64-519: Herefordshire ( / ˈ h ɛr ɪ f ər d ʃ ɪər , - ʃ ər / HERR -if-ərd-sheer, -shər ) is a ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Shropshire to the north, Worcestershire to the east, Gloucestershire to the south-east, and the Welsh counties of Monmouthshire and Powys to the west. The city of Hereford is the largest settlement and
128-475: A Crest on a wreath of the colours a demi lion rampant gules holding in the sinister claw a fleece or; and for Supporters, on the dexter side a lion guardant or gorged with a wreath of hops fructed proper and on the sinister a talbot argent gorged with a collar or charged with three apples proper. The red colouring ("gules") of the shield is taken from the arms of the City of Hereford. The red colour also represents
192-420: A ceremonial county , covering the exact area of the unitary district. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region (code UKG11) and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region. In Herefordshire, the population size has increased by 2.0%, from around 183,500 in 2011 to 187,100 in 2021. This is lower than the overall increase for England (6.6%), where
256-461: A mayor and refer to itself as a borough council. Some shire counties now have no sub divisions so are a single Non-metropolitan district such as Cornwall. Typically a district will consist of a market town and its more rural hinterland. However districts are diverse with some being mostly urban such as Dartford, and others more polycentric such as Thurrock. Non-metropolitan districts are subdivisions of English non-metropolitan counties which have
320-427: A few other key factors: The previously pastoral soils had not had potatoes grown in them; consequently they were not infected with eelworm ( Heterodera rostochiensis and Heterodera pallida ), which in the east of England had to be sprayed against weekly (a large cost). Also, the clay soil produced an unblemished potato of the highest grade. The intensive nature of the crop meant that potatoes could be grown viably on
384-416: A given field in only one of every five years. Because potato growers always needed more land than they owned, they rented extra. This demand for rental fields came at a time when the rest of the industry was struggling and in serious decline. The potato farmers' rents of £300–500 per acre (as opposed to normally £80 per acre) were very helpful to many farmers in a difficult period. Herefordshire County Council
448-853: A green apple. The county is covered by BBC West Midlands and ITV Central from its studios in Birmingham . Television signals are received from the Ridge Hill TV transmitter located 8.5 miles south east of Hereford . BBC Local Radio the for county is served by BBC Hereford and Worcester which broadcast from Worcester but also has another studio in Hereford . County-wide radio stations are Hits Radio Herefordshire & Worcestershire , Sunshine Radio , Radio Wyvern , Capital Mid-Counties , and Greatest Hits Radio Herefordshire & Worcestershire . Ceremonial counties of England Ceremonial counties , formally known as counties for
512-459: A large site directly north of Painter Brothers. Cargill Meats Europe (formerly Sun Valley) have a large poultry meat processing facility, processing chickens from around Herefordshire. Cadbury (Mondelēz International) make milk chocolate crumb near Marlbrook (near Leominster ). Weston's Cider is in Much Marcle , who also make Stowford Press. Wye Fruit Ltd is in the north of Ledbury on
576-553: A lieutenant with the wider county from which they had been created. London had instead a commission of lieutenancy , headed by the Lord Mayor . The long-standing practice of appointing lieutenants jointly to the wider county and any counties corporate it contained was formalised by the Militia Act 1882. Apart from the inclusion of the counties corporate, the counties for the purposes of lieutenancy generally corresponded to
640-472: A major issue in the county, as some people see them as a "blot on the landscape". Although some polytunnel sites are illegal, Herefordshire Council has turned a blind eye in the belief that agriculture must be allowed to innovate; otherwise it will stagnate and the county will suffer. Previously, most farms in the county had dairy cattle . Due to the cost of investing in new equipment, long hours, BSE , foot-and-mouth disease and mainly falling milk prices,
704-412: A new non-metropolitan county is created the 1997 Act is amended to redefine the existing areas of the lieutenancies in terms of the new areas. No such amendment was made in 1997 when Rutland was made a unitary authority or in 1998 when Herefordshire and Worcestershire were re-established; those three therefore have been given their own lieutenants again since the passing of the 1997 Act. The actual areas of
