History of St Albans
Encyclopedia
St Albans
is in southern Hertfordshire
, England, around 22 miles (35 km) north of London
, beside the site of a Catuvellauni
settlement and the Roman
town of Verulamium
and on the River Ver
. St Albans is Hertfordshire's oldest town, a modern city shaped by over 2000 years of continuous human occupation.
settlement whose name means 'the settlement above the marsh'. After the Roman conquest of Britain in AD 43, it developed as Verulamium and became one of the largest towns in Roman Britain. Built mainly of wood, it was destroyed during the revolt of Boudica
in AD 60-61, but was rebuilt and grew to feature many impressive town houses and public buildings. It was encircled by gated walls in AD 275.
's execution. In the Norman
Abbey tower, you can still see the Roman bricks removed from Verulamium.
Much of the post-Roman development of St Albans was in memorial to Saint Alban, the earliest known British Christian martyr, executed in AD 250 (the exact date is unknown, with scholars suggesting dates of 209, 254 and 304). The town itself was known for some time by the Saxon name 'Verlamchester'. A shrine was built on the site of his death following Emperor Constantine's adoption of Christianity as the religion of the Roman Empire. In the 5th century a Benedictine monastic church was constructed.
in 793. The settlement grew up around the precincts of another Benedictine monastery, founded in AD 900-950 by Abbot Ulsinus
(also known as Wulsin). According to Matthew Paris
, the 13th century chronicler of St Albans Abbey, Abbot Ulsinus (Wulsin) founded three churches in 948, reputedly to tend to the physical and spiritual needs of the growing number of pilgrims to Alban's shrine: St Peter's
, St Stephen's
and St Michael's
. Each church was equidistant from the Abbey and on one of the main approaches to the town.
Also in 948, Abbot Ulsinus (Wulsin) founded St Albans School
, an education establishment to this day.
Around 500 people lived in the town in 1086 (at the time of the Domesday Book
).
The building of the Norman Abbey Church
(now the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban) was started in 1077 by Paul de Caen
, the 14th Abbot, and completed in 1089. It was 350 feet (106.7 m) long with a tower and seven apses.
A nunnery, Sopwell Priory
, was founded nearby in 1140 by Abbot Geoffrey de Gorham
.
The head of the abbey was confirmed as the premier abbot in England in 1154. The abbey was extended by John of Wallingford
(also known as John de Cella) in the 1190s, and again between 1257 and 1320 but financial constraints limited the effectiveness of these later additions.
In August 1213 the first draft of Magna Carta
was drawn up in St Albans Abbey.
In 1290 the funeral procession of Eleanor of Castile
stopped overnight in the town and an Eleanor cross
was put up at a cost of £100 in the Market Place. The cross, which stood for many years in front of the 15th century Clock Tower, was demolished in 1701.
A market was running outside the abbey from the 10th century; it was confirmed by King John of England
in 1202 and by a Royal Charter of Edward VI
in 1553.
During the 14th century the Abbey came into increasing conflict with the townsfolk of St Albans, who demanded rights of their own. This led, among other
things, to the construction of a large wall and gate surrounding the Abbey (for instance, the Great Gatehouse, the "Abbey Gateway
", which is the only surviving monastic building other than the Abbey Church, dates from 1365).
St Albans played a role in the Peasants' Revolt
of 1381: the peasants, led by a local man William Grindcobbe and Jack Straw
, forced their way into the Abbey and demanded a charter for the freedom of St Albans from the Abbot ('Charter of freedom of the villeins of St Alban's forcibly obtained from the Abbot and Convent', 16 June 1381). Richard of Wallingford
, a local landowner, who had presented demands to Richard II
on behalf of Wat Tyler
in London, brought news of this to St Albans and argued with the abbot over the charter. However, this was short lived. Once the 14-year-old king had regained control of the capital and then the whole country, Grindcobbe was tried in the Moot Hall (on the site of the present-day W H Smith
stationery shop, where a plaque commemorates the event) and adjudged a 'traitor' alongside John Ball
('the mad priest of Kent', one of the rebel leaders who had escaped from Smithfield, London
to Coventry) and more than a dozen others. He was hanged, drawn and quartered
in July 1381.
