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St Albans has two official [[demonym]]s: Verulamian and Albanian. St Albans was a settlement of pre-Roman origin named ''Verlamion'' (or Verulam) by the [[Belgae|Ancient British]], [[Catuvellauni]] tribe. It became the first major town on the old [[Roman Britain|Roman]] road of [[Watling Street]] for travellers heading north and became the Roman city of [[Verulamium]].
St Albans has two official [[demonym]]s: Verulamian and Albanian. St Albans was a settlement of pre-Roman origin named ''Verlamion'' (or Verulam) by the [[Belgae|Ancient British]], [[Catuvellauni]] tribe. It became the first major town on the old [[Roman Britain|Roman]] road of [[Watling Street]] for travellers heading north and became the Roman city of [[Verulamium]].


[[Saint Alban]], the first British Christian martyr, was beheaded in AD 308 by [[Maximian]] on the orders of Emperor [[Diocletian]], who denounced Christianity and had ordered the deaths of all subjects and allies of the Roman Empire who refused to give up the faith.<ref>Legendary Tales of the Ancient Britons, 1864, L. Menzies, adapted from the Latin Chronicles of Geoffrey of Monmouth.</ref> Saint Alban consequently gave the town its modern name.
[[Saint Alban]], the first British Christian martyr, was possibly beheaded in AD 308 by [[Maximian]] on the orders of Emperor [[Diocletian]], who denounced Christianity and had ordered the deaths of all subjects and allies of the Roman Empire who refused to give up the faith.<ref>Legendary Tales of the Ancient Britons, 1864, L. Menzies, adapted from the Latin Chronicles of Geoffrey of Monmouth.</ref> Saint Alban consequently gave the town its modern name.


==History==
==History==

Revision as of 13:39, 15 August 2013

St Albans
City of St Albans
A view of the St Albans Abbey.
A view of the West End of St Albans Abbey Church
Flag of St Albans
Official logo of St Albans
A map showing the location of St Albans in England.
Shown within Hertfordshire and the United Kingdom
OS grid referenceTL148073
DistrictSt Albans
Shire countyHertfordshire
RegionEast
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Government
 • EU ParliamentEast of England
 • UK ParliamentSt Albans
Population
 (2011)
58,000 (City of St Albans)
Time zoneUTC+0 (Greenwich Mean Time)
Post townST. ALBANS
Postcode districtAL1, AL2, AL3, AL4
Dialling code01727
PoliceHertfordshire
FireHertfordshire
AmbulanceEast of England
Websitestalbans.gov.uk/

St Albans /s[invalid input: 'ɨ']nt ˈɔːlbənz/ (Lat. Villa Sancti Albani or Villa Albani) is a city in southern Hertfordshire, England, around 22 miles (35 km) north of central London; it 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. Property prices are notoriously high within the district, which is one of the most expensive in the UK.

St Albans has two official demonyms: Verulamian and Albanian. St Albans was a settlement of pre-Roman origin named Verlamion (or Verulam) by the Ancient British, Catuvellauni tribe. It became the first major town on the old Roman road of Watling Street for travellers heading north and became the Roman city of Verulamium.

Saint Alban, the first British Christian martyr, was possibly beheaded in AD 308 by Maximian on the orders of Emperor Diocletian, who denounced Christianity and had ordered the deaths of all subjects and allies of the Roman Empire who refused to give up the faith.[1] Saint Alban consequently gave the town its modern name.

History

The early 15th century Clock Tower

The St Albans area has a long history of settlement. The Celtic Catuvellauni tribe had a settlement at Prae Hill a mile or so to the west. The Roman city of Verulamium, second-largest town in Roman Britain after Londinium, was built alongside this in the valley of the River Ver a little nearer to the present city centre.

After the Roman withdrawal, and prior to becoming known as St Albans, the town was called Verlamchester or Wæclingacaester by the Mercian Angles.