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#1732765959741768-508: A single council. Herefordshire is also commonly called a unitary district , but this is not official nomenclature. Herefordshire is officially known as a unitary authority for local government purposes. It is governed by Herefordshire Council which was created in 1998 with the new unitary district that absorbed the previous administrative areas of Hereford City Council, South Herefordshire District Council, most of Leominster District Council, and part of Malvern Hills District Council , all within
832-461: A two-tier structure of local government. Two-tier non-metropolitan counties have a county council and several districts, each with a borough or district council. In these cases local government functions are divided between county and district councils, to the level where they can be practised most efficiently: Many districts have borough status , which means the local council is called a borough council instead of district council and gives them
896-423: Is Sebastian Bowen and the leader of the council is David Hitchiner. The cabinet leader is appointed yearly by the full council of 53 councillors. The cabinet leader then picks their deputy and up to eight other councillors to form the executive cabinet. Each cabinet member makes the decisions about the portfolio that they are allocated. Elections to the council are held every four years. Elections are conducted under
960-799: Is lowland which is crossed by the River Wye and its tributary, the Lugg . To the east are the Malvern Hills , a national landscape , which straddle the boundary with Worcestershire. The south of the county contains the northern part of the Wye Valley , also a national landscape, which stretches into Wales . In the west, the ground rises to the Black Mountains range; this contains the Black Mountain ( Twyn Llech ), which lies on
1024-525: Is situated on the River Lugg , a tributary of the Wye. There are two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the county. The Wye Valley is located in the river's valleys south of Hereford, while the Malvern Hills are in the east of the county, along its border with Worcestershire . Herefordshire is one of the 39 historic counties of England . Herefordshire County Council was created in 1889. In 1974,
1088-417: Is the gift of God"). As part of a competition organised by the charity Plantlife to raise awareness of conservation issues, the public were asked to vote for " county flowers " that they felt best represented their county. Mistletoe was announced as the winning choice for Herefordshire in 2004. The emblem has no official status and has not been widely adopted. Herefordshire Council uses a logo consisting of
1152-585: The Courts Act 1971 which abolished the quarter sessions and assizes . Sheriffs continued to be appointed for each county despite the loss of the judicial functions. Certain towns and cities were counties corporate appointing their own sheriffs. The counties corporate were all included in a wider county for lieutenancy purposes, except the City of London which had its own lieutenants. The geographical counties were relatively stable between 1889 and 1965. There were occasional boundary changes, notably following
1216-604: The District Councils' Network , special interest group which sits within the Local Government Association . The network's purpose is to "act as an informed and representative advocate for districts to government and other national bodies, based on their unique position to deliver for local people." This is a list of two-tier non-metropolitan counties and their districts. All unitary authorities are also non-metropolitan districts, which, with
1280-560: The FPTP system with the 53 wards returning one councillor each. Elections have been held in 2000 , 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019, with the next election due in 2023. In the 2019 election, the Conservatives lost control of Herefordshire Council. Herefordshire has a comprehensive education system that also includes several independent schools. Most state secondary schools are for ages 11–16. Providers of further and higher education in
1344-577: The Lieutenancies Act 1997 . When Herefordshire, Rutland and Worcestershire were re-established as local government counties in 1997 and 1998 no amendment was made to the 1997 Act regarding them, allowing them to also serve as their own lieutenancy areas. The lieutenancy counties have not changed in area since 1998, although the definitions of which local government counties are included in each lieutenancy have been amended to reflect new unitary authorities being created since 1997. In legislation
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#17327659597411408-691: The Local Government Act 1894 which said that parishes and districts were no longer allowed to straddle county boundaries. After that most boundary changes were primarily to accommodate urban areas which were growing across county boundaries, such as when Caversham was transferred from Oxfordshire to Berkshire as a result of being absorbed into the County Borough of Reading in 1911. The lieutenancies and judicial / shrieval counties were defined as groups of administrative counties and county boroughs, and so were automatically adjusted if
1472-482: The county town . The county is one of the most rural in England, with an area of 2,180 square kilometres (840 sq mi) and a population of 187,034, giving a density of 88/km (228/sq mi). After Hereford (53,112) the largest settlements are Leominster (10,938), Ross-on-Wye (10,582), and Ledbury (8,862). For local government purposes Herefordshire is a unitary authority area. The centre of Herefordshire
1536-445: The militia , overseen by a sheriff . From Tudor times onwards a lord-lieutenant was appointed to oversee the militia, taking some of the sheriff's functions. Certain towns and cities were counties corporate , which gave them the right to appoint their own sheriffs and hold their own courts. Whilst in theory the counties corporate could have had separate lieutenants appointed for them, in practice all of them except London shared
1600-429: The polytunnel or French tunnel. This allows the strawberries to be grown for a far longer season and with a higher quality (with no blemishes from the rain). The strawberries are mainly picked by Eastern European workers who come over for the season and often earn more money than they could working in their own country and with the bonus, for many of them, of learning or improving their English. The polytunnels have been
1664-544: The 2021 census, they number 600 people, at around 0.2% of the county's population. Romany Gypsies and Irish Travellers fall within the definition of a minority ethnic group under the Race Relations Amendment Act (2000) . There were approximately 400 people (0.2%) within this minority group in the county at the 2011 Census. Bulmers Cider in Hereford is the world's largest cider factory, and has
1728-514: The B4214 and is a large site of Amcor , and further west is Universal Beverages (UBL), owned by Heineken since 2007 where it cans cider. The site of Ledbury Preserves of RHM made Robertson's jam, mincemeat and marmalade and closed in 2008 when production moved to Cambridgeshire. Holden Aluminium Technologies are a sports car chassis manufacturer at Linton . Kingspan Insulation is based at Pembridge . BT's Madley Communications Centre , claims to be
1792-662: The City of London, which has two sheriffs ). The Lieutenancies Act 1997 defines counties for the purposes of lieutenancies in terms of metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties (created by the Local Government Act 1972 , as amended) as well as Greater London and the Isles of Scilly (which lie outside the 1972 Act's system). Although the term is not used in the act, these counties are sometimes known as "ceremonial counties". The counties are defined in Schedule 1, paragraphs 2–5 as amended (in 2009, 2019 and 2023). Generally, each time
1856-649: The Powys border and is the highest point in the county, at 703.6 metres (2,308 ft). The county is situated in the historic Welsh Marches . The land use is mostly agricultural, and the county is known for its fruit and cider production, and for the Hereford cattle breed. The River Wye , which at 135 miles (217 km) is the fourth-longest in the United Kingdom, enters the county after briefly being its border with Powys . It flows through both Hereford and Ross-on-Wye before returning to Wales. Leominster
1920-662: The UK market leader Strongbow . The major settlements in the county include Hereford , which is the county town and Herefordshire's only city , as well as the towns of Leominster , Ledbury , Ross-on-Wye , Kington and Bromyard . Most employment in Herefordshire is in agriculture, manufacturing and services. According to Herefordshire Council's online document "worklessness", 10% of people are unemployed in Herefordshire including out-of-work, homeless, ill and disabled and their carers. Cargill Meats and H. P. Bulmers are two of
1984-496: The administrative county formed in 1889 was merged with that of neighbouring Worcestershire to form Hereford and Worcester. Within this, Herefordshire was covered by the local government districts of South Herefordshire , Hereford , and part of Malvern Hills and Leominster districts. However, the county was dissolved in 1998, resulting in the return of Herefordshire and Worcestershire as counties. The county and unitary authority created in 1998 has almost identical borders to
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2048-454: The areas for Wales and England had been enacted separately and there were no Welsh metropolitan areas, the term 'non-metropolitan district' does not apply to Wales. A similar system existed in Scotland , which in 1975 was divided into regions and districts, this was also abolished in 1996 and replaced with a fully unitary system . In England most of the district councils are represented by
