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St Albans

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For other places named similarly, see Alban (disambiguation).
St Albans
Population64,038 (2001)[1]
OS grid referenceTL148073
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townST. ALBANS
Postcode districtAL1, AL2, AL3, AL4
Dialling code01727
PoliceHertfordshire
FireHertfordshire
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Hertfordshire

St Albans (/[invalid input: 'icon']s[invalid input: 'ɨ']nt ˈɔːlbənz/) is a city in southern Hertfordshire, England, around 22 miles (35 km) north of central London, which forms the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans. St Albans has two official demonyms: Verulamian and Old 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 beheaded in AD 308 by Maximian at the orders of Emperor Diocletian, who denounced the Christian faith and had ordered the deaths of all subjects and allies of the Roman Empire who refused to give up the faith.[2] Saint Alban consequently gave the town its modern name. 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.

History

Main article: History of St Albans
The 15th century Clock Tower.
St Albans: French Row (to the left), Market Place (to the right), St Peter's Street and the tower of the St Peter's Church (forward).
Remains of Roman wall.

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 sometime 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.

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.[3]

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 overnight[dubious – discuss] 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 due to neglect, 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 his severed head rolled down the hill from the execution site and into a well at the bottom (some versions have a well springing from the site at which the head stopped).

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. It is also home to popular stage school: Top Hat Stage & Screen School.

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) 9
(48) 		9
(48) 		12
(54) 		14
(57) 		18
(64) 		21
(70) 		23
(73) 		23
(73) 		20
(68) 		16
(61) 		11
(52) 		8
(46) 		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) 		5
(41) 		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: [4]

Twinning

St Albans is twinned with:

In addition, there are friendship links with:

Culture

The west end of the Cathedral and Abbey Church.

St Albans has a thriving cultural life, with regular concerts and theatre productions held at venues including St Albans Abbey, Maltings Arts Theatre,[5] the Alban Arena, the Abbey Theatre,[6] St Peter's Church and St Saviour's Church, given by numerous organisations including St Albans Bach Choir,[7] St Albans Cathedral Choir, St Albans Abbey Girl's Choir, St Albans Symphony Orchestra,[8] St Albans Chamber Choir,[9] St Albans Chamber Opera,[10] The Company of Ten,[11] St Albans Choral Society,[12] and St Albans Organ Theatre.[13] In addition, STARTS[14] is a registered charity dedicated to raising the profile of all the arts in St Albans and enriching the city’s cultural environment. 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,[15] a part-time theatre school for children aged 4 to 16.

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.[16]

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.[17]

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.

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.[18]

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

Old Albanian RFC is a rugby union club that plays at the Old Albanian sports complex to the north of the city centre. Saracens A team and OA Saints Women's Rugby team also play here. This complex also hosts the main offices of the Aviva Premiership club Saracens (however, Saracens train in Hatfield and play home matches at in Watford). St Albans RFC play at Boggymead Spring in Smallford, and Verulam RFC (formerly Old Verulamians) play at Cotlandswick in London Colney.

St Albans is also home to St Albans Hockey Club,[19] 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.

Clarence Park also plays host to St Albans Cricket Club.[20] 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.

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 training programme. [21]

St Albans is additionally home to a community of traceurs from around Hertfordshire.[22]

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.

Schools

The Abbey Gateway, now part of St Albans School

The secondary schools in the area are:

State
Independent

St Albans is the location of two campuses of Oaklands College and of a campus of the University of Hertfordshire.