The mediaeval town grew up on the hill to the east of this around the Benedictine foundation of St Albans Abbey. This is the spot where tradition has it that St Alban, the first British Christian martyr, was beheaded some time before AD 324. It was at one time the principal abbey in England and the first draft of Magna Carta was drawn up there, reflecting its political importance. The Abbey Church, now St Albans Cathedral (formally the Cathedral & Abbey Church of St Alban but still known locally as The Abbey) became the parish church when it was bought by the local people in 1553, soon after the priory was dissolved in 1539. It was made a cathedral in 1877 when the City Charter was granted. There is evidence that the original site was somewhat higher up the hill than the present building and there had certainly been successive abbeys before the current building was started in 1077.

St Albans School, a public school which occupies a site to the west of the Abbey and which includes the 14th century Abbey Gateway, was founded in AD 948 and is the only school in the English-speaking world to have educated a Pope (Adrian IV). It numbered amongst its buildings until comparatively recently a converted former hat factory, a link with the city's industrial past. Nearby Luton was also a notable centre for the hat making industry.

St Albans: French Row (to the left), Market Place (to the right), St Peter's Street and the tower of St Peter's Church (centre)

The road between the Abbey and the school, running down to the River Ver and Verulamium Park (on part of the site of Roman Verulamium), is called Abbey Mill Lane. On this road are the palaces of the Bishops of St Albans and Hertford. The Fighting Cocks, one of the oldest public houses in England, is at the Verulamium Park end of this road. Also on the River Ver, at the St Michael's Village end of the park, is Kingsbury Watermill, which is now maintained as a museum with a waffle house attached.

Two battles of the Wars of the Roses took place in or near the town. The First Battle of St Albans was fought on 22 May 1455 within the town of St Albans itself, and the Second Battle of St Albans was fought on 17 February 1461, just to the north.[2]

The growth of St Albans was generally slow before the 20th century, reflecting its status as a rural market town, a Christian pilgrimage site, and the first coaching stop of the route to and from London - a fact which also accounts for its numerous inns, many dating from Tudor times. In the inter-war years it became a popular centre for the electronics industry. In the post-World War II years it was expanded significantly as part of the post-War redistribution of population out of Greater London that also saw the creation of new towns.

The city today shows evidence of building and excavation from all periods of its history and is a tourist destination. Notable buildings include the Abbey and the early 15th century Clock Tower (pictured). The clock tower is one of only two similar towers in England; it is also the site of an Eleanor cross, which was pulled down in 1703, it had suffered years of neglect, and had been struck and badly damaged by a carriage, it was replaced by the town pump. A fountain was erected in its place in 1874, now relocated to Victoria Place.

Running into St Albans from the south is Holywell Hill (generally pronounced "holly-well hill"), its name taken from the story of St Alban. Legend has it that the Romans were looking for a traitor that had been injured and Alban found the traitor and helped him to recover; somehow, after the traitor had recovered and left, the Romans found out that Alban had helped the traitor to escape and had him beheaded. The severed head rolled down the hill from the execution site and into a well at the bottom, thus Holy-well Hill.

Remains of Roman wall

The mixed character of St Albans and proximity to London has made it a popular filming location. The Abbey and Fishpool Street areas were used for the pilot episode of the 1960s' ecclesiastical TV comedy All Gas and Gaiters. The area of Romeland, directly north of the Abbey Gateway and the walls of the Abbey and school grounds, can be seen masquerading as part of an Oxford college in some episodes of Inspector Morse (and several local pubs also appear). Fishpool Street, running from Romeland to St Michael's village, stood in for Hastings in some episodes of Foyle's War. Life Begins was filmed largely in and around St Albans. The Lady Chapel in the Abbey itself was used as a location for at least one scene in Sean Connery's 1995 film First Knight, whilst the nave of the Abbey was used during a coronation scene as a substitute for Westminster Abbey in Johnny English starring Rowan Atkinson. The 19th century gatehouse of the former prison near the mainline station appeared in the title sequence of the TV series Porridge, starring Ronnie Barker. The 2001 film Birthday Girl starring Ben Chaplin and Nicole Kidman was also partly filmed in St Albans.

