For the Love of the British Isles: ST. ALBANS

Most of this article will necessarily be about the very old, very beautiful cathedral, and the nearby Roman walled town. So I thought I'd start by covering some of the various things I found first.

The first thing I did, was to go in the opposite direction from the cathedral, to find the Registry Office. Strange thing to photograph, I know, but when I post the picture, the older readers in the UK will feel that the door is rather familiar

Yes? No? Unfortunately, there was a wedding in progress, which meant that the big, heavy doors were wide open.

Let me see if I can jog your memory......

Yep, that's Norman Stanley Fletcher leaving HMP Slade at the end of his sentence. Although the series was actually filmed in Colchester, the entrance to the prison was indeed the entrance to the Registry Office in St. Albans.

The fancy brickwork above the door was covered by the lattice grille for the filming, but the heavy doors still exist, although you seldom see them in the day time.

The Gatehouse was originally the governor’s residence of a Victorian prison and was used as a war hospital at one point too. It’s surrounded by beautiful gardens which feature a striking 1840 siege cannon and the building still has the original doors.

There's a modern shopping centre just a short walk along Victoria Street from the station, called The Maltings. There's a blue plaque on the wall by the entrance. The name meant nothing to me, so I had to do some research.

It seems that Charles Walter Stansby Williams was an English poet, novelist, playwright, theologian and literary critic. None the wiser.............

Typically grand town library building, now supplying food for the body, rather than the mind. It opened in 1911. Much of the cost of the building was met by Andrew Carnegie, who was one of the richest men in the world. His family were very poor Scottish weavers, who migrated to America in 1848 when Andrew was only 12. Mr Carnegie made his money from steel, but in 1901 he decided to give nearly all his fortune away to support public education. It was opened by Mr Carnegie together with the American Ambassador. It closed in 1988.

St. Albans has its' fair share of impressive buildings, none more so than the City Museum and Art Gallery, which was once the Town Hall. As well as galleries of artefacts and artworks, you can explore the Assembly Room, Courtroom and Cells.

Lloyds Bank - something rather Art Deco about the building, don't you think? It is definitely early 20th. Century.

The Peahen pub - sadly spoilt by the awful colour scheme. The first mention of the Peahen was in 1480, and on the construction of London Road in the 18th. century, it was merged with the Woolpack, trading as a hotel. The Peahen was a vital stopping point on the way through to London for tourists and business folk. The current pub was built at the end of the 19th. century.

One of the things I wanted to see in the City Centre, was the clock tower. However, it's currently under restoration and thus sheathed in scaffolding and sheet plastic. So that will have to wait for another time. Directly opposite the Square where the clock tower stands, is Waxhouse Gate, a narrow alley, which is a lovely shortcut to the Cathedral. It has this Remembrance plaque at the entrance.

And on the left, as you walk toward the Cathedral, is the Vestry Garden, with this touching area dedicated to War and Peace outside.

Walk past the cathedral, and down Abbey Mill Lane to the river, and at the bottom, you will find the Fighting Cocks Inn, which is one of the hostelries vying for the title of the oldest pub in England.

It is one of several pubs that lay claim to being the oldest in England, claiming to have been in business since 793 AD.The pub was once recognized as the oldest in England by the Guinness World Records, but the record was withdrawn from consideration in 2000 because it was deemed impossible to verify.

The building is described by Historic England as being of 16th-century appearance, but as the earliest date for which it can be proved to have been licensed is 1756, and even that date is not certain.

It is said that King Offa of Mercia had a dovecote here, which later became the local centre for cock fighting. This became illegal in 1849 but the cock pit is still there, as is a stuffed example of a fighting cock, and a copy of the rules of the sport.

Whatever, it's a pretty building in a lovely situation, right on the bank of the river, and looking across to the Roman town of Verulamium.

This is a small portion of the Roman town wall. I shall, at some point, make another trip to St. Albans, in order to focus solely on that period of the town history,

The first settlement here dates back to the 1st century BC when a Celtic tribe built its capital at a place they called Verlamion, which translates as 'place above the marsh'.
When the Romans invaded Britain in AD 43 they captured the settlement and established a fort beside the river crossing. They gave the fort a Latinised version of the Celtic name and called it Verulamium.
The Roman town was less than two decades old when it was burned to the ground by Queen Boudicca in her AD 61 revolt against Roman rule. Archaeologists have unearthed a layer of black ash left by the burning of the timber buildings. The Romans subdued the revolt and rebuilt the town, gradually replacing the original timber structures with stone buildings.
They made Verulamium into a bustling town with all the accoutrements of a civilised Roman settlement, including a forum, a basilica, and an amphitheatre capable of seating 6000 spectators. Verulamium grew to become the third-largest town in Roman Britain, behind only London and Colchester.

