buried there or in Mold Church
seems doubtful. The Dean of Exeter, Dr. Thomas Reynolds, was appointed to
succeed him, but was imprisoned in the Marshalsea, on the accession of
Elizabeth, before he had been consecrated, and died there in 1559. Fuller,
in his _Church History of Britain_, remarks: "I take the Marshalsea to be,
in those times, the best for the usage of prisoners, but O the misery of
God's poor saints in Newgate, under Alexander the gaoler! More cruel than
his namesake the coppersmith was to St. Paul; in Lollard's Tower, the
Clink, and Bonner's Coal-house, a place which minded them of the manner of
their death, first kept amongst coals before they were burnt to
ashes."(10)
*John Scory*, A.D. 1559-1585, was translated from Chichester. On the
accession of Mary, 1553, he is said to have done penance for his marriage,
and generally reconciled himself with Rome, then to have withdrawn to
Friesland and retracted his recantation, becoming superintendent to the
English congregation there. When Elizabeth came to the throne he returned,
preached before her by appointment in Lent, 1558, was restored to
Chichester, and later on was elected to Hereford.
During his episcopate the persuasive Queen induced Bishop Scory to
surrender to the Crown nine or ten of the best manors belonging to the
see, and to receive in exchange advowsons and other less valuable
possessions. In these transactions it is possible he thought more of his
own interest than that of his successors; in any case, serious charges
were brought against him in other ways. His steward Butterfield drops into
verse on the subject. One of his stanzas runs:--
Then home he came unto our queene, the fyrst year of her raigne,
And byshop was of Hereford, where he doth now remaine;
And where hee hath by enemyes oft, and by false slanderous tongues,
Had troubles great, without desert, to hys continuall wronges.
Bishop Scory was succeeded by *Harberd (or Herbert) Westphaling*, A.D.
1585-1601, Prebendary of Christ Church, Oxford: a man remarkable for the
immoderate length of his speeches, his great integrity, and a profound and
unsmiling gravity. He married a sister of the wife of Archbishop Parker,
and before his election to Hereford was treasurer of St. Paul's and Dean
of Windsor.
According to Sir John Harrington, Bishop Westphaling was once preaching in
his cathedral when a mass of frozen snow fell upon the roof from the
tower, creating a panic among the frightened congregration[**typo:
congregation]. But the Bishop, remaining in his pulpit, exhorted them to
keep their places and fear not. He spent all that he had in revenues from
the see in charity and good works, leaving, says Fuller, "no great, but a
well-gotten estate, out of which he bequeathed twenty pounds per annum to
Jesus College in Oxford." He lies in the north transept of the cathedral,
where his effigy can still be seen.
*Robert Bennett*, A.D. 1602-1617, a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge,
was a famous tennis player.
Queen Elizabeth had imprisoned him for a short time for preaching against
her projected marriage with the Duke of Anjou, but made him Dean of
Windsor towards the close of her reign. He is said to have been vain, and
especially fond of having his name and arms carved on house fronts. In
1607 the old quarrel about the Bishop's rights respecting St. Ethelbert's
fair broke out again between the citizens and Bishop Bennett. He spent
large sums on the restoration of the Bishop's Palace. Bishop Bennett was
buried on the north side of the choir, where his tomb remains with effigy.
*Francis Godwin*, A.D. 1617-1633, translated to Hereford from Llandaff,
which preferment he is said to have obtained from the Queen on account of
his commentary _De Praesulibus Angliae_. He also wrote other historical
works, including a life of Queen Mary. To quote again from Fuller, "He was
stored with all polite learning both judicious and industrious in the
study of antiquity, to whom not only the Church of Llandaff (whereof he
well deserved) but all England is indebted, as for his other learned
writings, so especially for his catalogue of Bishops." He was buried at
Whitbourn, in a residence belonging to the see of Hereford, on April 29,
1633.
*William Juxon*, Dean of Worcester, and President of St. John's College,
Oxford, was chosen to follow Bishop Godwin, but before consecration was
called to London. During his episcopacy in that see, he was by Bishop
Laud's procurement made Lord Treasurer of England. Fuller says of his
administration of these duties that "No hands, having so much money
passing through them, had their fingers less soiled therewith."
*Augustine Lindsell*, A.D. 1633-1634, Bishop of Peterborough, was
confirmed on March 24, 1633, but in November of the following year was
found dead in his study.
*Matthew Wren*, A.D. 1635-1635, Dean of Windsor, held a still briefer
episcopate, and in the same year as his consecration to Hereford was
translated to Norwich.
*Theophilus Field*, A.D. 1635-1636, who had been Bishop of Llandaff and of
St. David's, died a year after his translation, and thereby saved the
diocese the ill effects of a longer term of servile and corrupt
management.