Another notable building dating from around this time, the Clockhouse belfy or Clock Tower, built between 1403 and 1412, seems to have been intended both as a visible and audible statement of the town's continuing civic ambitions against the power of the Abbot.
During the Wars of the Roses
two battles were fought in and around St Albans. The First Battle of St Albans
on 22 May 1455 was a Lancastrian
defeat that opened the war. The Lancastrian army occupied the town but the Yorkist
forces broke in and a battle took place in the streets of the town. On 17 February 1461 the Second Battle of St Albans
on Bernards Heath
north of the town centre resulted in a Lancastrian victory.
Following the Reformation
, the Abbey was dissolved in 1539 and the Abbey Church sold to the town in 1553 for £400: it became a Protestant parish church for the borough and the Lady Chapel was used as a school
. The Great Gatehouse was used as a prison until the 19th century, when it was taken over by St Albans School. In May 1553, in response to a public petition, the first royal charter
for the town was issued by King Edward VI
, granting it the status of borough. The charter defined the powers of the mayor and councillors, then known as burgesses, as well as specifying the Wednesday and Saturday market days which continue to this day.
In 1555, during the reign of Mary Tudor
, a Protestant Yorkshire baker, George Tankerfield, was brought from London and burnt to death on Romeland because of his refusal to accept the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation
.
During the English Civil War
(1642–45) the town sided with parliament but was largely unaffected by the conflict.
Verulam Road was created specifically to aid the movement of stage coaches, since St Albans was the first major stop on the coaching
route north from London. The large number of coaching inns is, in turn, one reason why the City has so many pubs
today (another being that it was, and remains, a major centre for Christian pilgrimage).
The railway arrived in 1868, off-setting the decline in coaching since the 1840s.
Growth was always slow and steady, with no sudden burst: in 1801 there were 6,000 people living in St Albans; in 1850 11,000; in 1931 29,000; and in 1950 44,000.
issued the second royal charter, which granted city status
to the borough and Cathedral status to the former Abbey Church. The new diocese was established in the main from parts of the large Diocese of Rochester
. Lord Grimthorpe
financed a £130,000 renovation and rebuilding of the then dilapidated cathedral, which is most apparent in his generally poorly regarded Neo-Gothic
rebuild of the west front (1880–1883). However, without Grimthorpe's money, it seems reasonable to assume that the Abbey Church would now almost certainly be a ruin, like many other former monastic churches, despite the work performed under Sir George Gilbert Scott
in the years 1860 to 1877.
The city's football club (St Albans City F.C.
) was founded in 1880.
Ralph Chubb
, the poet and printer, lived on College Street in St Albans from 1892 to 1913, and attended St Albans School. His work frequently references the Abbey of St Albans, and he ascribed mystical significance to the geography and history of the town.
became the first airship
to be brought down over England.
was the base for Handley Page Aircraft Company, while Hatfield
became home to de Havilland
. St Albans itself became a centre for the Marconi plc company, specifically, Marconi Instruments
. Marconi (later part of the General Electric Company) remained the city's largest employer (with two main plants) until the 1990s. A third plant - working on top secret defence work - also existed. Even Marconi staff only found out about this when it closed down. All of these industries are now gone from the area.
In 1936 St Albans was the last but one stop for the Jarrow Crusade.
, as government policy promoted the creation of New Towns and the expansion of existing towns. Substantial amounts of local authority housing were built at Cottonmill (to the south), Mile House (to the south-east) and New Greens (to the north). The Marshalswick
area to the north-east was also expanded, completing a pre-war programme.
In 1974 St Albans City Council, St Albans Rural District Council and Harpenden Town Council were merged to form St Albans District Council
(part of a much wider local government reorganisation).
The 2001 census returns show a population of 129,000 for St Albans City and District.
St Albans
St Albans is a city in southern Hertfordshire, England, around north of central London, which forms the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans. It is a historic market town, and is now a sought-after dormitory town within the London commuter belt...
is in southern Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England. The county town is Hertford.The county is one of the Home Counties and lies inland, bordered by Greater London , Buckinghamshire , Bedfordshire , Cambridgeshire and...
