St Albans (16,019), situated about twenty miles north-west of London by rail, enjoys the distinction of being the only town in Hertfordshire entitled to style itself a “city.” It is the direct modern successor of the Roman city of Verulamium, lying on the opposite side of the Ver, and itself dates from Saxon times, its ancient monastery having been founded by the Mercian king Offa II in 793, in memory of Alban, the first English Christian martyr. The city has a mayor and corporation, and was formerly a parliamentary borough in its own right, although at the present day it forms the centre of an electoral district returning one member to the House of Commons. It is also the centre of the western division of Hertfordshire;—a division corresponding in the main to the old Liberty of St Albans, the area lying within the jurisdiction of the abbot. Quarter-sessions for the western division of the county are held in the Court House, and likewise petty-sessions for the St Albans division of the county, as well as city petty-sessions for St Albans itself. At these last the city magistrates sit; the cases being brought before them by the local police force, which is distinct from that of the county. The city is the see of the bishopric of St Albans, and its crowning glory is its Abbey, now raised to the dignity of a cathedral. Offa’s abbey was attacked and plundered by the Danes, and a rebuilding of the monastic church was contemplated by Ealdred, the eighth abbot, who collected building materials from Verulam. The long-deferred work, on a new site, was however not undertaken till the time of Paul of Caen, the first Norman abbot (1077–93). This abbot rebuilt the church and nearly all the monastic buildings with the materials collected by his predecessor; and apparently made a clean sweep of the original structures. Although the fabric appears to have been completed by Abbot Paul, the consecration did not take place till 1115. Between 1195 and 1214 Abbot John de Cella commenced a new west front, but only part of the original design was carried out. In 1257 the eastern end was in a dangerous condition, and the two easternmost bays were pulled down; and eventually a presbytery and a Lady Chapel with vestibule were added. Extensive alterations and rebuilding were carried out previous to 1326, and again between 1335 and 1340. Other works were carried out by John de Wheathampstead between 1451 and 1484, including the rebuilding of St Andrew’s chapel. In 1553 the abbey was sold to the Mayor and Burgesses as a parish church, when the Lady Chapel was cut off from the rest of the building by a public passage and used as a grammar school. This passage remained till about 1870, when the Lady Chapel was once more rejoined to the main fabric. About this time a restoration of portions of the building was undertaken by a county committee, when the low-pitched roof of the nave was replaced by a high-pitched one on the lines of a much earlier structure. Soon after, the tower was in danger of collapsing, owing to crush in the supporting pillars, and the whole structure had to be shored up previous to underpinning. Finally, the late Lord Grimthorpe undertook the completion of the “restoration,” which was carried out in substantial but drastic style. His most notable work comprised the complete rebuilding of the west front in a peculiar style, the repointing of the tower, and the replacing of its brick turrets by stone “pepper-pots.”
Shrine of St Amphibalus, St Albans’ Abbey
The clock-tower in the centre of the city, from which the curfew was rung till the sixties, is another interesting building, as is also the old gateway of the monastery, now used as a grammar school. Near by the city are the ruins of Sopwell nunnery. The city has three parishes, those of the Abbey, St Peter, and St Michael, but it is also extending into the parish of Sandridge. On the further side of the Ver is situated St Stephen’s. St Albans is rapidly increasing as a residential district, and also as a manufacturing centre, a number of industrial establishments from London having been recently set up in its environs. Straw-plait still remains, however, the chief trade, although the actual plaiting of the straw has been killed by foreign competition. A market is held every Saturday. St Albans has a museum, unfortunately not restricted to local antiquities and natural history objects. There are three railway stations, one on the Midland, the second the terminus of a branch line from the North-Western at Watford, and the third that of a branch of the Great Northern from Hatfield. St Peter’s church stands on the site of a Saxon church built in the latter half of the tenth century; this was replaced in less than 200 years by a Norman edifice, remains of which were found during the alterations carried out by the late Lord Grimthorpe. St Michael’s church contains Bacon’s tomb.
Two notable battles were fought at St Albans during the Wars of the Roses. In 1455 the Yorkists and in 1461 the Lancastrians were victorious. (pp. [14], [18], [35], [57], [59], [60], [61], [71], [72], [75], [80], [81], [82], [84], [94], [98], [102], [103], [104], [105], [107], [123], [124], [126], [128], [130], [137], [138], [140], [141], [142], [149].)
Sawbridgeworth (2085), pronounced Satsworth, is a town on the eastern border of the county, to the south of Bishop’s Stortford, with a station on the Great Eastern Railway. It was originally known as Sabricstworth, being the seat of the family of Say, or de Say. It has a history dating from the Conquest. (pp. [113], [132].)
Shenley (1120) a village about four miles to the southward of St Albans; the manor in the time of Stephen belonged to the de Mandeviles, who had also the church.
Standon (1577), a village and manor, with a station on the Great Eastern Railway about midway between Buntingford and Stanstead Abbots. Standon Lordship was the seat of the Lords Aston of Forfar, who inherited it from the Sadler family. The living originally belonged to the Knights Templars.
Stanstead Abbots (1484), now a parish and manor, but formerly a borough, is a village lying east of Hertford, near St Margaret’s station on the Great Eastern Railway.