*George Coke*, A.D. 1636-1646, Fellow of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, became
Bishop of Bristol in 1633, and was translated to Hereford in 1636. He was
a grave and studious man, and well loved in his diocese, but in the
troubled days of the Civil War was deprived of his see.
*Nicholas Monk*, A.D. 1661-1661, who followed, was brother to the Duke of
Albemarle, and provost of Eton. He died in the December following his
consecration, at Westminster, where he was buried.
*Herbert Croft*, A.D. 1662-1671. The son of Sir Herbert Croft, of an
ancient family in the county of Hereford, he was brought up at Douai and
St. Omer as a Jesuit, but was restored to the English Church through the
influence of Bishop Morton, of Durham. He became a determined opponent of
Romanism, and wrote several treatises against it. About this time there
seems to have been an appeal to the nobility and gentry of the county for
help towards restoring the cathedral. Bishop Croft was buried in the
cathedral, and joined to his gravestone is that of his intimate friend
George Benson, the Dean. He left by his will a sum of money for the relief
of widows, and for apprenticing the sons of clergymen of the diocese.
*Gilbert Ironside*, A.D. 1691-1701, warden of Wadham College, Oxford, was
translated to Hereford from Bristol. He died in London, and was buried in
the church of St. Mary, Monthalt. This church was destroyed in 1863, but
the Rev. F. T. T. Havergal succeeded in getting the Bishop's remains and
tomb-stone removed to Hereford Cathedral a few years later, in 1867.
*Humphrey Humphreys*, A.D. 1701-1712, a Welshman, was translated to
Hereford from Bangor. He is said to have been a good antiquary. Again, in
the early days of the eighteenth century, was the old contest revived
between citizens and Bishop as to his jurisdiction in respect of the fair
of St. Ethelbert. The episcopal rights remained unaltered, at least in
form, down to 1838, when the privileges were taken away by a special Act
of Parliament, and compensation was made to the Bishop for the profits
arising from the fair privileges, to the amount of 12-1/2 bushels of wheat
or its equivalent in money value, according to the price current. This has
now been transferred to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, and the fair
limited to two days' duration.
*Philip Bisse*, A.D. 1712-1721, translated from St. David's, was a man of
great munificence, and of the best intentions, of whom it may be said he
spent "not wisely but too well." He was entirely devoid of any aesthetic
feeling or of architectural fitness, and in the most religious spirit
committed acts of wholesale sacrilege. He employed, it is said, in the
work of restoration in the palace, the stones of the chapter-house, at
that time much injured, but certainly by no means ruined. He built a
hideous structure intended to support the central tower of the cathedral,
and as a crowning act of magnificent liberality, presented the church with
the most dreadful, ponderous, and unsuitable altar-piece that could well
have been devised. In an elaborate epitaph in the cathedral his virtues
are recorded. It was in the time of Bishop Bisse that the meeting of the
three choirs of Gloucester, Hereford, and Worcester first took place.
*Benjamin Hoadley*, A.D. 1721-1723, translated from Bangor, was again
translated to Salisbury early in 1723. His rule over Hereford was too
short for him to have influenced it for good or evil, and his history
belongs rather to Salisbury and Winchester.
*Hon. Henry Egerton*, A.D. 1723-1746, fifth son of the third Earl of
Bridgewater, was chaplain to George I. He is chiefly to be remembered for
an attempt to destroy the early Norman building adjoining the Bishop's
Palace, and thought to have been the parish church of St. Mary, each of
its two stories containing a chantry founded by Bishop Hugh Foliot.
*Lord James Beauclerk*, A.D. 1746-1787, grandson of Charles II. and Nell
Gwynn, a native of Hereford, was the next Bishop. It was during the last
year of his episcopate on Easter Monday, April 17, 1786, that occurred the
fall of the western tower of the cathedral, causing much injury. The west
front of the church was destroyed, and also a great part of the nave was
seriously injured. The Bishop died eighteen months after this calamity.
The see was next occupied for six weeks only by the Hon. J. Harley.
*John Butler*, A.D. 1788-1802. By birth a German, was an active political
supporter of the Government of the day.
He contributed largely to the repair of the cathedral.
*Folliott Herbert Cornewall*, A.D. 1802-1808. He was a member of an
ancient family in the county of Hereford. Translated from Bristol to
Hereford, he was again translated in 1808 to Worcester.
*John Luxmoore*, A.D. 1808-1815, was translated to Hereford from Bristol,
and again translated in 1815 to St. Asaph. He helped to establish national
schools in the diocese.
*Isaac Huntingford*, A.D. 1815-1832, warden of Winchester College, was
translated from Gloucester to Hereford, and still continued his duties at
Winchester. During his episcopate an incongruous painted window was placed
by Dean Carr at the east end of the choir in 1822. He was author of
several classical and theological works. He died April 29, 1832, in his
eighty-fourth year, and was buried at Compton, near Winchester. There is a
monument in the Bishop's cloister and a window in the south-east transept
to his memory.