2112-469: The areas to which high sheriffs are appointed. High sheriffs are the monarch's judicial representative in an area. The ceremonial counties are defined in the Lieutenancies Act 1997 , and the shrieval counties in the Sheriffs Act 1887 . Both are defined as groups of local government counties. The historic counties of England were originally used as areas for administering justice and organising
2176-456: The boundaries of those administrative areas changed. There were two exceptions to this rule (one only briefly). The county borough of Great Yarmouth straddled Norfolk and Suffolk for judicial and lieutenancy purposes until 1891 when it was placed entirely in Norfolk for those purposes. The county borough of Stockport straddled Cheshire and Lancashire for judicial and lieutenancy purposes - it
2240-433: The ceremonial counties have not changed since 1998. These are the 48 counties for the purposes of the lieutenancies in England, as currently defined: After the creation of county councils in 1889, there were counties for judicial and shrieval purposes, counties for lieutenancy purposes, and administrative counties and county boroughs for the purposes of local government. The 1888 Act used the term 'entire county' to refer to
2304-410: The club's Edgar Street ground before major matches. The county is famous for its apple and pear orchards, and its cider. There are many orchards around the county but not as many as there once were. In the last few years, soft fruits such as strawberries have become a new and rapidly expanding area of the agricultural economy of the county. One of the main reasons for this was the introduction of
2368-482: The county councils. In counties where the quarter sessions had been held separately for different parts of the county, such as the Parts of Lincolnshire , each part was given its own county council. The area administered by a county council was called an administrative county . As such, some of the judicial or lieutenancy counties comprised several administrative counties and county boroughs. The Ordnance Survey adopted
2432-495: The county include Hereford College of Arts , Hereford College of Education , Hereford Sixth Form College , Herefordshire and Ludlow College , Royal National College for the Blind , NMITE and Herefordshire and Worcestershire Group Training Association (HWGTA). The agricultural economy has changed greatly in recent years within the county. The county is on the western edge of England which has been historically pastoral as opposed to
2496-461: The county's milk production has drastically reduced, with only a few farms still in dairy farming. The county is historically pastoral. The soils are mostly clay, meaning that large scale potato production was very difficult, as tractors were not powerful enough to pull the large machinery required to harvest the crop. Around the early 1990s new technology and more powerful machines overcame this problem. Potato production started to increase, fuelled by
2560-554: The creation of the Lord Lieutenant of Greater London and of the Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdon and Peterborough . Non-metropolitan district Non-metropolitan districts , or colloquially " shire districts ", are a type of local government district in England. As created, they are sub-divisions of non-metropolitan counties (colloquially shire counties ) in a two-tier arrangement. Non-metropolitan districts with borough status are known as boroughs , able to appoint
2624-463: The east which was more arable . Probably Hereford's most famous export is its Hereford beef cattle . Herefords are docile but extremely hardy creatures and these attributes have led to their proliferation across the world, particularly the US, Canada, South America and Australia. The breed is so gentle that a Hereford bull was used as the mascot for Hereford United Football Club for many years, led around
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2688-487: The exception of those of Berkshire , are coterminous with non-metropolitan counties. For a full list of districts of all types including unitary authorities, metropolitan districts and London boroughs , see Districts of England . This is a list of former two-tier districts in England which have been abolished, by local government reorganisations such as the 2009 structural changes to local government in England . It does not include districts that still exist after becoming
2752-432: The group of administrative counties and county boroughs created within each judicial county. The Ordnance Survey used the term 'geographical county' to refer to this wider definition of the county. Yorkshire had three lieutenancies, one for each riding, but was a single judicial county with one sheriff, and was counted as one geographical county by Ordnance Survey. The counties lost their judicial functions in 1972 under