Notable people

Trivia

Ye Olde Fighting Cocks public house
  • The Royal Navy has used six vessels with the name HMS St Albans. As the current vessel is a Duke Class Type 23 frigate, its name is taken from the Duke of St Albans, rather than the city.
  • The first meeting of the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) was held in St Albans on 20 November 1972, at the Farriers Arms pub which has a blue plaque commemorating the event. The organisation still has its head office in Hatfield Road. The local branch holds an annual beer festival in St Albans. In recent years this has been a four day event starting on a Wednesday near the end of September.
  • An experimental water tank was built alongside London Road, St Albans for the Vickers shipbuilding company in 1912 on a site measuring 680 feet (210 m) by 100 feet (30 m). Three years later in 1915, the first private wind tunnel was also built here, but moved to their Weybridge works shortly after the First World War. From December 1918 the test tank was used in developing fuselage profiles for amphibious aircraft, such as the Vickers Type 54 Viking, completed during 1919.
  • 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.
  • From 1808 to 1814 St Albans hosted a station in the shutter telegraph chain which connected the Admiralty in London to its naval ships in the port of Great Yarmouth.
  • Chiswell Green, directly south of the City, is home to the Royal National Rose Society.
  • A number of places across the world are named after the City of St Albans, most notably in Australia, New Zealand & 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.
  • St Albans is noted for having the most pubs per square mile in Britain.
  • The National Pharmacy Association the trade association for all of the UK's community pharmacies, is based in St Peter's Street, St Albans.
  • Enter Shikari's song "All eyes on the Saint" (B-side of "Juggernauts" single) tells the story of St Alban.[24]
  • Butterfly World is being built in nearby Chiswell Green. The project is expected to be completed in 2011 and aims to be the biggest butterfly attraction in the world.
  • Coat of Arms
    Coat of Arms
  • Flag of St Albans
    Flag of St Albans
  • The Old Town Hall and Market Place, viewed from St Peter's Street
    The Old Town Hall and Market Place, viewed from St Peter's Street
  • St Michael's Street
    St Michael's Street
  • Kingsbury Watermill
    Kingsbury Watermill
  • Roman Mosaics
    Roman Mosaics
  • Remains of Roman wall
    Remains of Roman wall
  • Part of the High Altar screen in St Albans Cathedral
    Part of the High Altar screen in St Albans Cathedral

See also

Nearby towns and villages

References

  1. ^ "Office for National Statistics, 2001 Census, Key Statistics for HCC Settlements #. Crown copyright. Table KS01 Usual resident population (numbers)" (PDF). Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  2. ^ Legendary Tales of the Ancient Britons, 1864, L. Menzies, adapted from the Latin Chronicles of Geoffrey of Monmouth.
  3. ^ History of Verulam and St. Alban's S. G. Shaw, 1815 pages 64-66. Accessed April 2011
  4. ^ "Averages for St Albans". June 2011.
  5. ^ "The Maltings Arts Theatre, St Albans". Stalbans.gov.uk. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  6. ^ "Abbey Theatre, Trestle Arts Base, St Albans". Abbeytheatre.org.uk. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  7. ^ "St Albans Bach Choir". St Albans Bach Choir. 10 July 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  8. ^ "St Albans Symphony Orchestra". Saso.org.uk. 11 July 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  9. ^ Concerts Posted on April 25th, 2010 by admin (25 April 2010). "St Albans Chamber Choir". St Albans Chamber Choir. Retrieved 17 July 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  10. ^ "St Albans Chamber Opera". Hertsdirect.org. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  11. ^ "The Company of Ten, St Albans". Hertsdirect.org. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  12. ^ "St Albans Choral Society". Choralsociety.com. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  13. ^ "St Albans Organ Theatre". St Albans Organ Theatre. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  14. ^ "St Albans Arts". STARTS. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  15. ^ "Best Theatre Arts". Best Theatre Arts. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  16. ^ "St Albans Museums". St Albans Museums. Retrieved 11 August 2011.
  17. ^ "Sport England—Active People Survey". Sportengland.org. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  18. ^ Football Conference—Blue Square Premier Table[dead link]
  19. ^ "St Albans Hockey Club". Stalbanshc.co.uk. 17 April 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  20. ^ "St Albans Cricket Club". Stalbanscc.com. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  21. ^ "St Albans Gymnastics Club". stalbansgymclub.com. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
  22. ^ "Hertfordshire Parkour". Hertsparkour.co.uk. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  23. ^ ""The muddiest, funnest sport of attrition": an interview with Helen Wyman on her life in Cyclo-Cross". 25 October 2010. Retrieved 5 November 2010.
  24. ^ "Enter Shikari - "All eyes on the Saint" lyrics". Songmeanings.net. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
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