[Illustration: A GARGOYLE IN THE CLOISTERS. DRAWN BY A. HUGH FISHER.]
A GARGOYLE IN THE CLOISTERS. DRAWN BY A. HUGH FISHER.
*Edward Grey, D.D.*, of Christ Church, Oxford, A.D. 1832-1837. He was Dean
of Hereford in 1831. He was buried in the choir of the cathedral, eastward
of the throne, on July 24, 1837, aged fifty-five years. A brass plate on
the wall marks the spot. There is also a monument to his memory now in the
Bishop's cloister.
*Thomas Musgrave, D.D.*, A.D. 1837-1847, Fellow of Trinity College,
Cambridge; Dean of Bristol; consecrated Bishop of Hereford, October 1,
1837; promoted to the Archbishopric of York, December, 1847. He died in
London, May 4, 1860, aged seventy-two years, and was buried at Kensal
Green, where there is a tomb with a short inscription. In York Minster a
monument in the shape of an altar tomb was erected to him, and in the
north choir aisle of Hereford Cathedral are three stained-glass windows to
his memory.
[Illustration: A GARGOYLE IN THE CLOISTERS. DRAWN BY A. HUGH FISHER.]
A GARGOYLE IN THE CLOISTERS. DRAWN BY A. HUGH FISHER.
*Renn Dickson Hampden, D.D.*, A.D. 1848-1868, Fellow of Oriel College;
Principal of St. Mary's Hall; Regius Professor of Divinity; and Canon of
Christ Church, Oxford. He was appointed in 1847 by Lord John Russell, and
for the first time since the Reformation "a struggle took place between
the recommending minister and a large and influential part of the clergy
and laity of the church, who regarded Dr. Hampden's opinions as
heretical."(11) Lord John Russell refused to withdraw the appointment, and
it was eventually carried out in spite of all remonstrances; not, however,
until the question had been taken from the Spiritual Court to the Court of
Queen's Bench, where the judges were equally divided in their opinion. He
died April 23, 1868, in London, and was buried at Kensal Green, close to
the Princess Sophia. His scholastic philosophy was said by Hallam to be
the only work of deep metaphysical research on the subject to be found in
the English language.
[Illustration: BYE STREET GATE. FROM AN OLD PRINT.]
BYE STREET GATE. FROM AN OLD PRINT.
*James Atlay*, A.D. 1868-1895, second son of the Rev. Henry Atlay, M.A.,
formerly Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge. He was born July 3,
1817; graduated at St. John's College, Cambridge, of which he was
afterwards Fellow, appointed one of Her Majesty's Preachers at the Chapel
Royal, Whitehall, 1857; Vicar of Leeds, 1859; Canon of Ripon, 1861;
nominated to Hereford, May 9, consecrated at Westminster on June 24, and
enthroned in Hereford Cathedral, July 2, 1868. He was succeeded in 1895 by
the Right Rev. *John Percival*, D.D., the present holder of the see.
[Illustration: PLAN OF HEREFORD CATHEDRAL.]
PLAN OF HEREFORD CATHEDRAL.
The dimensions of the cathedral are:--
Ft. In.
Total length about 342 0
outside,
Total length about 327 5
inside,
Length of Nave about 158 6
to Screen
Gates,
Length of about 75 6
Choir-Screen to
Reredos,
Length of Lady about 93 5
Chapel from
Reredos,
Breadth of Nave about 31 4
(span of roof),
Breadth of Nave about 73 4
and Aisles
(internally),
Breadth of about 146 2
Central
Transepts,
Breadth of about 110 6
North-East
Transepts (each
about 35 ft.
sq.),
Height of about 62 6
Choir,
Height of Nave, about 64 0
Height of about 96 0
Lantern,
Height of Tower about 140 6
(top of
_leads_),
Height of Tower about 165 0
(top of
_pinnacles_),
Height of old about 240 0
central timber
Spire,
NEILL AND COMPANY, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.
FOOTNOTES
1 --_Cathedralia_, p. 59.
2 --_The Diocese of Hereford_, H. W. Phillott.
3 --_Guide to the Wye and its Neighbourhood_, by the late G. Phillips
Bevan, F.S.S.
4 --_Guide to the Wye and its Neighbourhood_, by the late G. Phillips
Bevan, F.S.S.
5 --_History of Architecture_, ii. 38.
6 --_List of Buildings in Great Britain and Ireland having Mural,
etc., Decorations._ London: Dept. of Science and Art, 1883, p. 128.
7 Botfield, _Cathedral Libraries_, 1848, p. 172. When he saw the
collection it was in the Lady Chapel.
8 Rev. J. Webb's _Roll of the Household Expenses of Bishop Swinfield_,
xviii.
9 Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
10 Fuller's _Church History of Britain_, Brewer's ed., iv. 198.
11 --_History of the Church of England from 1660._ By W. N. Molesworth,
M.A.