“Abbot John de Cella had begun to build afresh the western towers, or, according to some authorities, to build the first western towers that the church ever had; we have no record of their completion, and it is said that Abbot William abandoned the idea. We have only the foundations by which we can determine their size. William of Trumpington transformed the windows of the aisles into Early English ones. He also added a wooden lantern to the tower, somewhat in the style of the wooden octagon on the central tower of Ely.”—(T. P.)
The next changes were made in the east end. These were begun in the last half of the Thirteenth Century. The walls of the presbytery were raised; the Saint’s Chapel built; then the retro-choir; and then the Lady-Chapel (1326).
Then Hugh of Eversden (1308-1326) became abbot and had to rebuild the part of the nave that fell in 1323. His work was continued by Richard of Wallingford (1326-1335) and completed by Michael of Mentmore in 1345.
John de Wheathampstead, who was twice abbot (1420-1440, and 1451-1464), rebuilt the upper part of the west front, made changes in the roofs, inserted Perpendicular windows in the ends of the transept, and also converted the Norman triforium arches into windows by filling them with Perpendicular tracery. His chantry was built after his death. William of Wallingford (1476-1484) contributed the gorgeous screen.
The exterior has no interest for the student of architecture. The enormous church is plain, and Lord Grimthorpe has been at work everywhere. The only feature that has any real beauty is the fine Norman tower.
“It is 144 feet high and is not quite square in plan, measuring 47 feet from east to west, and two feet less from north to south. The walls are about seven feet thick; in the thickness, however, passages are cut. It has three stages above the ridges of the roof. The lower stage has plain windows in each face, lighting the church below; the next stage, or ringing room, has two pairs of double windows; and the upper or belfry stage, two double windows of large size, furnished with louvre boards. The parapet is battlemented, and of course of later work than the tower itself. The tower is flanked by pilaster buttresses, which merge into cylindrical turrets in the upper story. For simple dignity the tower stands unrivalled in this country. It must have been splendidly built to have stood as it has done so many centuries without accident. Winchester tower fell not long after its building, Peterborough tower has been rebuilt in modern days; but Paul of Caen did not scamp his work as the monks of Peterborough did, and no evil-living king was buried below the tower, as was the case at Winchester, thus, according to the beliefs of the time, leading to its downfall. Tewkesbury tower alone can vie with that of St. Albans, and the Seventeenth Century pinnacles on that tower spoil the general effect, so that the foremost place among central Norman towers as we see them to-day may safely be claimed for that at St. Albans. Few more beautiful architectural objects can be seen than this tower of Roman brick, especially when the warmth of its colour is accentuated by the ruddy flush thrown over it by the rays of a setting sun.”—(T. P.)
The pilgrims to St. Alban’s shrine used to enter by the North Door of the Transept, carrying the candles that they had bought at the Waxhouse Gate. This Norman doorway, with a Norman window on each side (modern glass), still exists. The upper part of the north wall with the wheel window was rebuilt by Lord Grimthorpe.
The nave is immensely long—about a tenth of a mile. It is Norman, grim, and cold, but impressive.
“As we stand just inside the west door of the church we are struck by the length of ritual nave, about 200 feet, the flatness of the roofs, and the massiveness of the arcading dividing the nave from the aisles; for, though the four western bays on the north side and five on the south are Early English in date, there is none of that lightness and grace that we are accustomed to associate with work of this period, no detached shafts of Purbeck marble such as we see at Salisbury, no exquisitely carved capitals such