St Albans is a city located in
Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. It was originally founded as
Verlamion
''Verlamion, or Verlamio, was a settlement in Iron Age Britain. It was the centre of Tasciovanus' power and a major center of the Catuvellauni from about 20 BC until shortly after the Roman invasion of AD 43. Its location was on Prae Hill, 2& ...
a settlement belonging to the Catuvellauni (a Celtic tribe or state of southeastern Britain before the Roman conquest, attested by inscriptions into the 4th century).It was subsequently transformed into the Roman settlement of
Verulamium
Verulamium was a town in Roman Britain. It was sited southwest of the modern city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, England. A large portion of the Roman city remains unexcavated, being now park and agricultural land, though much has been built upon ...
from where it grew into a municipium around AD 50. The city became known as St Albans around the 4th century AD with the martyrdom of
St Alban who was buried close to the present day cathedral.
Roman
The Roman city of
Verulamium
Verulamium was a town in Roman Britain. It was sited southwest of the modern city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, England. A large portion of the Roman city remains unexcavated, being now park and agricultural land, though much has been built upon ...
, the third largest town in Roman Britain after
Londinium
Londinium, also known as Roman London, was the capital of Roman Britain during most of the period of Roman rule. It was originally a settlement established on the current site of the City of London around AD 47–50. It sat at a key cross ...
and Colchester, was built alongside the Celtic settlement in the valley of the
River Ver
The Ver is a long chalk stream in Hertfordshire, England. It is a tributary of the River Colne.
Course
The source is in the grounds of Lynch Lodge, Kensworth Lynch on the west side of the A5 trunk road and stays on the west side for som ...
nearer to the present city centre. The settlement was granted the rank of ''
municipium
In ancient Rome, the Latin term (pl. ) referred to a town or city. Etymologically, the was a social contract among ("duty holders"), or citizens of the town. The duties () were a communal obligation assumed by the in exchange for the privi ...
'' around AD 50, meaning that its citizens had what were known as "Latin Rights", a lesser citizenship status than a ''
colonia'' possessed. It grew to a significant town, and as such received the attentions of
Boudica
Boudica or Boudicca (, known in Latin chronicles as Boadicea or Boudicea, and in Welsh as ()), was a queen of the ancient British Iceni tribe, who led a failed uprising against the conquering forces of the Roman Empire in AD 60 or 61. She ...
of the
Iceni
The Iceni ( , ) or Eceni were a Brittonic tribe of eastern Britain during the Iron Age and early Roman era. Their territory included present-day Norfolk and parts of Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, and bordered the area of the Corieltauvi to the we ...
in 61, when Verulamium was sacked and burnt on her orders: a black ash layer has been recorded by archaeologists, thus confirming the Roman written record. It grew steadily; by the early 3rd century, it covered an area of about , behind a deep ditch and wall. It was encircled by gated walls in AD 275. Verulamium contained a
forum
Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to:
Common uses
* Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States
*Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city
**Roman Forum, most famous example
*Internet ...
,
basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...
and a
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perform ...
, much of which were damaged during two fires, one in 155 and the other in around 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
In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
rather than
timber
Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...
at least twice over the next 150 years.
Early Christianity
![DublinTrinityCollegeMSEi40LifeAlbanFol38rMartyrdomAlban](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/DublinTrinityCollegeMSEi40LifeAlbanFol38rMartyrdomAlban.jpg)
The city is named after
St Alban, who is thought to have lived in the town and to have been martyred in either the third or fourth century AD.
[Rosalind Niblett, ''Verulamium,'' Stroud: Tempus, 2001] He was probably buried outside the city walls in a Roman cemetery near the present Cathedral and his hillside grave is said to have become a place of pilgrimage. The site of Alban's burial is unknown and remains a topic for investigation. The site of a Roman burial was uncovered near the Cathedral in the late 20th century, in the area of demolished medieval cloisters, probably extending beneath the present building, but there is no evidence of a connection with Alban.