More recently, several scenes from the film Incendiary, starring Michelle Williams, Ewan McGregor and Matthew Macfadyen, were filmed in St Albans, focusing in particular on the Abbey and the Abbey Gateway.

The Clock Tower

Between 1403 and 1412 Thomas Wolvey, formerly the Royal Mason, was engaged to build "Le Clokkehouse" in the Market Place. It is the only extant mediaeval town belfry in England. The tower's design was based on the Clock House at Westminster Palace that the architect Henry Yevele (Wolvey's master) built in 1365. The Clock Tower was used to sound the curfew until 1863. The Tower was also used as a semaphore station from 1808 to 1814 during the Napoleonic Wars. The architect George Gilbert Scott restored the structure of the tower in 1865-6; he also added the gothic spire and parapets.

The original bell, named for the Archangel Gabriel (cast round the bell is the Latin rhyme "From Heaven I come/Gabriel my name"), is still in use, though chimed rather than rung; it last rang out for Queen Victoria's funeral in 1901. It sounds F-natural and weighs one ton.

Gabriel sounded at 4 am for the Angelus and at 8 or 9 pm for the curfew. A small bell, dated 1729, was moved in the Clock Tower from the market place nearby, where it opened business until 1855.

The ground floor of the tower was a shop until the 20th century. The first- and second-floor rooms were designed as living chambers. The shop and the first floor were connected by a flight of spiral stairs. Another flight rises the whole height of the tower by 93 narrow steps and gave access to the living chamber, the clock and the bell without disturbing the tenant of the shop.

The old clock may have been removed in the 18th century and replaced by a pendulum clock. The present clock incorporates a four-legged gravity escapement invented by Lord Grimthorpe, the local horologist and restorer of the Abbey who designed Big Ben's mechanism.

Governance

Local government

The local authority is St Albans City Council, which also calls itself St Albans City and District Council and St Albans District Council. The irregular sounding name reflects the diverse nature of the area covered, with two main urban areas and several villages; typically districts with the status of cities are known simply as Cities, for example the City of Peterborough or the City of York.

The district was created on 1 April 1974 as a merger of the City of St Albans, the Harpenden Urban District and most of St Albans Rural District. City status had been granted to the municipal borough of St Albans in 1877, following the elevation of St Albans Abbey to cathedral.[3] The status was granted to the entire district by letters patent dated 9 July 1974.[4]

UK Parliament

St Albans is a parliamentary constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Established in 1885, it is a county constituency in Hertfordshire, and elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.

Geography

Climate

St Albans experiences an oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb) similar to almost all of the United Kingdom.

Climate data for St Albans
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 6
(43)
8
(46)
12
(54)
14
(57)
18
(64)
20
(68)
22
(72)
22
(72)
16
(61)
12
(54)
8
(46)
7
(45)
15
(59)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 5
(41)
5
(41)
6
(43)
8
(46)
10
(50)
13
(55)
15
(59)
16
(61)
13
(55)
11
(52)
8
(46)
2
(36)
10
(50)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 50.7
(2.00)
39.9
(1.57)
31.7
(1.25)
46.2
(1.82)
38.9
(1.53)
46.4
(1.83)
33.1
(1.30)
43.6
(1.72)
49.7
(1.96)
70.7
(2.78)
58.1
(2.29)
56.9
(2.24)
565.9
(22.28)
Source: [5]

Districts within St Albans

Jersey Farm, Marshalswick, Sopwell, St Stephens

Nearby towns and villages

Twin Towns

St Albans is twinned with:

In addition, there are friendship links with:

Demography

The 2001 census showed a population of 129,005 with a split of 50.84% to 49.16% female to male. The Office for National Statistics mid-2012 estimates the population at 138,800. The age split in the 2001 census recorded 20.5% children, 64,5% of working age (16-64) and 14.9% older people (65+).[6]

86.9% of St Albans residents are White British, with 4.3% identified as Other White, 2% Irish, and 1.3% Bangladeshi. The majoriy of St Albans residents identify themselves as Christians (71%), followed by no religion or religion not stated (24.1%), Muslim (2.6%) and Jewish (0.9%).[7]

In terms of employment, St Albans has a highly skilled workforce, having the 4th highest proportion of managers, senior officials and professional occupations in the country. It has lower than the national average unemployment figures, and the lowest level in Hertfordshire.[8]

St Albans has a very low proportion of people reporting they are permanently sick or disabled (2.8%) compared with the proportion nationally (5-6%).[9]

In 2001 nearly 50% of residents (aged 16–64) hold a degree or equivalent and the average weekly earnings of £724.40 is 44% higher than the national average.[10]

Economy

The City and District of St Albans has a strong local economy, a highly skilled workforce, an excellent location for rail, road and airports and is seen by many employers as a desirable place to be. The District also benefits from the proximity of the University of Hertfordshire, based close by at Hatfield, which is one of the country’s leading business orientated universities.

Well-known firms such as Deloitte, Spreadex, AECOM, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Premier Foods and Aon Hewitt all have large office bases in the area. It also has many distributive industries such as the Sainsbury's Retail Distribution Centre at London Colney which employs over 600 staff.[11]

Transport

Two railway stations serve the town, the St Albans City station which is situated 0.5 miles east of the city centre, and the St Albans Abbey station, which is situated approximately 0.6 miles south of the city station.

The City station is part of the main Bedford to Brighton line, and the Abbey station is a single track line to Watford Junction station.

Culture

St Michael's Church

St Albans has a thriving cultural life, with regular concerts and theatre productions held at venues including Trestle Arts Base,[12] St Albans Abbey, Maltings Arts Theatre,[13] the Alban Arena, the Abbey Theatre,[14] St Peter's Church and St Saviour's Church, given by numerous organisations including St Albans Bach Choir,[15] St Albans Cathedral Choir, St Albans Abbey Girls' Choir, St Albans Symphony Orchestra,[16] St Albans Chamber Choir,[17] St Albans Chamber Opera,[18] The Company of Ten,[19] St Albans Choral Society,[20] and St Albans Organ Theatre.[21] St Albans is also home to Trestle Theatre Company,[22] who have been creating professional, innovative and inspirational physical storytelling theatre since 1981. Originally known for their work with masks, Trestle collaborates with UK and international artists to unify movement, music and text into a compelling theatrical experience. The Sandpit Theatre is a theatre attached to Sandringham School which hosts a wide variety of plays throughout the year, mainly performances put on by the pupils of Sandringham School. The school also hosts Best Theatre Arts,[23] a part-time theatre school for children aged 4 to 16.

The Maltings Shopping Centre in St Albans

The St Albans Museum service runs two museums: Verulamium Museum, which tells the story of everyday life in Roman Britain using objects from the excavations of the important Roman Town; and the Museum of St Albans, which focuses on the history of the town and of Saint Alban.[24] The Watercress nature reserve is by the River Ver and is run by the Watercress Wildlife Association.[25]

Sport

In December 2007, Sport England published a survey which revealed that residents of St Albans were the 10th most active in England in sports and other fitness activities. 30.8% of the population participate at least 3 times a week for 90 minutes.[26]

Cricket

Clarence Park also plays host to St Albans Cricket Club.[27] The club currently runs four Saturday sides, playing in the Saracens Hertfordshire Cricket League and also two Sunday sides in the Chess Valley Cricket League. In 2008 the club's 1st XI won the Hertfordshire League Title. In the previous two seasons, the first XI came 5th (2011) and 4th (2012) in division one.