, England, around 22 miles (35 km) north of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, beside the site of a Catuvellauni
Catuvellauni
The Catuvellauni were a tribe or state of south-eastern Britain before the Roman conquest.The fortunes of the Catuvellauni and their kings before the conquest can be traced through numismatic evidence and scattered references in classical histories. They are mentioned by Dio Cassius, who implies...
settlement and the Roman
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
town of Verulamium
Verulamium
Verulamium was an ancient town in Roman Britain. It was sited in the southwest of the modern city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, Great Britain. A large portion of the Roman city remains unexcavated, being now park and agricultural land, though much has been built upon...
and on the River Ver
River Ver
The Ver is a river in Hertfordshire, England. The river begins in the grounds of Markyate Cell, and flows south for 12 miles alongside Watling Street through Flamstead, Redbourn, St Albans and Park Street, and joins the River Colne at Bricket Wood....
. St Albans is Hertfordshire's oldest town, a modern city shaped by over 2000 years of continuous human occupation.
Pre-Roman times
The town is first recorded as Verlamion, a Celtic British Iron AgeIron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
settlement whose name means 'the settlement above the marsh'. After the Roman conquest of Britain in AD 43, it developed as Verulamium and became one of the largest towns in Roman Britain. Built mainly of wood, it was destroyed during the revolt of Boudica
Boudica
Boudica , also known as Boadicea and known in Welsh as "Buddug" was queen of the British Iceni tribe who led an uprising against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire....
in AD 60-61, but was rebuilt and grew to feature many impressive town houses and public buildings. It was encircled by gated walls in AD 275.
The Romans leave
The Roman City of Verulamium slowly declined and fell into decay after the departure of the Roman Army in AD 410. However, its ruined buildings provided building materials to build the new monastic and market settlement of St Albans which was growing on the hill above, close to the site of Saint AlbanSaint Alban
Saint Alban was the first British Christian martyr. Along with his fellow saints Julius and Aaron, Alban is one of three martyrs remembered from Roman Britain. Alban is listed in the Church of England calendar for 22 June and he continues to be venerated in the Anglican, Catholic, and Orthodox...
's execution. In the Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
Abbey tower, you can still see the Roman bricks removed from Verulamium.
Much of the post-Roman development of St Albans was in memorial to Saint Alban, the earliest known British Christian martyr, executed in AD 250 (the exact date is unknown, with scholars suggesting dates of 209, 254 and 304). The town itself was known for some time by the Saxon name 'Verlamchester'. A shrine was built on the site of his death following Emperor Constantine's adoption of Christianity as the religion of the Roman Empire. In the 5th century a Benedictine monastic church was constructed.
The Abbey is founded
Another abbey was founded by King Offa of MerciaOffa of Mercia
Offa was the King of Mercia from 757 until his death in July 796. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, Offa came to the throne after a period of civil war following the assassination of Æthelbald after defeating the other claimant Beornred. In the early years of Offa's reign it is likely...
in 793. The settlement grew up around the precincts of another Benedictine monastery, founded in AD 900-950 by Abbot Ulsinus
Wulsin (Abbot Ulsinus)
Wulsin was a tenth century Abbot of St Albans Abbey, England, and, according to the 13th century chronicler Matthew Paris, founded St Albans School there in 948 which is still active...
(also known as Wulsin). According to Matthew Paris
Matthew Paris
Matthew Paris was a Benedictine monk, English chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts and cartographer, based at St Albans Abbey in Hertfordshire...
, the 13th century chronicler of St Albans Abbey, Abbot Ulsinus (Wulsin) founded three churches in 948, reputedly to tend to the physical and spiritual needs of the growing number of pilgrims to Alban's shrine: St Peter's
Church of St Peter, St. Albans
St Peter's Church in St Albans, England, is a parish church in the Church of England.-Background:It is, based upon the writing of Matthew Paris, believed to have been originally founded in AD 948 by Abbot Ulsinus of St Albans...
, St Stephen's
St. Stephen's Church, St. Albans
St Stephen's Church in St Albans, England, is a parish church in the Church of England.-Background:It is, based upon the writing of Matthew Paris, believed to have been originally founded in AD948 by Abbot Ulsinus of St Albans...
and St Michael's
Church of St. Michael, St. Albans
St Michael's Church in St Albans is a parish church in the Church of England.-Background:It is, based upon the writing of Matthew Paris, believed to have been originally founded in AD948 by Abbot Ulsinus of St Albans...
. Each church was equidistant from the Abbey and on one of the main approaches to the town.