The Roman Wall of St Albans, which was built between AD 265 and 270 to defend the Roman city of Verulamium, can still be traced for most of its two-mile circuit.
At its peak, the massive structure towered at a height of five metres and was topped by a walkway protected by a 1.8 metre parapet - giving some indication of the importance placed on what was then Roman Britain's third largest town.
Although today the wall no longer stands quite so tall, parts of the structure do still reach the impressive height of four metres, and the surviving foundations of two towers and bastions as well as the remains of the impressive London Gate make the wall well worthy of a visit.

St. Albans has the dubious distinction of not only hosting the first battle of the Wars of the Roses, between a small army under Richard, Duke of York, and supporters of Henry VI on 22 May 1455, but a second , on 17 February 1461, When Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, was defeated by Margaret, rescuing her husband Henry VI in the process.

Another blue plaque, this one is on the wall of a little row of cottages between the Cathedral, and the Abbey School (more or less)

"The last Pre-Raphaelite". That's quite a title to live up to, to be considered a part of an art movement that gave us such names as Gabriel Dante Rossetti, Millais, Byrne-Jones and many other great artists.

Edward Robert Hughes RWS (5 November 1851 – 23 April 1914) was a British painter, who primarily worked in watercolours, but also produced a number of oil paintings. He was influenced by his uncle and artist, Arthur Hughes who was associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, and worked closely with one of the Brotherhood's founders, William Holman Hunt. Must admit, he's not one of my favourite artists.

This is his 'Night with her train of stars'

'Midsummer Eve'

What's left......? Oh yes, that enormous stone edifice in the middle of the city...........I should say, the beauty that is the Abbey Cathedral Of St. Albans. I wandered around it so much, I lost track of where I was and what I still had to discover. So I'm afraid these pictures are in no particular order, and I will need to do a heck of a lot of research to say what some of them are. Have patience........

First, a little bit about St. Alban. He was Britain's first saint. He lived about 300AD in the Roman town of Verulamium. One day he gave shelter to a Christian priest who was fleeing persecution. Later on, the priest became called Amphibalus. He converted Alban to Christianity.

Later, when the authorities came to arrest Amphibalus, Alban exchanged cloaks with him, thus allowing Amphibalus to escape.

When Alban was taken before the magistrate, he refused to recant his new-found Christian faith, he was sentenced to receive the punishment that the priest would have suffered, and was beheaded on a hill outside the town wall.

In due course, a small church was erected over Alban's grave site. This eventually grew into the beautiful one we see today. It has been extended many times, and every time period in church building has left its' mark.

The church was expensive to maintain, and gradually became more dilapidated. By 1832 parts of the south wall and nave collapsed. Wealthy barrister, Edmund Beckett Denison (Lord Grimthorpe) rebuilt the west front in 1880, thus replacing a window from the 1400s.

There is a bust of Baron Grimthorpe, who died in 1905.

King Offa of Mercia founded a monastery here in 793, which catered for both men and women. As the fame of St. Alban and later, St. Amphibalus grew, so did the town around it. Even kings came to worship at the shrines.

The monastery was closed by Henry VIII (who else!)

The impressive Abbey Gatehouse was built in the 1360s, at the request of Thomas de la Mare, the 30th Abbot of the Monastery, who took over as Abbot in 1349 after his predecessor was killed by the plague and went on to be Abbot for nearly fifty years. After the abbey closed, it became the town prison, and is now part of St. Alban's school.

The Abbey Gateway sits at entrance of the Cathedral’s Orchard.

It was besieged during the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381, and was used as a prison following the dissolution of the Abbey in 1539. It is also known to have housed the third ever printing press in England in 1479. The Gateway remained a prison for a time before it became part of St Albans School in 1871, which is what it is to this very day. One of the oldest schools not just in Hertfordshire, but one of the oldest schools in the world. It has many famous former students including Nicholas Breakspear, who went on to become Pope Adrian IV. John Ball, a leader of the Peasants Revolt who was hanged, drawn and quartered in St Albans and one of the most famous Physicists of our time, Professor Stephen Hawking.

The remains of a number of medieval abbots and other monastic officials, originally buried in the medieval chapter house, now rest under a slab in the Presbytery

There have been services in the Quire for over 900 years. This is where the monks sang their services. Before the altar screen was built, from here they could see St. Alban's shrine. Behind the nave screen, stands the immense Harrison & Harrison organ. The cathedral hosts a famous biennial international organ festival.

To one side, stands the beautifully carved Bishop's Chair.

The tower, and the crossing beneath, were the first parts of the church to be built, in 1077, by Paul of Caen's master mason, Robert. He used Roman bricks and tiles from Verulamium to make the extremely thick walls. This is the only tower from the 1000s in England still standing.

