Herefordshire

Herefordshire, county, 842 sq mi (2,181 sq km), W central England, on the Welsh border; adminstratively, it is a unitary authority (since 1998). Herefordshire has an undulating terrain, which reaches its greatest height in the Black Mts. and Malvern Hills. The chief rivers are the Wye, the Teme, and the Frome. The largely agricultural county is famous for its orchards and Hereford cattle.

Herefordshire was the scene of border warfare with the Welsh in the Middle Ages, and there are many ruins of castles and fortifications, the most remarkable of which is Offa's Dyke (8th cent.). In 1974, Herefordshire was combined with almost all of Worcestershire to form the nonmetropolitan county of Hereford and Worcester, but in 1998 the counties were again separated.

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