Also in 948, Abbot Ulsinus (Wulsin) founded St Albans School
St Albans School (Hertfordshire)
St Albans School is an independent school in the city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, in the East of England. Entry before Sixth Form is for boys only, and co-educational thereafter. Founded in 948 by Wulsin , St Albans School is not only the oldest school in Hertfordshire but also one of the oldest...
, an education establishment to this day.
Around 500 people lived in the town in 1086 (at the time of the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
).
The building of the Norman Abbey Church
St Albans Cathedral
St Albans Cathedral is a Church of England cathedral church at St Albans, England. At , its nave is the longest of any cathedral in England...
(now the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban) was started in 1077 by Paul de Caen
Paul of Caen
Paul of Caen was a Norman Benedictine monk who became fourteenth Abbot of St Albans Abbey in 1077, a position he held to 1093. He was a nephew of Archbishop Lanfranc....
, the 14th Abbot, and completed in 1089. It was 350 feet (106.7 m) long with a tower and seven apses.
A nunnery, Sopwell Priory
Sopwell Priory
Sopwell Priory was built c. 1140 in Hertfordshire, England by the Benedictine abbot of St Albans Abbey, Geoffrey de Gorham...
, was founded nearby in 1140 by Abbot Geoffrey de Gorham
Geoffrey de Gorham
Geoffrey de Gorham , sometimes called Geoffrey of Dunstable or of Le Mans , was a Norman scholar who became Abbot of St Albans Abbey, 1119 to 1146.-Life:...
.
The head of the abbey was confirmed as the premier abbot in England in 1154. The abbey was extended by John of Wallingford
John of Wallingford
John of Wallingford , also known as John de Cella, was Abbot of St Albans Abbey in the English county of Hertfordshire from 1195 to his death in 1214...
(also known as John de Cella) in the 1190s, and again between 1257 and 1320 but financial constraints limited the effectiveness of these later additions.
In August 1213 the first draft of Magna Carta
Magna Carta
Magna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...
was drawn up in St Albans Abbey.
In 1290 the funeral procession of Eleanor of Castile
Eleanor of Castile
Eleanor of Castile was the first queen consort of Edward I of England. She was also Countess of Ponthieu in her own right from 1279 until her death in 1290, succeeding her mother and ruling together with her husband.-Birth:...
stopped overnight in the town and an Eleanor cross
Eleanor cross
The Eleanor crosses were twelve originally wooden, but later lavishly decorated stone, monuments of which three survive intact in a line down part of the east of England. King Edward I had the crosses erected between 1291 and 1294 in memory of his wife Eleanor of Castile, marking the nightly...
was put up at a cost of £100 in the Market Place. The cross, which stood for many years in front of the 15th century Clock Tower, was demolished in 1701.
A market was running outside the abbey from the 10th century; it was confirmed by King John of England
John of England
John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...
in 1202 and by a Royal Charter of Edward VI
Edward VI of England
Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...
in 1553.
Conflict
things, to the construction of a large wall and gate surrounding the Abbey (for instance, the Great Gatehouse, the "Abbey Gateway
Abbey Gateway, St. Albans
The Abbey Gateway, St. Albans was built in 1365 and is the last remaining building of the Benedictine Monastery at St. Albans, Hertfordshire....
", which is the only surviving monastic building other than the Abbey Church, dates from 1365).
St Albans played a role in the Peasants' Revolt
Peasants' Revolt
The Peasants' Revolt, Wat Tyler's Rebellion, or the Great Rising of 1381 was one of a number of popular revolts in late medieval Europe and is a major event in the history of England. Tyler's Rebellion was not only the most extreme and widespread insurrection in English history but also the...
of 1381: the peasants, led by a local man William Grindcobbe and Jack Straw
Jack Straw (rebel leader)
For other uses, see Jack Straw Jack Straw was one of the three leaders of the Peasants' Revolt of 1381, a major event in the history of England.-Biography:Little is known of the Rising's leaders. It been suggested that Jack Straw may have been a preacher...
