characteristic of Hereford
Cathedral, but it is doubtful whether the absence of that quality dear to
a purist is not more than compensated for by the fine examples of
different periods, which make the massive pile as a whole a valuable
record of historical progress. And surely it is more fitting that a great
ecclesiastical edifice should grow with the successive ages it outlasts,
and bear about it architectural evidence of every epoch through which it
has passed.

Almost in the midst of the city the sturdy mass of the cathedral building
reposes in a secluded close, from which the best general view is obtained.
The close is entered either from Broad Street, near the west window, or
from Castle Street; the whole of the building lying on the south side of
the close between the path and the river. The space between the Wye and
the cathedral is filled by the Bishop's Palace and the college of the
Vicars Choral.

On the east are the foundations of the castle, which was formerly one of
the strongest on the Welsh marches.

The cathedral is especially rich in architecture of the Norman, Early
English, and Early Decorated periods.

The work of the Norman builders, found chiefly in the interior, survives
in the exterior aspect rather in the "sturdy" quality remaining through
the subsequent building being imposed upon the old foundations. The side
apses of the original triple eastern termination were converted into the
present eastern transept; an operation, the result of which helps to
produce an intricate outline already irregular through the projections of
the porch of Bishop Booth.

The *Central Tower*, a splendid example of Decorated work, is of two
stages above the roofs, with buttresses at the angles. It is covered with
a profusion of ball-flower ornament, which, except in the south nave aisle
of Gloucester Cathedral, is nowhere else so freely used.

[Illustration: BISHOP BOOTH'S PORCH AND NORTH TRANSEPT.]

BISHOP BOOTH'S PORCH AND NORTH TRANSEPT.

_Photochrom Co., Ld., Photo._

Pershore Abbey is not far from Hereford, and from the disposition of the
upper windows of the central tower and the style and position of the
dividing pilasters and bands of ornament, it seems likely that the earlier
lantern of Pershore is partly responsible for its design.

In old prints of the cathedral the great central spire which formerly
existed is shown. It was a timber erection, covered with lead. When t