Cricket pavilion at Clarence Park

Football

The local football team is St Albans City F.C.: its stadium is on the edge of Clarence Park and the team won promotion from the Conference South League in 2005-06. It played in the Nationwide Conference Division of the Football Conference for the 2006-07 season, but finished at the bottom of the table and was relegated.[28]

Gymnastics

St Albans Gymnastics Club, founded in 2005, provides the St Albans area with fun and effectively structured recreational classes as well as a professionally managed competitive squad.[29]

Hockey

St Albans is also home to St Albans Hockey Club,[30] based in Clarence Park. The club is represented at National league level by both women's and men's teams, as well as other local league competitions. The club's nickname is The Tangerines.

Rugby League

St Albans Centurions rugby league club have their ground at Toulmin Drive, St Albans. They play in the National Conference League 3 division. In 2007 and again in 2010 'The Cents', as they are known, became National Champions of the RLC Premier Divisions.

Rugby Union

Old Albanian RFC is a rugby union club that plays at the Old Albanian sports complex to the north of the city centre. They play in National League 1 the third tier of the English rugby union system. Saracens A team and OA Saints Women's Rugby team also play here. This complex hosts the main offices of the Aviva Premiership club Saracens (however, Saracens train in Hatfield, and will soon move their home ground to Barnet). St Albans RFC play at Boggymead Spring in Smallford, and Verulamians RFC (formerly Old Verulamians) play at Cotlandswick in London Colney.

Skateboarding

St Albans is home to one of the country's oldest and finest indoor skateparks, the Pioneer Skatepark in Heathlands Drive, next to the former fire station. Its ramps are available to all skateboarders and inliners. A new outside mini ramp was built in March 2005. A second outdoor mini ramp was opened at Easter 2009.

St Albans is additionally home to a community of traceurs from around Hertfordshire.[31]

St Albans was once home to the then most prestigious steeplechase in England. The Great St Albans chase attracted the best horses and riders from across Britain and Ireland in the 1830s and was held in such high esteem that when it clashed with the 1837 Grand National the top horses and riders chose to bypass Aintree. Without warning the race was discontinued in 1839 and was quickly forgotten.

St Albans was once home to Samuel Ryder, the founder of the Ryder cup. He ran a very successful packet seeds business in the 1890s which at one time he ran from a packing warehouse on Holywell Hill (now Café Rouge). His interest in golf and sponsorship led to his donation of the now famous Ryder Cup. He is buried in Hatfield Road Cemetery, where in July 2012 the Olympic Torch Relay passed by to honour him.

Education

The Abbey Gateway, now part of St Albans School

St Albans has many state primary and secondary schools, and number of independent schools. The Law School of the University of Hertfordshire used to be based in St Albans until it moved to the De Havilland campus in Hatfield in 2011.