, forced their way into the Abbey and demanded a charter for the freedom of St Albans from the Abbot ('Charter of freedom of the villeins of St Alban's forcibly obtained from the Abbot and Convent', 16 June 1381). Richard of Wallingford
Richard of Wallingford (constable)
Richard of Wallingford , constable of Wallingford Castle and landowner in St Albans, played a key part in the English peasants' revolt of 1381. Though clearly not a peasant, he helped organise Wat Tyler’s campaign, and was involved in presenting the rebels’ petition to Richard II...
, a local landowner, who had presented demands to Richard II
Richard II of England
Richard II was King of England, a member of the House of Plantagenet and the last of its main-line kings. He ruled from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard was a son of Edward, the Black Prince, and was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III...
on behalf of Wat Tyler
Wat Tyler
Walter "Wat" Tyler was a leader of the English Peasants' Revolt of 1381.-Early life:Knowledge of Tyler's early life is very limited, and derives mostly through the records of his enemies. Historians believe he was born in Essex, but are not sure why he crossed the Thames Estuary to Kent...
in London, brought news of this to St Albans and argued with the abbot over the charter. However, this was short lived. Once the 14-year-old king had regained control of the capital and then the whole country, Grindcobbe was tried in the Moot Hall (on the site of the present-day W H Smith
W H Smith
WHSmith plc is a British retailer, headquartered in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. It is best known for its chain of high street, railway station, airport, hospital and motorway service station shops selling books, stationery, magazines, newspapers, and entertainment products...
stationery shop, where a plaque commemorates the event) and adjudged a 'traitor' alongside John Ball
John Ball (priest)
John Ball was an English Lollard priest who took a prominent part in the Peasants' Revolt of 1381. In that year, Ball gave a sermon in which he asked the rhetorical question, "When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?".-Biography:Little is known of Ball's early years. He lived in...
('the mad priest of Kent', one of the rebel leaders who had escaped from Smithfield, London
Smithfield, London
Smithfield is an area of the City of London, in the ward of Farringdon Without. It is located in the north-west part of the City, and is mostly known for its centuries-old meat market, today the last surviving historical wholesale market in Central London...
to Coventry) and more than a dozen others. He was hanged, drawn and quartered
Hanged, drawn and quartered
To be hanged, drawn and quartered was from 1351 a penalty in England for men convicted of high treason, although the ritual was first recorded during the reigns of King Henry III and his successor, Edward I...
in July 1381.
Another notable building dating from around this time, the Clockhouse belfy or Clock Tower, built between 1403 and 1412, seems to have been intended both as a visible and audible statement of the town's continuing civic ambitions against the power of the Abbot.
During the Wars of the Roses
Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic civil wars for the throne of England fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the houses of Lancaster and York...
two battles were fought in and around St Albans. The First Battle of St Albans
First Battle of St Albans
The First Battle of St Albans, fought on 22 May 1455 at St Albans, 22 miles north of London, traditionally marks the beginning of the Wars of the Roses. Richard, Duke of York and his ally, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, defeated the Lancastrians under Edmund, Duke of Somerset, who was killed...
on 22 May 1455 was a Lancastrian
House of Lancaster
The House of Lancaster was a branch of the royal House of Plantagenet. It was one of the opposing factions involved in the Wars of the Roses, an intermittent civil war which affected England and Wales during the 15th century...
defeat that opened the war. The Lancastrian army occupied the town but the Yorkist
House of York
The House of York was a branch of the English royal House of Plantagenet, three members of which became English kings in the late 15th century. The House of York was descended in the paternal line from Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, the fourth surviving son of Edward III, but also represented...
forces broke in and a battle took place in the streets of the town. On 17 February 1461 the Second Battle of St Albans
Second Battle of St Albans
The Second Battle of St Albans was a battle of the English Wars of the Roses fought on 17 February, 1461, at St Albans. The army of the Yorkist faction under the Earl of Warwick attempted to bar the road to London north of the town. The rival Lancastrian army used a wide outflanking manoeuvre to...
on Bernards Heath
Bernards Heath
Bernards Heath is a heathland in St. Albans, Hertfordshire, the site of the Second Battle of St Albans in 1461 during the Wars of the Roses.In the 19th century it was the Hertfordshire County cricket ground.-External links:*...
north of the town centre resulted in a Lancastrian victory.
