St Mary’s, Cheshunt
Apparently there is no wholly Saxon church in the county, although several of the older ones were constructed on the site of Saxon buildings, many of which were probably of wood, and thus either perished through decay or were burnt during the Danish raids. On the other hand, there are remains of Saxon work in St Albans’ Abbey, and there are several Hertfordshire churches which are referred with a greater or less degree of certainty to the period before the Norman conquest; the original part of St Michael’s, in St Albans, and of St Stephen’s, to the south-west of that town, may be cited as examples, both dating from the middle of the tenth century. The church of Sandridge—on the road from St Albans to Wheathampstead—may likewise date from the same epoch.
St Helen’s, Wheathampstead
St Mary’s, Hemel Hempstead
Of Norman churches there are numerous examples, among which may be cited as a fine specimen St Mary’s, Hemel Hempstead, whose tall octagonal tower and spire are visible from a long distance. The Norman arches of the nave are of great solidity, while the western doorway, dating from about 1140, is a magnificent example of the work of the period. Sarratt church is also largely Norman, as was also the old church of St Nicholas, Harpenden, unfortunately pulled down (with the exception of the much later tower) nearly half a century ago. A considerable portion of St Albans’ Abbey (now cathedral), the pride of the whole county, is also Norman; the tower of Roman brick being, apart from modern additions, wholly of that period. The old Saxon Church of King Offa, which stood on or near the site of the present building, appears to have been completely swept away by Abbot Paul of Caen (1077–1093), the founder of the present abbey, which although completed by him, was not consecrated till 1115. “It is to be inferred,” according to the Victoria History of Hertfordshire, “that a clean sweep was made of the old buildings, and no evidence as to their site has been preserved. The Norman Abbot’s contempt for his Saxon predecessors ... led him to destroy their tombs, and he doubtless laid out his new building without attempting in any way to accommodate them to those previously existing on the site. But he preserved and used up in his new church some of the stonework of the old building, giving a very prominent place to the turned shafts which still remain in the transept, and are the most notable relics of the Saxon building.” In the present nave, which is the second longest in England, the first six pillars on the north side belong to the original structure of Abbot Paul; after which we come to Early English (Pointed) work; this being continued to the west end of the building and back to the fifth pillar on the south side, whence Decorated work extends to St Cuthbert’s screen. The Norman work (1077–1093) of one side thus faces Decorated work (1308–1326) on the other, but this is due to accident rather than design, the Norman pillars having given way early in the church’s history. It has recently been suggested that the Abbey stands on the site of the old Roman amphitheatre, and that St Peter’s Street, St Albans, marks the position of the Roman cursus, or race-course.
St Albans’ Abbey