[Martin Biddle and Birthe Kølbye Biddle, "The Origins of St Albans Abbey: Excavations in the Cloister 1982-1983", Occasional Paper No. 2, The Fraternity of Saint Albans Abbey, 1984]
In the eighth century,
Bede
Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom o ...
referred to a Roman church dedicated to St Alban, built "when peaceable Christian times were restored" (possibly the
fourth century) and still in use in Bede's time. In 429
Germanus of Auxerre
Germanus of Auxerre ( la, Germanus Antissiodorensis; cy, Garmon Sant; french: Saint Germain l'Auxerrois; 378 – c. 442–448 AD) was a western Roman clergyman who was bishop of Autissiodorum in Late Antique Gaul. He abandoned a career as a h ...
visited the church and subsequently promoted the cult of St Alban.
Martin Biddle
Martin Biddle, (born 4 June 1937) is a British archaeologist and academic. He is an emeritus fellow of Hertford College, Oxford. His work was important in the development of medieval and post-medieval archaeology in Great Britain.
Early lif ...
, "Alban and the Anglo-Saxon Church", in Robert Runcie (ed), ''Cathedral and City: St Albans Ancient and Modern,'' Martyn Associates, 1977["Story of St Alban", Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban.]
/ref> John Morris argued that the church was probably built in 396–8. It has been suggested that several unearthed remains might have been Roman churches but there is no certain archaeological evidence.[ An archaeological excavation in 1978, directed by ]Martin Biddle
Martin Biddle, (born 4 June 1937) is a British archaeologist and academic. He is an emeritus fellow of Hertford College, Oxford. His work was important in the development of medieval and post-medieval archaeology in Great Britain.
Early lif ...
, failed to find Roman remains on the site of the medieval chapter house
A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room that is part of a cathedral, monastery or collegiate church in which meetings are held. When attached to a cathedral, the cathedral chapter meets there. In monasteries, the whole communi ...
, but recent investigation has uncovered a basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its name ...
near the Cathedral, indicating that it is "the oldest continuous site of Christian worship in Great Britain".[
Some historians doubt the ]historicity
Historicity is the historical actuality of persons and events, meaning the quality of being part of history instead of being a historical myth, legend, or fiction. The historicity of a claim about the past is its factual status. Historicity denot ...
of St Alban and argue that his cult was invented by Germanus.
Modern
Early Modern
In 1553, following the dissolution, the Abbey was sold to the town for £400 and became a parish church. The Lady Chapel became part of St Albans School and the Great Gatehouse was used as a prison until the 19th century, when the school took it over.
In response to a petition, King Edward VI
Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...
granted the town a charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...
making it a borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle Ag ...
with a mayor. The mayor, assisted by ten burgess __NOTOC__
Burgess may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Burgess (surname), a list of people and fictional characters
* Burgess (given name), a list of people
Places
* Burgess, Michigan, an unincorporated community
* Burgess, Missouri, U ...
es and serving for up to three years, had executive and judicial powers. The first mayor was John Lockey.
In 1555, during the reign of Queen Mary I
Mary I (18 February 1516 – 17 November 1558), also known as Mary Tudor, and as "Bloody Mary" by her Protestant opponents, was Queen of England and Ireland from July 1553 and Queen of Spain from January 1556 until her death in 1558. Sh ...
, a Protestant baker from Yorkshire, George Tankerfield, was brought from London and burnt to death on Romeland for his refusal to accept the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation
Transubstantiation (Latin: ''transubstantiatio''; Greek: μετουσίωσις ''metousiosis'') is, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, "the change of the whole substance of bread into the substance of the Body of Christ and of th ...
.
During the English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...
(1642–45) the town sided with parliament but was largely unaffected by the conflict.
Eighteenth century
The bridge over the River Ver in St Michael's Street, adjacent to Kingsbury Watermill
Kingsbury Watermill is a Grade II listedPg.3 former watermill on the River Ver in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England.
History
There is no certain date of inception for Kingsbury Mill, however, the large quantity of timber used in its construction ...
and not far from St Michael's Church, dates from 1765 and is believed to be the oldest extant bridge in Hertfordshire. It is Grade II listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
. According to a contemporary account of the Second Battle of St Albans
The Second Battle of St Albans was fought on 17 February 1461 during the Wars of the Roses in England. It took place at St Albans in Hertfordshire, the first battle having been fought in 1455. The army of the Yorkist faction under the Earl of W ...
in 1461, another bridge existed on this site previously (recorded in 1505 as ''Pons de la Maltemyll'' - Malt Mill Bridge). It is thought that the Romans had built a bridge here by the 3rd century AD. The ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
alongside the current bridge, which is known to have existed for 2,000 years, is traditionally believed to be Alban's crossing point on his way to his execution.
Nineteenth century
Before the 20th century, St Albans was a rural market town
A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...
, a Christian pilgrimage
Christianity has a strong tradition of pilgrimages, both to sites relevant to the New Testament narrative (especially in the Holy Land) and to sites associated with later saints or miracles.
History
Christian pilgrimages were first made to s ...
site, and the first coaching stop of the route to and from London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, accounting for its numerous old inns. Victorian St Albans was small and had little industry. It grew slowly, 8-9% per decade between 1801 and 1861, compared to the 31% per decade growth of London in the same period. The railway arrived relatively late. In 1869 the extension of the city boundaries was opposed by the Earl of Verulam and many of the townsfolk, but there was rapid expansion and much building at the end of the century, and between 1891 and 1901 the population grew by 37%.[Asa Briggs, "The Victorian City", in ‘’Cathedral & City: St Albans Ancient and Modern’’, ed. ]Robert Runcie
Robert Alexander Kennedy Runcie, Baron Runcie, (2 October 1921 – 11 July 2000) was an English Anglican bishop. He was the Archbishop of Canterbury from 1980 to 1991, having previously been Bishop of St Albans. He travelled the world widely t ...
, Martyn Associates, 1977
Population of St Albans in the Nineteenth Century[
Three main roads date from the medieval period - Holywell Hill, St Peter's Street, and Fishpool Street - each of which had a pilgrim church founded in the tenth century by Abbot Ulsinus at the entrance to the town: St Stephen's, St Peter's and St Michael's respectively. These remained the only major streets until the late 18th and 19th centuries when the modern road pattern was defined. London Road was constructed in 1754, Hatfield Road in 1824 and Verulam Road in 1833.][ Verulam Road was created (as part of ]Thomas Telford
Thomas Telford FRS, FRSE, (9 August 1757 – 2 September 1834) was a Scottish civil engineer. After establishing himself as an engineer of road and canal projects in Shropshire, he designed numerous infrastructure projects in his native Scotla ...
's large-scale improvement of sections of the London to Holyhead road) specifically to aid the movement of stage coaches, since St Albans was the first major stop on the coaching
Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...
route north from London. Victoria Street was called Sweetbriar Lane until 1876.[
]
There were three railway stations in the town, two of which are still active: and . The first, St Albans Abbey, was opened by the London and North Western Railway
The London and North Western Railway (LNWR, L&NWR) was a British railway company between 1846 and 1922. In the late 19th century, the L&NWR was the largest joint stock company in the United Kingdom.
In 1923, it became a constituent of the Lo ...
on 5 May 1858 as the terminus of the Abbey Line
The Abbey Line, also called the St Albans Abbey branch line, is a railway line from Watford Junction to St Albans Abbey. The route passes through town and countryside in the county of Hertfordshire, just outside the boundaries of the Oyster C ...
, a branch line from . This was followed by the Midland Railway
The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...
Company's station, now known as St Albans City, which opened on 1 October 1868 on the main line from Bedford to London. There was also a third railway station in the city centre, , which was opened on 16 October 1865 by the Great Northern Railway on its Hatfield and St Albans branch. This branch line closed to passengers in 1951.