State Schools

Primary Schools
School Gender Age Range Religious Affiliation Location School website
The Abbey CE VA Primary School Mixed 4-11 Christian (Anglican) AL1 http://www.abbey.herts.sch.uk/
Aboyne Lodge Primary and Nursery School Mixed 3-11 Does not apply AL3 http://www.aboyne.herts.sch.uk/
Bernards Heath Infant School Mixed 3-7 Does not apply AL1 http://www.bernardsheath.herts.sch.uk/
Bernards Heath Junior School Mixed 7-11 Does not apply AL3 http://www.bernardsheathjnr.herts.sch.uk/
Camp Primary and Nursery School Mixed 3-11 Does not apply AL1 http://www.camp.herts.sch.uk/
Cunningham Hill Infant Mixed 5-7 Does not apply AL1  
Cunningham Hill Junior Mixed 7-11 Does not apply AL1 http://www.cunninghamjm.herts.sch.uk/
Fleetville Infant and Nursery School Mixed 3-7 Does not apply AL1 http://www.fleetvilleinfants.herts.sch.uk/welcome.asp
Fleetville Junior School Mixed 7-11 Does not apply AL1 http://www.fleetvillejm.herts.sch.uk/
Garden Fields JMI Mixed 5-11 Does not apply AL3 http://www.gardenfields.herts.sch.uk/
Killigrew Primary and Nursery School Mixed 3-11 Does not apply AL2 http://www.killigrew.herts.sch.uk/
Killigrew Junior School Mixed        
Mandeville Primary School Mixed 3-11 Does not apply AL1  
Maple School Mixed 4-11 Does not apply AL1 http://www.maple.herts.sch.uk/
Margaret Wix Primary Mixed 3-11 Does not apply AL3 http://www.margaretwix.herts.sch.uk/  
St Adrian Roman Catholic Primary School Mixed 3-11 Roman Catholic AL1 http://www.stadrians.herts.sch.uk/
St Alban and St Stephen RC Infant & Nursery School Mixed 3-7 Roman Catholic AL1 http://www.ssasinfants.herts.sch.uk/
St Alban and St Stephen Catholic Junior School Mixed 7-11 Roman Catholic AL1 http://www.ssasjm.herts.sch.uk/
St Michael's CE VA Primary School Mixed 4-11 Church of England AL3 http://www.stmichaels.herts.sch.uk/
St Peter's School Mixed 3-11 Does not apply AL1  
Wheatfields Infants' and Nursery School Mixed 3-7 Does not apply AL4 http://www.wheatfieldsinfants.herts.sch.uk/
Wheatfields Junior School Mixed 7-11 Does not apply AL4 http://www.wheatfieldsjm.herts.sch.uk/
Windermere Primary School Mixed 5-11 Does not apply AL1 http://www.windermere.herts.sch.uk/ St John Fischer Primary School Mixed 4-11 Roman Catholic AL4 http://www.sjfisher.herts.sch.uk/
Secondary Schools
School Gender Age Range Religious Affiliation Location School website
Beaumont School   11-18 Does not apply AL4 http://www.beaumontschool.com/
Loreto College Girls 11-18 Roman Catholic AL1 http://www.loreto.herts.sch.uk/
Marlborough Science Academy Mixed 11-18 None AL1 http://www.marlborough.herts.sch.uk/
Nicholas Breakspear Catholic School Mixed 11-18 Roman Catholic AL4  
Sandringham School Mixed 11-18   AL4 http://www.sandringham.herts.sch.uk
St Albans Girls' School Girls 11-18 Does not apply AL3 http://www.stags.herts.sch.uk/
Samuel Ryder Academy Mixed 4-19   AL1 http://www.samuelryderacademy.co.uk/
Townsend School Mixed 11-18 Church of England AL3 http://www.townsend.herts.sch.uk/
Verulam School Boys[1] 11-18 Does not apply AL1 http://www.verulamschool.co.uk

Independent Schools

School Gender Age Range Religious Affiliation Location School website
St Albans School Boys[2] 11-18 Christian AL3 http://www.st-albans.herts.sch.uk/sascms/
St Albans High School for Girls Girls 4-18 Christian AL1 http://www.stahs.org.uk/
St Columba's College Boys 4-18 Roman Catholic AL3 http://stcolumbascollege.org/
  • ^1 Verulam School takes girls 16-18
  • ^2 St Albans School takes girls 16-18

