Albans in Hertford County England History and Geography

ALBANS, ST., a borough and market town, having separate jurisdiction, situated in the hundred of CASHIO, or liberty of ST. ALBAN'S, county of HERTFORD, 12½ miles (W. by S.) from Hertford, and 20 (N.W. by N.) from London, containing 4472 inhabitants. This place, separated from the site of the Roman Verulamium by the small river Ver, derived its name and origin from the magnificent monastery founded here by Offa, king of Mercia, in commemoration of St. Albanus, the proto-martyr of Britain. Verulam, according to the Roman historians, was founded by the Britons, at an earlier period than London. It was the chief station of Cassivellaunus at the time of the invasion of C?sar, who describes it as a place of great military strength, well defended by woods and marshes. It appears to have consisted of rude dwellings constructed of wood, and to have been surrounded by a rampart and fosse. In the reign of Nero, it was accounted a municipium, on free city, and in that of Claudius, it was surprised by Boadicea, queen of the Iceni, who slaughtered the chief part of the Roman and British inhabitants. After its subsequent restoration, it continued to be a primary station of the Romans until their final departure from Britain. During their occupation of it, Albanus, an eminent citizen, converted to christianity by Amphibalus in 293, boldly refusing to abjure his new religion, was beheaded on the hill called Holmhurst, on which spot the monastery was subsequently erected, and continued to flourish under a succession of forty abbots. About the middle of the fifth century, Verulam was occupied by the Saxons, and received the name of Watlingceaster, from the Roman highway, called Watling-street, on which it stood.

According to Matthew Paris, the town of St. Alban's owes its origin to Ulsinus or Ulsing, the sixth abbot, who, about the year 950, built a church on each of the three principal roads leading from the monastery, dedicated respectively to St. Stephen, St. Michael and St. Peter, and encouraged the neighbouring inhabitants to build, by supplying them with money and materials. The monks and the inhabitants had frequent quarrels; and, in the reign of Richard II., the insurgents in Wat Tyler's rebellion were aided by the latter in besieging the monastery. On their dispersion, the king repaired hither, attended by Judge Tresilian and 1000 soldiers to try the delinquents, and many of the town's men were executed. The king remained eight days, on one of which the commons of the county assembled by his command, and, in the great court of the abbey, swore to be thenceforward faithful subjects. Fritheric, or Frederic, the thirtccnth abbot, opposed the march of the conqueror, by causing the trees on the road-side near Berkhampstead to be cut down and laid across the way; he was also principally instrumental in exacting from him an oath to observe the ancient laws of the realm. William subsequently deprived this church of a great portion of its lands, and would have destroyed the monastery, but for the interposition of Archbishop Lanfranc. A sanguinary battle was fought here on the 22d of May, 1455, between Henry VI. and the Duke of York, in which the Lancastrians were defeated, their leader, the Duke of Somerset, killed, and the king himself made prisoner. On the 17th of Feb. 1461, another engagement took place on Bernard Heath, north of the town, when Queen Margaret compelled the Earl of Warwick to retreat with considerable loss; after this action, the town was plundered and much damaged. On the introduction of printing into England, about 1471, a press was put up in the abbey, from which issued some of those early specimens which are now so eagerly sought for by collectors. During the civil war between Charles I. and the parliament, a party of soldiers, under the Earl of Essex, garrisoned the town, and destroyed the beautiful cross, which was one of those erected by Edward I. in memory of his Queen.

The town is situated chiefly on the summit and northern declivity of a considerable hill, and consists principally of three streets, the abbey church standing an the hill near the point where they meet. That part of the town which forms the old line of the great north road is narrow, containing many ancient houses; but the other parts are spacious and well built. It is well paved and lighted under a local act, and, from the salubrity of the air, the purity of the water, and the excellence of its municipal regulations, is a desirable place of residence. By a recent diversion of the main road, about 200 yards southward from the town, the former circuitous and dangerous route through it is avoided; on this new line of road some handsome villas, and one of the most commodious inns in the county, called the Verulam Arms, have been lately erected. The manufacture of strawplat is the chief occupation of the lower class of inhabitants. A silk mill, occupying the site of the abbey mill, affords employment to 300 young persons, of both sexes; and in a mill for spinning cotton, formerly applied to the cutting and polishing of diamonds, a greater number is employed. The market day is Saturday; and there is a fair on Lady day for horses and a statute fair Oct. 11, and two following days.

