Hello! So here it is, finally! This took way longer than anticipated, with all the photos and such. The photos are pretty small, too, but if you want a larger one for whatever reasons I will e-mail it to you!
So, here we go!
So, on Sunday I went to St. Albans! What is St. Albans, you ask? Well, according to Wikipedia, St. Albans is...
"the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans in southern Hertfordshire, England, around 22 miles (35 km) north of central London. It was a settlement of pre Roman origin named Verlamion 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. St Alban, the first British Christian martyr, was beheaded sometime before AD 324 and gave it its modern name. It is an historic cathedral and market town, and is now a sought after dormitory town within the London commuter belt."
I couldn't have put it better myself. If you want a visual, here is St. Albans on the map:
We arrived via train, and it took about 25 minutes from London. For a mere £7.90 round-trip, you could be there, too!
Our guide explained to us that until a rail station arrived in St. Albans in 1870, the town was very self-sufficient. She also explained that most of the houses surrounding the rail station were of the Victorian and Edwardian era, and that the closer we got to the city centre, the older the houses get. The actual city centre of St. Albans as it is today is really nowhere near the original Roman centre. The Roman centre was down the hill.
Here's an example of a house built after the railway station. Apparently the terracota colored buick was Hertfordshire brick (the area where the town is, local brick), while the yellow stuff is imported London brick, which arrived faster and cheaper with the addition of the railway. People started to buy the yellow brick and use it as decoration. I think the guide said it was still rather expensive, so it was really for showing off. The black brick you see isn't a third type of brick, people would burn the edges of the brick to make another color - it's the same old brick.
Other than this being an adorable little house, it is, in fact, not really a house. It's an alms house. It is a house built by the church to house elderly church members (usually widows). I just thought that it looked like the quintessential English house, what with the unruly gardens and such. But, of course, you can see the crosses on the house, too. You can apply to live here, but the list is quite long, apparently, so best to get on it soon.
This is Howard. He is the stone man that lives outside the St. Albans church. I'm not sure if that's his real name, but I think it fits. He's quite friendly, I'm sure.
This is the lovingly-named Puddingstone. That's not the stone's name, that's the type of stone. Again, according to Wikipedia, Hertfordshire Pudding Stone is:
"a conglomerate sedimentary rock comprised of rounded flint pebbles cemented together by a younger matrix of silica quartz. The distinctive rock is largely confined to the English county of Hertfordshire, and despite a superficial similarity to concrete, is entirely natural. Like other puddingstones, it derives its name from the manner in which the embedded flints resemble the plums in a Christmas pudding."
I took a picture of a cross-section of puddingstone later for your viewing pleasure. Puddingstone is credited for its strength and apparent magical powers. The Victorians would make vases, knife handles, etc, with it. As the guide explained, people would often include one puddingstone in the stones of a building to offer protection and strength, calling it "the motherstone" or "the growing stone" as well, Wikipedia also adds:
"Hertfordshire puddingstone was credited in local folklore with several supernatural powers, including being a protective charm against witchcraft. Parish records from the village of Aldenham relate that in 1662 a woman suspected of having been a witch was buried with a piece of it laid on top of her coffin to prevent her from escaping after burial."
This particular stone was on the grounds of the church and it is suspected that it was used as a road marker, as this road was one of the main traffic routes into the old city.
Here are some of my first pictures of the St. Albans Abbey. The current building was started in 1066, and has been added onto for several hundred years. I don't know how old the graveyard is, as most of the stones are illegible. You also can't really see it, but in the first picture there is a large tower. This was the first part of the abbey, and the red stones that it is build of are not your ordinary bricks. They are actually much thinner than your everyday brick and were actually taken from the old Roman city just down the hill and rebuilt into this tower. You'll get a better idea of this later.
Where the graveyard is now, used to be the edge of town. And I guess that every Sunday night the town men would gather at the edge of the forest and practice their bow and arrow shots into the forrest.
However, one night a man accidentally killed an old widow who had been living just on the edge of the forest. The man felt so bad that he build a home dedicated to helping old widows. You can see that he put an arrow symbolically over the archway to enter the home. The home was built in 1627.
Here are some of the other pictures I took of the Abbey. And now, for a brief history lesson:
St. Albans (the town) was named after a man named Alban. "Alban was a pagan living at Verulamium (now St Albans), who converted to Christianity, and was executed by decapitation on a hill above the Roman settlement of Verulamium. St Albans Abbey was later founded near this site"
I guess the way the story goes, a Christian priest came through the then Roman town and Alban sheltered him and was converted and baptised by him. A warrant was put out for Christian guy's arrest, and so Alban exchanged cloaks with him and Christian guy managed to sneak out. People got angry and Alban was executed near the abbey site, becomming the first British Christian Martyr.
Some of the other fun stories associated with this particular event:
"On his way to the execution, Alban had to cross a river, and finding the bridge full of people, he made the waters part and crossed over on dry land. And the executioner was so impressed with Alban's faith that he also converted to Christianity on the spot, and refused to kill him. Another executioner was quickly found (whose eyes dropped out of his head when he did the deed), and the first was killed after Alban, thereby becoming the second British Christian martyr".
As well, later on we head down Holliwell Street, which is named after the supposed holy water wells that spring up all over the hills after Alban was executed.
These are some of the oldest homes in St. Albans. They were built in the 1500s. The guide explained that you could tell because of the sagging beams in the roof. At this time the beams would've been made out of wood, but after the fires in London in 1666, building ceiling beams out of wood was forbidden. The roofs on these houses also would've been made of thatch at the time, and that is why they are so sloped - you wouldn't want snow and stuff to sit on a thatched roof for too long.
This is the old town hall. It was built in the 1820s. Our guide explained that it was during this time that Greece really became open to visit, and as more and more people visited, they brought back their ideas for architecture and such - so that's why this building has got the columns and stuff. It is no longer the town hall, the hall has moved - now it is the tourist information and a coffee shop. Although, upstairs they still have the court room in 'working' condition and the prison cells in the basement.
These are some of the oldest streets in the city. This is where the market used to be held - it is now a little further up the street where they have more space.
See? Told you.
Here's an example of a medieval house. The person who lived here would've been pretty rich, mainly since they lived so close to the market (very good thing), and that their house was decorated on the outside using an 'egg and dart' decoration. You can also see that each sucessive floor sticks out just slightly over the previous one. Our guide explained that this was most likely because you paid for your main floor square footage, so by doing this, you got a little extra floor for nothing.
Another interesting tid-bit - you always see these medieval buildings that are painted black a white - apparently that is a Victorian thing, the whole black and white paint. Originally the buildings would've been more au naturel - brown and beige.
This was the corn exchange. You can see that they used the yellow London brick as well, but this building was built way before the railroad was brought out here, so really, the corn people just wanted to show off how much money they had by saying "look, we have enough money to bring this stone in via carriage, suckers!". Apparently corn was a very profitable business.
These are the oldest buildings in the area. They are dated from the 1350s. They actually make up one single home, however they were built in different stages as the owners earned more money. You can see how badly the left-hand side one is sagging. Makes me nervous.
Here's another interesting thing for you: at the time that these buildings were built, there was no one city-run fire department. There were several companies, and you had to subscribe to a company and pay them a fee. In return, you got this little plaque to put on the outside of your house. That way, if your house caught fire, you would be ensured that it would get put out in a timely fashion. Kind of like registration stickers for your house.
Here's another example of an add-on. The part of the building to the right of the picture is the older, medieval building - built in 1350. Wood was very available and used in excess, so the builders put the beams close together. On the left-hand side, wood wasn't as available in the 1500s, so that the beams are only placed where they are needed.
This little pathway would've been where the carriages dropped off the people to head to the nearby inn. The guide explained that the stones here are bumpy and unevan to ensure that the horses slowed down when dropping the people off. Apparently horses are unsteady, too.