There are shields painted on the walls below the tower ceiling, which commemorate the lying in state of the body of King Edward's I's Queen, Eleanor, on its' journey to London. An Eleanor Cross used to stand by the clock tower in the town.

The tower had a new ring of 13 bells installed in 2010. However, the old ring of 8 bells is still there, and a restored carillon from the 1800s, plays hymn tunes.

Useless bit of trivia which has nothing to do with St. Albans - when I was a child, growing up at the top of the lane leading to the village church, that church had a carillon on its' 6 bells. Every day at 6 o'clock in the evening, old Mr. Harman used to walk over to the church and play 'Now The Day Is Over'. On a still summer evening, it could be heard down on Romney Marsh. Such a beautiful memory.........

Back to the tower...........

The ceiling panels were refurbished in 1950 by Jane Lenton. However, the original are still in place above them, except for one, which is displayed on a wall.

The panels depict the red and white roses of York and Lancaster, commemorating the battles fought in St. Albans, during the Wars of the Roses, in 1455 and 1461.

Daily choral services, and those for special occasions, are held in the Quire and Presbytery, before the High Altar. In 1484, Abbot Wallingford commissioned an impressive screen between the High Altar and St. Alban's shrine. Symbols of the ruling Yorkist dynasty were worked into the carvings.

In 1539, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the screen was damaged. In the 1800s, Lord Aldenham decided to pay for the replacement of the statues - much to the annoyance of Lord Grimthorpe, who had already paid for a huge amount of restoration work.

One of the statues on the screen is of Nicholas Breakspeare, who was born locally, and who became Pope, as Adrian IV, in 1154, the only Englishman ever to achieve this status.

The glittering reredos (below) is made of marble, glass and iridescent paua shells from New Zealand.

The ceiling above the presbytery, compliments this wealth of beautiful carving. It was built in around 1280, with oak presented by King Henry III, and was redecorated in the 1450s, on the direction of Abbot John of Wheathampstead, with the eagle of St. John the Evangelist and the lamb of St. John the Baptist

There are chantry chapels to either side of the screen - that to the south of Abbot Wallingford, and that to the north of Abbot Ramryge. There is a board explaining the carvings to be found on the wall outside the Ramryge chantry.

(Something I did like, was that everywhere in the cathedral, there are explanation boards, and each one has this little tag on them with a little detail for children to look for, which enhances their understanding of such a grand building. In the modern Welcome centre, is a lovely cafe, and they cater for children too. I found small cartons of fruit drinks labelled as being recommended by Hertfordshire County Council as being suitable for children (low sugar etc.). I can heartily recommend the raspberry and cherry one!)

On to the North transept, which Abbot Paul of Caen started to build in 1077. The Rose window was designed by Lord Grimthorpe in the late 1800s, replacing a large window from the late 1400s. It originally contained geometric shapes cut in clear glass.

In 1989, Laporte Industries celebrated their centenary by funding new glass. The resulting window was unveiled by Diana, Princess of Wales.

Isn't it stunning?

The North transept contains many important items, including the bust of Lord Grimthorpe, pictured elsewhere. There is a stunning memorial to the first Bishop of St. Albans, Thomas Leigh Claughton, who held the post from 1877 to 1890.

Amongst others, there is a bust of Michael Bolton Furse, Bishop from 1920 to 1945.

Also here is the table, or mansa, on which the casket containing St. Alban's bones stood before they were taken to the shrine.

Pilgrims entered through a side door into the North transept, on their way to the Shrine. Today, there is now an exhibition here, detailing the long history of the Abbey and Cathedral.

The beautifully carved pulpit in the North Transept.

In the north presbytery aisle, lies a real treasure - the enormous brass of Thomas de la Mare, one of the greatest abbots of the middle ages. It was made in Flanders and is full of intricate detail. De la Mare is buried near the High Altar.

My camera is not good enough to do it justice, but believe me, it is breathtaking.

The entire east end of the abbey had to be rebuilt in 1257 after cracks appeared. This included a new Lady Chapel, which was completed sometime between 1308 and 1326. After the abbey church was bought by the townspeople in 1553 to serve as their parish church, the Lady chapel was walled off and used as the grammar school for the next 300 years. In 1871, the school was transferred to the Great Gatehouse, and the access between the Lady Chapel and the church was unblocked.

Unfortunately 300 years of schoolboys had left the chapel in a poor condition, with much of the carving defaced. The Countess of Salisbury raised funds for restoration, and Lord Grimthorpe provided further amounts.

You can still see some of the original medieval paint and statues, and the restoration has been very sympathetic.

And so to the Shrine of St. Alban, who was buried on this hill 1,700 years ago.

The shrine was rebuilt in the 1300s, and only the base survives from the earlier one. It shows King Offa of Mercia at one end, and the Martyrdom of St. Alban at the other. The tomb was demolished in 1540, and reconstructed in 1872 from the small pieces being used to block the arches at the end of the chapel.

It was given a new canopy in 1992, depicting the letter A and roses, which were said to be the only flowers in bloom when Alban was led to his death.

On the north side of the shrine chapel, is a watching loft. Where monks would be placed to watch over the rich offerings left at the shrine by pilgrims. This was constructed of oak in around 1400. There are carvings on the north side of medieval life, and below the watching room, are cupboards which may have contained relics.

An icon of St. Alban stands in a niche behind the shrine, with the essentials for mass to the left.

A few other notes about the Shrine Chapel:

Below the shrine is buried Abbot John of Wheathampstead, his name commemorated on the chapel floor. His grave was discovered in 2017, during the building of the Welcome Centre.

Also in the vault below, is the tomb of Prince Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, who died in 1447 in mysterious circumstances, the only royal person buried in the cathedral. He was the son of Henry IV, brother of Henry V, and uncle to Henry VI. Humphrey fought at Agincourt, and was also a scholar, who gave many books to places of learning, including St. Albans.

His coffin can be seen through a grating in the chapel floor, and his name is inscribed on the floor

There are many, many wall paintings throughout the building, all damaged to a lesser or greater extent. One of the best preserved is in the north-east corner of the shrine chapel. It is a painting of St. William of York, dating from about 1300. It survived because it was isolated by the building of the wall between the church and the Lady Chapel, and was rediscovered when the wall was torn down. If all of these paintings had survived intact, think how bright and colourful the church would have been!

The one other item - one which puzzles me - is this grave slab which lies between the shrine, and the icon of St. Alban. So simple, but who is it? Obviously nobody very big!

The other shrine chapel holds the shrine of St. Amphibalus, the unknown priest whom St. Alban helped to escape, at the cost of his own life. The name Amphibalus was given to him in the 1100s, and is derived from the Latin and Greek words for 'cloak'

This shrine was also destroyed during the Dissolution, and pieces were found with those of St. Alban's. It was eventually restored in 2021, and relocated in what was once the Chapel of Our Lady of the Four Tapers. The painstaking restoration was only undertaken after extensive research, and new carvings were added. One new small figure wears a face mask as a reminder that restoration took place during the time of Covid.

A canopy was made by the Royal School of Needlework, the design incorporating red roses. myrtle, and the distinctive Alban cross. A set of narrative icons nearby, tell the story of Amphibalus.

There is a statue of a knight or soldier in one of the niches which surround the chapel walls.

In the South Transept, stand an enormous pair of doors. They date from the 1400s, and once stood at the west end of the nave, where they would stand wide open for religious processions, but for everyday use monks and pilgrims used a small door within a door.

The Nave is the longest in Great Britain at 85 metres (276 ft.). The arches nearest the Quire on the north side are part of the Norman church begun in 1077. This re-used Roman bricks and tiles from the ruins of Verulamium. These bricks were too hard to be carved, so they were whitewashed over and scenes painted on them. Wherever you look in the cathedral, are paintings from different periods.

Through the ages, as the congregation grew, so did the length of the nave. In 1323, two of the original pillars crashed outwards, destroying the south aisle roof.

In 1925, stained glass was added to Lord Grimthorpe's west window as a memorial to those of the parish who lost their lives in World War I. It shows the flags and arms of the Allied Nations, as well as their patron saints, and was designed by Ninian Comper. St. Alban is depicted holding his distinctive cross, in the second light from the left.

Below the window, and above the west door, is this charming etched glass transom window

There is a Spanish crystal altar cross on the screen which dates from the 1500s. I had to hunt for it, as it was obscured by banks of seating which had been built for a performance. While I was there, a group was rehearsing, and you ain't heard loud, until you've heard amplified drums in a large cathedral!

The cross was the gift of Canon Glossop in memory of his two sons who were killed in World War I.

As I said, there are loads of wall and pillar paintings, some in reasonable condition, some almost gone.

As you enter the nave, there is a poor box.

In an effort to prevent petty pilfering, the box is protected by three locks, each one opened by a different key held by a different person.

Now for some randomness - pictures that I haven't found a home for yet. Firstly, outside. On the railings surrounding the cathedral grounds, are hung boards. Some are simply pointers to where you can find one thing or another, e.g. the Welcome Centre etc. Others have tantalising picture and descriptions enticing passers-by to enter and take a closer look.

A handsome old yew tree guards the entrance to the Welcome Centre. (the Centre holds the Abbot's Kitchen cafe, the gift shop, toilets, and the main entrance to the cathedral)