St. Alban's is styled a borough in the record of Domesday, and is stated to contain forty-six burgesses, who were the demesne men of the abbot, and under his jurisdiction, (with the exception of a brief interval in the reigns of Edward II. and III.) until the dissolution, when the possessions of the monastery were surrendered to the crown. The inhabitants were incorporated in the 7th of Edward VI., 1553, by whose charter, modified in subsequent reigns, and confirmed in that of Charles II., the government is vested in a mayor, high steward, recorder, twelve aldermen, and twenty-four assistants, with a town clerk, who generally acts as chamberlain and coroner, two serjeants at mace, and subordinate officers. The mayor is chosen from among the aldermen; the high steward, recorder, and town clerk, are appointed by the mayor and aldermen, subject to approval by the crown; the aldermen are elected by a majority of their own body as vacancies occur; and the assistants are chosen by the mayor and aldermen. The freedom of the borough is inherited by the eldest sons of freemen, acquired by servitude, and obtained by purchase or gift. The mayor, the late mayor, the high steward, and the recorder, are justices of the peace, and hold courts of quarter session; the mayor presides at a court of aldermen on the first Wednesday in every month, for the transaction of public business; and a court of requests for the recovery of debts under 40s. is held under an act of the 25th of George II. every Saturday. The magistrates for the liberty, hold quarter sessions here for that division, at which the recorder generally presides. The townhall was originally the charnel house belonging to the monastery; the basement story comprises the borough compter, and the residence of the serjeants at mace; the upper story, the courts for holding the quarter sessions. A handsome and more commodious town hall is now being erected. The ancient prison of the monastery is now appropriated to the confinement of criminals committed for the borough and liberties. St. Alban's first received the elective franchise in the 35th of Edward I., which was suspended from the 5th of Edward III. till the 1st of Edward VI., since which time it has continued to return two members to parliament. The right of election is vested in the freemen, whether resident or not, and in those householders who have been six months resident in the borough, paying scot and lot: the number of whom is about 600; the mayor is the returning officer.

The venerable abbey, rich in lordships and immunities, was valued at the dissolution at £2510; its abbots enjoyed both temporal and spiritual authority, having a palatine jurisdiction, similar to that possessed by the bishops of Durham and Ely; they had also a grant of precedence from Pope Adrian IV. over all other abbots. Henry VIII. granted the abbey to Sir Richard Lee, but retained the church, since made parochial, which Edward VI., in 1553, granted to the mayor and burgesses, for £400 and a fee farm rent of £10, which latter in 1684, was redeemed by the inhabitants, for £200. This ancient cruciform structure is 600 feet in length, and consists of a nave, two aisles, choir, presbytery, lady-chapel, and two transepts, with a large square tower rising from the intersection. The choir is separated from the nave by St. Cuthbert's screen, which, with the elaborately carved screen over the altar, and the tombs of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, and Abbot Ramryge, presents a rich and imposing appearance. The tower, the two transepts, and a great part of the choir, were built of Roman tile, from the ancient city of Verulam, about the year 1077, and exhibit the Norman style of architecture; the remainder, erected about the reign of Henry III., is in the early English style, with sharply pointed arches. Many fine brasses, in memory of the abbots, were taken by Cromwell's soldiers, and the church was much damaged by the prisoners who were confined in it during the parliamentary war.

The town comprises the parish of St. Alban, or the abbey parish, and part of the parishes of St. Michael, and St. Peter. The living of St. Alban's is a rectory, in the archdeaconry of St. Alban's, and diocese of London, rated in the king's books at £10, endowed with £200 private benefaction, and £200 royal bounty; and in the patronage of the Corporation. St. Peter's church erected by Abbot Ulsinus, in 948, has been rebuilt within the last thirty years; the living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry of St. Alban's, and diocese of London, rated in the king's books at £9. 0. 10., and in the patronage of the Bishop of Ely. St. Michael's is a small church erected by the same abbot; the living is a vicarage in the archdeaconry of St. Alban's, and diocese of London, rated in the king's books at £10. 1. 8. The Earl of Verulam was patron in 1817. There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents, Methodists, and Unitarians. The free grammar school was founded by Edward VI. in 1553, and farther endowed, in 1570, by Queen Elizabeth, with £20 per annum, payable by the dealers in wine, in the borough, and within two miles of it, in consideration of certain privileges conferred on them by letters patent. The school-room, adjoining the abbey church, was formerly the beautiful chapel of the Virgin. The Blue-coat school, in which about thirty-five boys are clothed, and educated in the principles of the church of England, is supported by the dividends on some funded property, and by subseription. A girls' school is supported by the Verulam family. The alms houses, called Marlborough buildings, containing apartments for thirty-six persons of both sexes, were built and endowed by Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough: they occupy three sides of a quadrangle, on the site of the old manor house of Newland Squillers; each in mate receives £12 per annum. There are twenty-one other alms houses, founded by different individuals.

In the town is a high square brick tower, called the clock-house, built by one of the abbots in the reign of Henry VIII; and, at a short distance, are some remains of the nunnery of Sopwell, founded in 1140, by Abbot Geoffrey de Gorham, of which, the Lady Juliana Berners was at one time prioress; but not a vestige exists of two hospitals, founded by the abbots, and dedicated respectively to St. Julian and St. Mary de Pratis. On the left of the road leading to Dunstable, some fragments of the ancient walls of Verulam are still discernible. Matthew Paris, one of the most eminent of the old English historians, was a monk in the abbey of St. Alban's. Among the most distinguished natives may be enumerated Alexander Necham, a poet, and scholastic divine, Sir John Mandeville, the celebrated traveller, and Sir John King, and Sir Francis Pemberton, two eminent lawyers. At Breakspear's farm-house, near the town, was born Nicholas Breakspear, the only Englishman that ever sat in the papal chair; on his elevation he assumed the name of Adrian IV.; he was a great benefactor to the abbey. Francis, the great Lord Bacon, was buried in St. Michael's church, to whose memory, a finely sculptured alabaster statue has been erected in a niche on the northern side of the chancel. St. Alban's gives the title of duke to the family of Beauclerc.

From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale