SOUTH HEREFORDSHIRE

district, county of Hereford and Worcester, western England, occupying an area of 349 sq mi (905 sq km) adjacent to the Welsh border in the southwestern part of the county. South Herefordshire district is mainly a mixed hills-and-plains area bisected by the River Wye, which enters from Wales in the northwest and meanders northeastward before exiting the district in the far south. The Wye valley is flanked by a broad floodplain (usually meadowland), above which are often a series of terraces, remnants of older plains. The fertile red soils of the floodplain are largely based upon Old Red Sandstone, a geological formation of the Devonian Period underlying the major part of the district (including most hills, e.g., the Black Mountains in the extreme west). The floodplain soils form a major contrast with the thin soils of the glacier-scoured hills. The economy is primarily based on agricultural produce including cereals, clover, and apples. Hereford cattle, which originated locally, are still raised in the area. Ross-on-Wye, in the southeast, is known for its Decorated- and Perpendicular-Gothic church of St. Mary the Virgin, and for the house of John Kyrle (16371724), a local philanthropist who provided for the construction of a still-enjoyed public garden, restoration of St. Mary the Virgin church, and installation of the town's first water-supply system. He was eulogized as the Man of Ross in one of Alexander Pope's (16881744), Moral Essays. South Herefordshire district encircles the city (district) of Hereford, which is the acting administrative seat for South Herefordshire. Pop. (1983 est.) 46,900.