In April of this year, a party of some twenty Tyndalians and friends journeyed to Hereford Cathedral to see the wonderful mediaeval image: the Mappa Mundi.
We were fortunate indeed, on several counts; It was a mild and sunny day, and we were able to start by sitting, drinking tea in the gardens of the close before visiting a fascinating exhibition of early Christian maps – exciting documents, seldom, if ever, assembled together before. They shared the ground floor of the library building with the famous chained library which some of us had never seen before.
After all too short a time in the presence of the Mappa itself, we were shown upstairs, in the same new library building, – a stone treasure – casket, fittingly and cleverly designed, (and paid for by the millionaire, Mr Paul Getty), to house the cathedral’s many printed, written and illuminated wonders.
When the doors had been locked upon us, we were given a welcome by the librarian, Ms. Joan Williams, and we scarcely dared to breathe upon the four volumes she had displayed for us on lecterns An eighth century Gospel, (The chief treasure of Hereford), a Wycliff Bible, a Complutensian Polyglot, and a very clean copy of Foxe’s Acts and Monuments.
All of us, I am certain, felt very privileged to be shown over this fine building and some of its contents and want to express our gratitude to the Hereford custodians for sharing their day with us.
David Green