Following the Reformation
English Reformation
The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
, the Abbey was dissolved in 1539 and the Abbey Church sold to the town in 1553 for £400: it became a Protestant parish church for the borough and the Lady Chapel was used as a school
St Albans School (Hertfordshire)
St Albans School is an independent school in the city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, in the East of England. Entry before Sixth Form is for boys only, and co-educational thereafter. Founded in 948 by Wulsin , St Albans School is not only the oldest school in Hertfordshire but also one of the oldest...
. The Great Gatehouse was used as a prison until the 19th century, when it was taken over by St Albans School. In May 1553, in response to a public petition, the first royal charter
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...
for the town was issued by King Edward VI
Edward VI of England
Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...
, granting it the status of borough. The charter defined the powers of the mayor and councillors, then known as burgesses, as well as specifying the Wednesday and Saturday market days which continue to this day.
In 1555, during the reign of Mary Tudor
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
, a Protestant Yorkshire baker, George Tankerfield, was brought from London and burnt to death on Romeland because of his refusal to accept the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation
Transubstantiation
In Roman Catholic theology, transubstantiation means the change, in the Eucharist, of the substance of wheat bread and grape wine into the substance of the Body and Blood, respectively, of Jesus, while all that is accessible to the senses remains as before.The Eastern Orthodox...
.
During the English Civil War
First English Civil War
The First English Civil War began the series of three wars known as the English Civil War . "The English Civil War" was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations that took place between Parliamentarians and Royalists from 1642 until 1651, and includes the Second English Civil War and...
(1642–45) the town sided with parliament but was largely unaffected by the conflict.
An early transport hub
Three main roads date from the medieval period - Holywell Hill, St Peter's Street, and Fishpool Street. These remained the only major streets until around 1800 when London Road was constructed, to be followed by Hatfield Road in 1824 and Verulam Road in 1826.Verulam Road was created specifically to aid the movement of stage coaches, since St Albans was the first major stop on the coaching
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
route north from London. The large number of coaching inns is, in turn, one reason why the City has so many pubs
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
today (another being that it was, and remains, a major centre for Christian pilgrimage).
The railway arrived in 1868, off-setting the decline in coaching since the 1840s.
Growth was always slow and steady, with no sudden burst: in 1801 there were 6,000 people living in St Albans; in 1850 11,000; in 1931 29,000; and in 1950 44,000.
The City Charter
In 1877, in response to a public petition, Queen VictoriaVictoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the monarch of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death. From 1 May 1876, she used the additional title of Empress of India....
issued the second royal charter, which granted city status
City status in the United Kingdom
City status in the United Kingdom is granted by the British monarch to a select group of communities. The holding of city status gives a settlement no special rights other than that of calling itself a "city". Nonetheless, this appellation carries its own prestige and, consequently, competitions...
to the borough and Cathedral status to the former Abbey Church. The new diocese was established in the main from parts of the large Diocese of Rochester
Diocese of Rochester
The Diocese of Rochester is a Church of England diocese in South-East England and forms part of the Province of Canterbury. It is an ancient diocese, having been established in 604; only the neighbouring Diocese of Canterbury is older in the Church of England....
. Lord Grimthorpe
Edmund Beckett, 1st Baron Grimthorpe
Edmund Beckett, 1st Baron Grimthorpe, Q.C. , known previously as Sir Edmund Beckett, 5th Baronet and Edmund Beckett Denison was a lawyer, horologist, and architect...
financed a £130,000 renovation and rebuilding of the then dilapidated cathedral, which is most apparent in his generally poorly regarded Neo-Gothic
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
rebuild of the west front (1880–1883). However, without Grimthorpe's money, it seems reasonable to assume that the Abbey Church would now almost certainly be a ruin, like many other former monastic churches, despite the work performed under Sir George Gilbert Scott
George Gilbert Scott
Sir George Gilbert Scott was an English architect of the Victorian Age, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches, cathedrals and workhouses...
in the years 1860 to 1877.
The city's football club (St Albans City F.C.
St Albans City F.C.
St Albans City Football Club is a football club based in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. It was founded in 1908 and plays its home matches at Clarence Park, about 800 yards from the city centre. The club is in the Premier Division of the Southern League...
) was founded in 1880.
Ralph Chubb
Ralph Chubb
Ralph Nicholas Chubb was an English poet, printer, and artist. Heavily influenced by Whitman, Blake, and the Romantics, his work was the creation of a highly intricate personal mythology, one that was anti-materialist and sexually revolutionary.-Life:Ralph Chubb was born in Harpenden, Hertfordshire...