Here's a nice little lady for you. She's... ahem... well endowed, and she's got cloven feet. She is also known as a succubus. Wikipedia decribes a succubus as:
"A succubus is a demon who takes the form of a beautiful woman to seduce men, especially monks, in dreams to have sexual intercourse, according to the medieval European legend."
There are several explanations for her appearance and her location. One is that this building was once used by the monastery, and this lady, with her feet in shackles, serves as a warning to the local prostitutes to stay the hell away. The other explanation was that this house was once used as a whorehouse, and this lovely demon served as a sign telling men where they could get their lady for the evening.
It says "Commit no Nuisance". I should write this on my door. This is actually the bell-makers/ringers entrance to the bell tower:
This says "A Medieval Belfry almost unique in England. It contains a large curfew cell dating from 1335. The adjacent french row was occupied by the Dauphin's Troops in 1216. In the Fleur-De-Lys Inn, King John of France was detains for a time in 1356".
Yep, that's the clock tower. Just like the sign says, it was built in the 1400s, and contains a curfew bell. Wikipedia (yes I love it), adds:
"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."
This window was so big because the bell came in through this window.
There was an Eleanor Cross as this site, but it was taken down, as explained earlier. For those of you who do not know, the Eleanor Crosses were:
"were 12 lavishly decorated stone monuments, of which three survive intact, in a line down part of the east of England. King Edward I had the crosses erected between 1291 and 1294 in memory of his wife Eleanor of Castile, marking the nightly resting-places along the route taken by her body as it was taken to London"
Okay, back at the abbey. In these pictures you can get a better look at the red stone they took from the old Roman city to build the tower. I guess the Romans couldn't get flames or ovens hot enough to make brick that was thicker, so they made the thin stuff. But man, did they ever take a lot from the Roman site - this whole tower is chock full of it!
Here's another oldie. You can again, see how bad the building is sagging, and how many times it has been patched.
Most of the windows on the top level have been added.
The two little vertical windows would've been the only original ones, and at the time, they had no glass. They were called 'wind holes' and were probably draped with something.
Oh look! Here's another house that will be protected in case of fire.
Here you go. This is known as a Bull's Eye window. You can see in the middle of the ripple where the glass was broken off. These were the cheapest windows you could buy, although now people pay A LOT for them. Funny how that works.
More medieval houses down Fishpool Street. This street was originally used by the monks to keep fish. Apparently they were forbidden from eating anything that walked on 4 legs, so beef, pork, cat, etc. So they ate a lot of chicken and a lot of fish.
This was also another main carriage route into town. Apparently upward of 70 carriages traveled the road each day.
You can't really see, but the sidewalks are quite raised compared to the street. This was for a couple of reasons - first of all, it's to keep the dust from the street out of people's homes, and second, to help people get into the carriages, which were quite high off the ground. The guide said that people used to employ children to soak the streets with water just to keep the dust under control.
This is the abbott's gateway. Rather than end, at the time it would've met with the abbey. Now it ends. It was built in 1380.
There are also some things about it that make it super important. I guess not everyone at the time could have that little castle top, you know, -_-_-_ etc. You actually had to get special permission from the monarch to do so, and St. Albans did, I guess. As well, several kings, including Henry the First and lots of the Edwards came through here.
It is now a boys school, but it was also used as a prison. I guess the prisonners were so poorly fed that they would lower their shoes by their shoestrings for passerbys to fill with food - and that's where we get the expression 'living on a shoestring'.
Here's what puddingstone looks like from the inside!
Here's the Abbey from the front. This front was actually build and designed much, much later than the rest of the abbey by a man named Lord Grimthorpe in the 1890s.
That brick line is where the wall would've protruded out to meet the Abbey.
The Abbey has the longest nave of any abbey in England.
This is where the original cloisters would've exited the abbey. This would've been part of an original building between 1280 and 1350 I think she said.
And a little further down here's another nice old building. This one dates back before the 1500s. Inside there are actually several wall paintings dating to the 1500s (the time of Shakespeare), that tell the story of one of his plays (can't remember which one).
This is Holliwell Hill, named after the fables holy wells that sprung up on the hills of the abbey after St. Albans was executed (something about him being such a 'good' man and all).