Notable people

Nicholas Bacon (1510–1579)
Francis Bacon (1561–1626)
Sarah Churchill (1660–1744)
William Cowper ( 1665–1723)
Thomas S. Wells ( 1818–1897)
Stephen Hawking (b.  1942)
Alan Smith (b.  1957)
Peter Mensah (b.  1959)
Nigel Marven (b.  1960)
Helen Wyman (b.  1980)
  • The 1957 April Fool's Day spoof edition of BBC documentary series Panorama, which dealt with the fictitious Swiss spaghetti harvest, was filmed partly at the (now closed) Pasta Foods factory on London Road, St Albans.
  • The 2001 film Birthday Girl, featuring Nicole Kidman and Ben Chaplin, is set in St Albans.
  • A number of places across the world are named after the City of St Albans, most notably in Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
  • St Albans was the name of a planet in the cult science-fiction television series Firefly.
  • In September 2007, St Albans replaced Mayfair as the most expensive square on a special UK Here and Now Edition Monopoly board, having won an internet vote.
  • Enter Shikari's song "All eyes on the Saint" (B-side of "Juggernauts" single) tells the story of St Alban.[35]
  • The BBC used the Main Gate House of the former St Albans Prison in Victoria Street as the main gate of "Slade Prison" in the sitcom Porridge.[36]

See also

References

  1. ^ Legendary Tales of the Ancient Britons, 1864, L. Menzies, adapted from the Latin Chronicles of Geoffrey of Monmouth.
  2. ^ History of Verulam and St. Alban's S. G. Shaw, 1815 pages 64-66. Accessed April 2011
  3. ^ "No. 24502". The London Gazette. 11 September 1877.
  4. ^ "No. 46352". The London Gazette. 24 September 1974.
  5. ^ "Averages for St Albans". June 2011.
  6. ^ "Mapped: St Albans Community Profile". Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  7. ^ "Mapped: St Albans Community Profile". Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  8. ^ "Mapped: St Albans Community Profile". Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  9. ^ "Mapped: St Albans Community Profile". Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  10. ^ "Mapped: St Albans Community Profile". Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  11. ^ "Mapped: St Albans Econmoy Report 2011" (PDF). Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  12. ^ "Trestle Theatre Company, St Albans". trestle.org.uk. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  13. ^ "The Maltings Arts Theatre, St Albans". Stalbans.gov.uk. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  14. ^ "Abbey Theatre, Trestle Arts Base, St Albans". Abbeytheatre.org.uk. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  15. ^ "St Albans Bach Choir". St Albans Bach Choir. 10 July 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  16. ^ "St Albans Symphony Orchestra". Saso.org.uk. 11 July 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  17. ^ "St Albans Chamber Choir". St Albans Chamber Choir. 25 April 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  18. ^ "St Albans Chamber Opera". Hertsdirect.org. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  19. ^ "The Company of Ten, St Albans". Hertsdirect.org. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  20. ^ "St Albans Choral Society". Choralsociety.com. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  21. ^ "St Albans Organ Theatre". St Albans Organ Theatre. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  22. ^ "Trestle Theatre Company History". trestle.org.uk. Retrieved 17 July 2010.[dead link]
  23. ^ "Best Theatre Arts". Best Theatre Arts. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  24. ^ "St Albans Museums". St Albans Museums. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
  25. ^ "Watercress Wildlife Association, St Albans". Watercress Wildlife Association. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
  26. ^ "Sport England—Active People Survey". Sportengland.org. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  27. ^ "St Albans Cricket Club". Stalbanscc.com. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  28. ^ Football Conference—Blue Square Premier Table[dead link]
  29. ^ "St Albans Gymnastics Club". stalbansgymclub.com. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
  30. ^ "St Albans Hockey Club". Stalbanshc.co.uk. 17 April 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  31. ^ "Hertfordshire Parkour". Hertsparkour.co.uk. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  32. ^ William of Wallingford Berkshire History. Final paragraph. Accessed March 2013
  33. ^ "Private 7602 Edward Warner, V.C." bedfordregiment.org.uk. Retrieved 16 May 2013.
  34. ^ ""The muddiest, funnest sport of attrition": an interview with Helen Wyman on her life in Cyclo-Cross". 25 October 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
  35. ^ "Enter Shikari - "All eyes on the Saint" lyrics". Songmeanings.net. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  36. ^ "The British Comedy Guide - Porridge - location details". Retrieved 22 July 2012.