sser, so numerous and incredible that Offa, who had appropriated
AEthelberht's kingdom, was induced to send two bishops to Hereford to
ascertain the truth of them, and it is generally agreed that about A.D.
825 Milfrid, who was Viceroy to the Mercian King Egbert after the death of
Offa and of his son Egfrid, expended a large sum of money in building
"_Ecclesiam egregiam, lapidea structura_" at Hereford, which he
consecrated to the martyred monarch, and endowed with lands and enriched
with ornaments.

Although one of the old chroniclers calls it a church of stone, it is
quite uncertain what were the materials, size, or architectural character
of this edifice. It seems, however, that by 1012, when Bishop Athelstan
was promoted to the see, it had fallen into sheer ruin, or, at any rate,
sufficient decay to necessitate his beginning a new building. Of this no
clearer account has been handed down to us than of Milfrid's church. Soon
after it was finished Algar or Elfgar, Earl of Chester, son of the Earl of
Mercia, was charged with treason at a Witan in London, and (though his
guilt is still disputed) was outlawed by Edward the Confessor. He hired a
fleet of Danish pirate ships from the Irish coast, joined King Gruffydd in
Wales, and marched with him into Herefordshire, determining to make war
upon King Edward. Here they began with a victory about two miles from
Hereford over the Earl of that shire who was a Frenchman, and tried to
make his men fight on horseback in the French fashion, which they did not
understand,--the English way being for the great men to ride to the field
of battle, but there to dismount and fight with their heavy axes on foot.
Earl Ralph, the Frenchman, turned his horse's head and fled the field, and
the English, encumbered with their long spears and swords, followed helter
skelter. After killing some five hundred, AElfgar and Gruffydd turned to
Hereford and came upon the church which Bishop Athelstan had caused to be
built. There they met with a spirited resistance: amongst other victims
seven of the canons were killed in an attempt to hold the great door of
the minster; but, ultimately, the church and town were burned.

Earl Harold, son of Earl Godwin, himself, when it was too late, came with
half of his army to Hereford, and with his usual predilection for peace
(notwithstanding his valour) soon after removed the outlawry from AElfgar,
and quiet was restored.

In 1056, the year following this disast