Charles Dickens was a journalist before he was an author, and he stayed on Holliwell hill once upon a time. He witnessed a beggar woman get decapitated by a carriage just outside this building, and wrote about it later in one of his books. I guess she was sitting down outside the building and not paying attention, and whoops! no more head. Not sure how it would've worked, but something was probably sharp on the carriages.
Want to live here? These houses are located right off the abbey grounds and are some of the most expensive houses in the city. They are valued at between £300,000 and £400,000 each. Ouchies!
This is the famous pub, Ye Olde Fighting Cocks. It is supposed to be the oldest pub in the area, if not in Britain, but lots of places claim that.
They (the historian people) seem to think that this building was originally two seperate buildings. They also think that the top part of the left building was the original dove cot that the monks used to keep birds and it was just placed on top of the building. The chimneys were added later during a time when the place was used as a home.
As the name suggests, this is where, in fact, they used to do cock-fighting. You can kind of see in the shape of the left-hand side building that it is round, and that would've been because they had a fighting ring inside.
This is where the original Roman town of Verulamium would've been. It was named after the river Ver which flows through the area.
If you'd like more information about the Roman city, here's what Wikipedia has to offer:
"Verulamium was the third-largest city in Roman Britain. It was sited in the southwest of the modern city of St Albans in Hertfordshire. A large portion of the Roman city remains unexcavated, being now park and agricultural land, though much has been built upon (see below).
Before the Romans, it was known as Verlamion, (meaning 'settlement above the marsh') the capital of the Catuvellauni tribe. The settlement was established by their leader Tasciovanus. In this pre-Roman form, it was among the first places in Britain recorded by name. It was built beside the River Ver.
The Roman settlement was granted the rank of municipium in c. AD 50, meaning its citizens had all the rights of a citizen of Rome. It grew to a significant town, and as such received the attentions of Boudica of the Iceni in AD 61, when Verulamium was sacked and burnt: the black ash layer has been recorded by archaeologists, thus confirming the Roman written record. It grew steadily —by the early 200s it covered an area of about 125 acres (0.5 km²), behind a deep ditch and wall.
Verulamium had a forum, basilica and a theatre, much of which were damaged during two fires, one in AD 155 and the other around AD 250. One of the few extant Roman inscriptions in Britain is found on the remnants of the forum; see Verulamium Forum inscription. The town was rebuilt in stone rather than timber at least twice over the next 150 years. Occupation by the Romans ended between 400 and 450."
The excavations of the area began in 1930, and some of the best mosaics and jars have been found here, suggesting not only the town's important, but it's wealth as well.
There isn't much left of the original city, mainly because a lot of the building materials were ransaked during the medieval building of the abbey. They took most of the stones, leaving only a small part of the wall.
Here is what's left of the Roman wall.
This was built around 256 to 270. Originally it stood 5 metres high and had a walkway on top.
I'm sure you can see that there is a hole in the wall. Our guide explained to us that this is most likely because there had been a statue or homage to a god that stood there, and the people that took the building materials didn't want to disturb the god, so that part was left.
You can see the red tiles that made up most of the tower of the abbey, as well as the other stones. I'm not sure what the square one is/does.
Here you can see where the original Roman city (on the left) was located compared to the medieval city (on the right). You are at the red dot.
Here is a Roman mosaic floor that was uncovered here. It is still in its original place, they basically built the building around it. It was excavated in 1931.
If you can tell in the first picture, two of the squares were laid incorrectly. It is supposed to be a pattern and consistant, but one of the squares was laid at a 45 degree angle to its partner.
The floor forms just one room of a Roman great house that would'be been over 200 ft long. It would've had over 30 rooms over two storeys, and dates to around 180. It was modified 100 years later.
The fact that the mosaic is so complicated and detailed (it contains over 220,000 'tesserae' (bits)) would point to the fact that this home was owned by an aristocrat or great official.
Underneath the mosaic floor is an underfloor heating system - damn those Romans are good!
Well, that concludes my day at St. Albans. Hope you enjoyed all the pictures!