, the poet and printer, lived on College Street in St Albans from 1892 to 1913, and attended St Albans School. His work frequently references the Abbey of St Albans, and he ascribed mystical significance to the geography and history of the town.
World War I
In September 1916, following an attack on St Albans, the German Airship SL 11SL 11
The Schütte-Lanz SL 11 was a military dirigible airship built in Germany during 1916.-Operational history:The SL 11 was built by Luftschiffbau Schütte-Lanz and thus, was not classeD as a Zeppelin. Based at Spich and commanded by Hauptmann Wilhelm Schramm, on the early night of September 3, 1916,...
became the first airship
Airship
An airship or dirigible is a type of aerostat or "lighter-than-air aircraft" that can be steered and propelled through the air using rudders and propellers or other thrust mechanisms...
to be brought down over England.
Between the wars
In the inter-war years St Albans, in common with much of the surrounding area, became a centre for emerging high-technology industries, most notably aerospace. Nearby RadlettRadlett
Radlett is a small town in the county of Hertfordshire between St Albans and Borehamwood on Watling Street with a population of approximately 8,000. It is located in the council district of Hertsmere and is covered by two wards, Aldenham East and Aldenham West...
was the base for Handley Page Aircraft Company, while Hatfield
Hatfield, Hertfordshire
Hatfield is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England in the borough of Welwyn Hatfield. It has a population of 29,616, and is of Saxon origin. Hatfield House, the home of the Marquess of Salisbury, is the nucleus of the old town...
became home to de Havilland
De Havilland
The de Havilland Aircraft Company was a British aviation manufacturer founded in 1920 when Airco, of which Geoffrey de Havilland had been chief designer, was sold to BSA by the owner George Holt Thomas. De Havilland then set up a company under his name in September of that year at Stag Lane...
. St Albans itself became a centre for the Marconi plc company, specifically, Marconi Instruments
Marconi Instruments
Marconi Instruments was a British company, one of the Marconi group of companies, formerly part of GEC. The company was based in St Albans, Colchester and Stevenage . Prior to the consolidation in Stevenage, its main site was at Longacres on the eastern outskirts of St Albans, where it was the...
. Marconi (later part of the General Electric Company) remained the city's largest employer (with two main plants) until the 1990s. A third plant - working on top secret defence work - also existed. Even Marconi staff only found out about this when it closed down. All of these industries are now gone from the area.
In 1936 St Albans was the last but one stop for the Jarrow Crusade.
Post-war growth
The City was expanded significantly after World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, as government policy promoted the creation of New Towns and the expansion of existing towns. Substantial amounts of local authority housing were built at Cottonmill (to the south), Mile House (to the south-east) and New Greens (to the north). The Marshalswick
Marshalswick
Marshalswick is a district of St Albans, in Hertfordshire, England around 1.5 miles North East of the city centre. Marshalswick borders on Jersey Farm, Fleetville and Bernards Heath and historically fell within the bounds of Sandridge Parish to the North....
area to the north-east was also expanded, completing a pre-war programme.
In 1974 St Albans City Council, St Albans Rural District Council and Harpenden Town Council were merged to form St Albans District Council
City and District of St Albans
The City of St Albans , also known as the City and District of St Albans or District of St Albans, is a local government district, in Hertfordshire, England. It was created in 1974 and since then has held the status of non-metropolitan district and city. The local authority is St Albans City Council...
(part of a much wider local government reorganisation).
The 2001 census returns show a population of 129,000 for St Albans City and District.
External links
- St Albans History and Archaeology; Chris Saunders.
- St Albans, 1911 Encyclopædia article.
- British History Online - the city of St Albans
- Diocesan House, St AlbansDiocesan House, St AlbansDiocesan House is located in Verulam Road, St Albans on the northern side between Church Crescent and Britton Avenue opposite College Street .It is now known as Verulam House and has also been referred to as the Bishop's Palace....
- Verulam House, St AlbansVerulam House, St AlbansVerulam House is located in Verulam Road, St Albans AL3 4DH on the northwestern side between Church Crescent and Britton Avenue opposite College Street.It has previously been referred to as Diocesan House and also known as the Bishop's Palace....