Quote: Waiting for a train meant I had a couple of hours to spare, and as I walked through the rather up market Cathedral area, I realised that it had been several decades since I'd visited the famous Hereford Mappa Mundi within the Cathedral itself. The Mappa Mundi is just the name for around 1100 medieval maps, which show a representation of the world.

The Hereford Mappa Mundi is the largest one known, with a world about 52 inches in circumference. The map (and others like it) actually helps to expose the lie that scientists largely believed the world was flat; the Greeks and Romans certainly identified it was not, and the Hereford Mappa Mundi helps demonstrate that in some quarters at least that knowledge had not been forgotten. Along with Bulmer's Cider, the Hereford Mappa Mundi is probably the cities greatest claim to fame (apart from being the birthplace of a certain Igougo travel reviewer of course).

The map shows Jesus at the top with followers to one side and those destined to go to hell on the other. The map isn't a literal translation, but shows countries divided into 3 continents Asia, Africa and Europe. The map has a humour about it as polar bears are drawn in the North of Europe, the Minotaur's labyrinth on the islands of the Mediterranean (although not in Crete) and mythical two headed beasts and 4 eyed people in Africa.

I understand there are more "correct" maps from the era, but obviously this is a fascinating little time piece which showed what the (rich) people of the time understood of the world. The map is made from one piece of animal hide, and although the ink has faded, and the hide yellowed it is still in good condition.

Entrance to see the map costs £6 per person and you wander through the coffee shop and the shop to a long narrow display explaining about the map and the Chained Library (of which the map was part). There are a number of boards with the Mappa Mundi replicated only with the words translated into English and another one showing the original colours of the skin and the ink for the map.

Behind the Mappa Mundi is the Chained Library; this is where the books of Hereford Cathedral were made available to the public to view (although I imagine the likes of you and I would not have been welcome) to stop the various books, documents and manuscripts from "walking". By the time the library was created in the early 1600s, most of the library contents were already a few hundred years old and some were rare.

The chained library is just what it says on the tin; the books were chained to the bookcase, although they were stored with the paper side facing you to stop the chains from getting twisted. Again outside is an explanation of the chained library and some information on the various wax seals on the documents in the collection.

I quite enjoyed the visit; in total I guess I spent about 40 minutes looking at the displays and the two original stars of the piece (although I could have spent a bit longer looking at the map, there were a steady stream of people visiting, and I didn't want to hog it for too long. There were also a women standing with each main exhibit to answer any question and to talk about the pieces; something I found very helpful.