'Hidden' Herefordshire

2:04pm Monday 26th November 2007

Sorry, it's been a while. A pretty manic few days all told....

Anyway, what's this about 'Hidden' Herefordshire ?



I was surprised, when reading 'Remains of an altar' by Phil Rickman, to discover that Edward Elgar had a house near me....I'd never noticed it before, but sure enough there is a house called 'Plas Gwyn' complete with a plaque.

Got me thinking about other 'hidden' locations in Hereford that I know about and also spurred me on to do a little research.
I found this link to get started. Some interesting snippets of history, but a little too much about rocks and stone for my liking !

Historic Herefordshire Online has loads of information buried within it. Worth a quick peek.

With all the buzz around the Da Vinci Code you must have heard of the Knights Templar? But are you aware of several Herefordian Connections to this mysterious, wealthy militia ? The remains of a Templar Church were discovered when relocating St Giles' Chapel on the old site of St Giles' Hospital. Hereford's own Bishop Thomas Cantilupe and the last Englishman to be canonised before the reformation was supposedly Provincial Master of the Order of the Knights Templar. Indeed his ornate tomb in Hereford Cathedral is adorned with Templar Knights. Garway Church continues the mystique even more.....

Other things to be on the lookout for:-

Standing by the Saracen's Head pub, look over to the other side of the river and the furthest arch under the Old Bridge. You will see the remains of a tunnel that supposedly ran from the Cathedral to the river and could be used as a means of escape. How true that is, I'm not sure. I know that when I was a kid I couldn't get very far up there as it had been bricked up !!

Last one for today I think....though I'm sure more will feature in further postings....

On the corner of St Owen's Street and Mill Street are some flats. Under the archway and in the car park you can see remains of the old city wall and how it was constructed at various points in history.

That'll do for now.

Until next time.