2816-435: The judicial counties. The exception was Yorkshire, which was one judicial county, having a single Sheriff of Yorkshire , but from 1660 onwards each of Yorkshire's three ridings had its own lieutenant. In 1889 elected county councils were established under the Local Government Act 1888 , taking over the administrative functions of the quarter sessions . Certain towns and cities were made county boroughs , independent from
2880-664: The largest private sector employers, with the Council and NHS being the largest public sector employers. There are two parliamentary constituencies in Herefordshire. As of July 2024, Ellie Chowns , a member of the Green Party , represents North Herefordshire and Jesse Norman , a member of the Conservative Party , represents Hereford and South Herefordshire . The council operates a cabinet-style council and has been independently controlled since 2019. The chairman
2944-482: The lieutenancy areas are described as 'counties for the purposes of the lieutenancies'; the informal term 'ceremonial county' has come into usage for such areas, appearing in parliamentary debates as early as 1996. The shrieval counties are defined by the Sheriffs Act 1887 as amended, in a similar way to the lieutenancies defined by the Lieutenancies Act 1997. Each has a high sheriff appointed (except
3008-403: The lieutenants were appointed to the new versions of the counties. The counties of Avon , Cleveland and Humberside , each of which had only been created in 1974, were all abolished in 1996. They were divided into unitary authorities ; legally these are also non-metropolitan counties. As part of these reforms, it was decided to define counties for the purposes of lieutenancy differently from
3072-533: The local government counties in some cases, effectively reverting to the pre-1974 arrangements for lieutenancies. Whereas the lieutenancies had been defined slightly differently from the shrieval counties prior to 1974, it was decided in 1996 that the high sheriffs and lieutenants should be appointed to the same areas. Regulations amending the Sheriffs Act 1887 and specifying the areas for the appointment of lieutenants were accordingly brought in with effect from 1 April 1996. The regulations were then consolidated into
3136-428: The main functions of the counties were the administrative functions of local government. Despite the loss of their functions, sheriffs continued to be appointed to the former judicial counties up until 1974. In 1974, administrative counties and county boroughs were abolished, and a new system of metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties was introduced instead. Sheriffs were renamed 'high sheriffs' and both they and
3200-450: The population grew by nearly 3.5 million to 56,489,800. As of the 2021 census, 91.1% of the population identified as 'White British', and 5.1% as 'White Other'. The 'White Other' group is largely made up of migrants from central and Eastern Europe who began moving into the county in the early 2000's, initially for agricultural work, but more recently to work in other sectors such as health care, catering and hospitality. Poland and Romania are
3264-406: The pre-1974 county; a small area at Park Wood had been transferred from Mathon to West Malvern in 1986 and so went to Worcestershire rather than Herefordshire in 1998, but otherwise the re-established border between the two counties was identical to the pre-1974 boundary. From 1974 to 1998, Herefordshire was part of the former non-metropolitan county of Hereford and Worcester . Herefordshire
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#17327659597413328-465: The previous non-metropolitan county of Hereford and Worcester, whose functions the new authority inherited within its area. The remainder of Malvern Hills district absorbed the Worcestershire part of Leominster district (the area around Tenbury Wells) and continued to constitute a (smaller) district within the new two-tier county of Worcestershire. The Lieutenancies Act 1997 made Herefordshire
3392-421: The purposes of the lieutenancies , are areas of England to which lord-lieutenants are appointed. They are one of the two main legal definitions of the counties of England in modern usage, the other being the counties for the purposes of local government legislation. A lord-lieutenant is the monarch 's representative in an area. Shrieval counties have the same boundaries and serve a similar purpose, being
3456-624: The red earth of Herefordshire. The silver and blue wave across the centre of the shield represents the River Wye. The lions that form parts of the arms, crest and supporters are also taken from Hereford's arms. The agricultural produce of Herefordshire is represented by the bull's head, fleece, hops and apples. The talbot dog comes from the heraldry of the Talbot family, Marcher Lords of Shrewsbury and also from that of Viscount Hereford. The Latin motto is: Pulchra terra Dei donum ("This fair land
