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 PREFACE yA LTHOUGH Herefordshire as a border county has much of his- /% torical interest from a very early date, yet hitherto it has had / % but one county history and that incomplete. The Rev. John Duncumb, M.A., F.S.A., commenced to compile a history of the county in 1790 at the expense of Charles, i ith Duke of Norfolk. The first volume was published in 1804, and the first part of a second in 1 8 1 2, but at the death of the Duke of Norfolk in 1 8 1 5 the work ceased. The materials collected by Duncumb, which belonged to the Duke's executors, found their way into the hands of Thomas Thorpe, bookseller, in 1837, who issued a further instalment of Volume II, which was already in type. This volume was in 1866 completed by Judge William Henry Cooke, M.A., K.C., F.S.A., who continued Duncumb's work, issuing a third volume in 1882 and a fourth in 1892. Since Duncumb's time more material has been made available, and therefore Judge Cooke's continuation is a great improvement on the original work. Members of the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club have done much to throw light upon the history of the county, and to many of them the Editor is much indebted, particularly to the President, Mr, H. Cecil Moore, M.R.C.S., who has given advice and assistance in all matters, and to Mr. James G. Wood, M.A., F.G.S., F.S.A., who has rendered valuable assistance in the identification of place-names for the translation of the Domesday Survey and in many other ways. The Editor has to thank Professor Haverfield, M.A., LL.D., Mr. W. Farrer, and others for information regarding the Roman remains, and Mr. David Douglas, the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club, the Royal Archaeological Institute, and the Cambrian Archaeological Association for illustrations.