24 Transactions of the 



its early history, the most important event is the murder of Ethelbert, 

 king of East Anglia, at the instigation of Quendreda, the wife of 

 OflFa, king of Mercia, whose palace was at Hereford, or Fernley, as it 

 was then called. According to William of Malmesbury, Ethelbert, 

 was attacked by two assassins whilst jiraying in the chapel of the 

 king's palace. The body, which was accredited with the performance 

 of certain miraculous cures, was interred within the Lady Chapel, and 

 a shrine was erected before it. There was, until recently, preserved 

 at the Deanery a very curious Pyx, which formerly stood on the high 

 altar of the Cathedral, and on the exterior of which was supposed to 

 be depicted the murder and funeral of Ethelbert. It was formed of 

 oak, and overlaid with plates of copper. luside was a piece of wood 

 stained with a dark liquid, supposed to be the blood of St. Ethelbert, 

 for he was canonized shortly after his death. It is probable that the 

 possession of the body of this saint contributed as much to the prosperity 

 of the church as that of St.Thomas a Becket did to Canterbury. At all 

 events in 825 a stone church was erected on the site of the former 

 one. This having fallen into decay a larger edifice was commenced 

 in 1030 by Bishop Athelstan, which may be considered as the original 

 church fi'om which the present one has sprung, although, of course, 

 greatly enlarged. In the year 1055 the city of Hereford fell into the 

 hands of the Welsh, and the greater part of the new church was burnt 

 down. Indeed it was for a long time a disputed point whether any 

 part of the present Cathedral, beyond the ground plan, was to be 

 ascribed to Athelstan. It is, however, now generally admitted that a 

 considerable portion of the south transept, the south aisle of the 

 choir, and the vaulted entrance of the present chapter house, are his 

 work. In 1079 the present choir, with its fine Norman arches, was 

 built by Robert de Loying. It has an unusually gloomy and solemn 

 appearance, occasioned partly by the heavy Norman ai-chitecture, and 

 partly from the lofty transepts, which prevent the admission of light 

 except from the clerestory. It is said to have been planned on the 

 model of the Cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle, erected by Charlemagne. 

 Praynelm, the successor of Loying, built the nave, the arches of 

 which are also adorned in the Norman style. The old west front, 

 now destroyed, was due to the same hand. Lastly, the great central 

 tower was erected in 1200. The ball-flower ornament with which it 

 is now so profusely studded, must have been added at least 150 years 

 later. This tower was originaUy surmounted by a spire. 



Such, then, is a brief sketch of the old Norman church. The 

 profuse and elaborate ornamentation of her later periods, make it very 

 difficult for us to realize the massive simplicity of the original design, 

 but it probably bore no inconsiderable resemblance to our own 

 Cathedral here in Bristol, if, as Mr. Street conjectures, there existed 

 an old Norman nave before Abbot Knowle built the present choir. 



But at the time of which we are speaking, the beginning of the 

 13th century, a complete revolution was being effected in architecture. 

 The old Norman or Romanesque round arch began to fall into disuse, 