3520-565: The right to appoint a mayor . Borough status is granted by royal charter and, in many cases, continues a style enjoyed by a predecessor authority, which can date back centuries. Some districts such as Oxford or Exeter have city status , granted by letters patent , but this does not give the local council any extra powers other than the right to call itself a city council . By 1899, England had been divided at district level into rural districts , urban districts , municipal boroughs , county boroughs and metropolitan boroughs . This system
3584-580: The term 'geographical county' to describe the widest definition of the county. In most cases this was the lieutenancy county; the exceptions were Yorkshire, where the judicial county was larger on account of it being split into its three ridings for lieutenancy purposes, and the County of London where the administrative county was larger on account of the City of London and the rest of the county being separate for both judicial and lieutenancy purposes. The counties lost their judicial functions in 1972, after which
3648-439: The two most common non-UK countries of birth for foreign born people in Herefordshire. Christianity is the dominant religion in Herefordshire at 54.9% of the population as of 2021 (a decline from 67.8% at the 2011 census). Muslims make up 0.4% of the population, Buddhists 0.3% and Hindus 0.2%. Gypsies and Travellers have historically been Herefordshire's largest minority ethnic group. They are made up of three main groups: As of
3712-526: The two-tier structure, but reforms in the 1990s and 2009 reduced their number to 192. A further 55 non-metropolitan districts are now unitary authorities, which combine the functions of county and borough/district councils. In Wales , an almost identical two-tier system of local government existed between 1974 and 1996 (see Districts of Wales ). In 1996, this was abolished and replaced with an entirely unitary system of local government, with one level of local government responsible for all local services. Since
3776-736: The world's largest earth station . Tyrrells Potato Crisps are at Dilwyn west of Leominster. This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Herefordshire at current basic prices published by the Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling. ^ includes hunting and forestry ^ includes energy and construction ^ includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured ^ Components may not sum to totals due to rounding Many well-known cider producers are based in Herefordshire. These include Weston's cider of Much Marcle , and Bulmer's cider, from Hereford, which produces
3840-562: The world's largest vat (for Strongbow ), built in 1975. Painter Brothers (part of Balfour Beatty ) in the north of Hereford, is the UK's largest manufacturer of electricity pylons ( transmission towers ), broadcasting masts , the Callender-Hamilton bridge , and rail electrification structures. Special Metals Wiggin , part of Special Metals Corporation , based at Hereford was the main producer of nickel alloys in Europe, with
3904-620: Was abolished by the London Government Act 1963 and the Local Government Act 1972 . Non-metropolitan districts were created by this act in 1974 when England outside Greater London was divided into metropolitan counties and non-metropolitan counties. Metropolitan counties were sub-divided into metropolitan districts and the non-metropolitan counties were sub-divided into non-metropolitan districts. The metropolitan districts had more powers than their non-metropolitan counterparts. Initially, there were 296 non-metropolitan districts in
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#17327659597413968-406: Was granted a coat of arms on 28 February 1946. The arms became obsolete in 1974 on the abolition of the council, but were transferred to the present Herefordshire Council by Order in Council in 1997. The arms are blazoned as follows: Gules on a fesse wavy between in chief a lion passant guardant argent and in base a Herefordshire bull's head caboshed proper, a bar wavy azure ; and for
4032-575: Was placed entirely in Lancashire for judicial purposes in 1956 but continued to straddle the two counties for lieutenancy purposes until 1974. More significant changes to the geographical counties were made in 1965 with the creation of Greater London and of Huntingdon and Peterborough , which resulted in the abolition of the offices of Lord Lieutenant of Middlesex , Lord Lieutenant of the County of London , and Lord Lieutenant of Huntingdonshire and
4096-489: Was reconstituted both as a new district as " County of Herefordshire " and as a new county (coextensive with the area of the aforementioned district) (effective 1 April 1998) by Statutory Instrument as defined in The Hereford and Worcester (Structural, Boundary and Electoral Changes) Order 1996 . This Order established Herefordshire as a unitary authority on 1 April 1998, combining county and district functions into
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