Riches not measured in coin

The Cathedral of St Mary and St Ethelbert, Hereford This year marks the 700th anniversary of the canonization of Thomas Cantilupe, Bishop of Hereford. John Goodall looks at the story of this building and the way it was shaped by a remarkable figure

- John Goodall

AT about 6.30pm on April 17, 1786, the west end of Hereford Cathedral collapsed under the weight of its tower. The disaster had seemingly been long expected and no one even troubled to interrupt a dinner party of cathedral clergy with the news. It took three further days for the Hereford Journal to report the collapse of ‘that beautiful and magnificent structure’. It judged that: ‘The ruins, though awful, afford a pleasing view, especially to behold the statues of kings and bishops resting one upon the other.’

This disaster marked a turning point in the story of the cathedral, one of the most ancient church institutions to survive in Britain. In its aftermath, there began a prolonged sequence of restoration campaigns, which transformed the appearance of the building. Before that, the fabric of a church developed from the early 12th century had remained remarkably intact. That medieval building, however, itself replaced at least two predecessors created since the foundation of the see, an event that is traditionally ascribed to the year 676.