    the history of herefordshire starts with a shire in the time of aethelstan (895â939), and is mentioned in the anglo-saxon chronicle in 1051. in the domesday survey some adjacent areas of the welsh marches are assessed under herefordshire. the western and southern borders remained debatable ground ("archenfield") until, with the incorporation of the welsh marches in 1535, considerable territory was annexed to herefordshire. these areas formed the hundreds of wigmore, ewyas lacy and huntington, while ewyas harold was united to webtree. at the time of the domesday survey the divisions of the county were very unsettled. as many as nineteen hundreds are mentioned, but these were of varying extent, some containing only one manor, some from twenty to thirty. of the twelve modern hundreds, only greytree, radlow, stretford, wolphy and wormelow retain domesday names. the others being broxash, ewyas-lacy, grimsworth, huntington, webtree and wigmore. situated on the welsh border, herefordshire shares historic and linguistic affinities with wales, the welsh name for herefordshire is sir henffordd. ==historical setting== ===welsh control=== prior to the arrival of the west saxons, the region roughly corresponding to modern herefordshire lay under the control of earlier welsh kingdoms, principally the minor kingdom of ergyng. welsh origins in herefordshire are evident in the survival of the welsh language in parts of the county until the 19th century, the survival of many welsh place names and the historic welsh commote of archenfield.http://www.kimkat.org/amryw/1_clawdd_offa/22_cymru_dros_glawdd_offa_enwau_euas_eng_cym_0980e.htm :archenfield was still welsh enough in the time of elizabeth for the bishop of hereford to be made responsible together with the four welsh bishops for the translation of the bible and the book of common prayer into welsh. welsh was still commonly spoken here in the first half of the nineteenth century, and we are told that churchwardensâ notices were put up in both welsh and english until about 1860.transactions woolhope naturalistsâ field club, 1887, page 173 welsh was spoken by individuals until comparatively recently. ===anglo-saxon control=== at some time in the 7th century the west saxons pushed their way across the severn and established themselves in the territory between wales and mercia, and established the minor kingdom of magonset, which was later absorbed into mercia. the district which is now herefordshire was occupied by a tribe the hecanas, who congregated chiefly in the fertile area about hereford
History_of_England_by_county History_of_Herefordshire