In 1877, in response to a public petition, Queen Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
issued the second royal charter, which granted city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose.
Historically, city status ...
to the borough and Cathedral status to the former Abbey Church. The new diocese
In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop.
History
In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...
was established in the main from parts of the large Diocese of Rochester
The Diocese of Rochester is a Church of England diocese in the English county of Kent and the Province of Canterbury. The cathedral church of the diocese is Rochester Cathedral in the former city of Rochester. The bishop's Latin episcopal signa ...
. The Abbey Church of St Alban had fallen into disrepair, despite work done on it under Sir George Gilbert Scott
Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he started ...
in 1860–1877, and some thought it ought to be allowed to decline into romantic ruin, but in the latter year, under the chairmanship of the Earl of Verulam
Earl of Verulam is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1815 for James Grimston, 1st Earl of Verulam, James Grimston, 4th Viscount Grimston. He was made Viscount Grimston (in the peerage of the United Kingdom) at th ...
, a restoration committee was formed, of which Edmund Beckett (later Lord Grimthorpe) became the dominant member. Grimthorpe put up £130,000 of his own money and by sheer force of personality brought about a restoration of the church (1880–1883) in Neo-Gothic
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
style, sparking the ire of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings
The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) (also known as Anti-Scrape) is an amenity society founded by William Morris, Philip Webb, and others in 1877 to oppose the destructive 'restoration' of ancient buildings occurring in ...
. Nicholas Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...
said that the Abbey "is the only one of the major churches of England that has a West Front completely, or almost completely, Victorian."[ However, it seems reasonable to assume that, without Grimthorpe's money the Abbey Church would now be a ruin like many other former monastic churches.
The original St Albans Football Club was founded in October 1881, if folded in 1904. The present day St Albans City Football Club was founded on 13 April 1908. The club's home ground is Clarence Park, which was donated to the city by Sir John Blundell and opened on 23 July 1894.
The aforementioned transport links attracted a seed merchant, ]Samuel Ryder
Samuel Ryder (24 March 1858 – 2 January 1936) was an English businessman, entrepreneur, golf enthusiast, and golf promoter. He originated the idea of selling garden seeds in "penny packets" and built a very successful business on the concept.
...
, to locate his business in St Albans, which eventually moved to offices and a large purpose-built packing seed hall on Holywell Hill, which is now a Café Rouge
Café Rouge is a French-styled restaurant chain, with 30 sites across the United Kingdom. Café Rouge is part of a bigger restaurant network owned by Casual Dining Group.
History
Café Rouge was founded by Roger Myers and Karen Jones, in ...
restaurant. He served as Mayor of St Albans in 1905, and remained a councillor for several years after his term of office. In later life, Ryder began to suffer from poor health and was advised to take up golf as exercise. He joined the local Verulam Golf Club, making large donations to the club including the famous Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup is a biennial men's golf competition between teams from Europe and the United States. The competition is contested every two years with the venue alternating between courses in the United States and Europe. The Ryder Cup is named af ...
and sponsorship of the tournament.
Ralph Chubb
Ralph Nicholas Chubb (8 February 1892 – 14 January 1960) was an English poet, Printer (publisher), printer and artist. Heavily influenced by Walt Whitman, Whitman, William Blake, Blake, and the Romanticism, Romantics, his work was the creati ...
, the poet and printer, lived on College Street in St Albans from 1892 to 1913, and attended St Albans School. His work frequently references the Abbey of St Albans, and he ascribed mystical significance to the geography and history of the town.
Another St Albans writer, Charles Williams, lived as boy and young man in Victoria Street from 1894 to 1917. He also attended St Albans School.
Twentieth century
The pioneering filmmaker Arthur Melbourne-Cooper
Arthur Melbourne Cooper (15 April 1874 – 28 November 1961) was a British photographer and early filmmaker best known for his pioneering work in stop-motion animation. He produced over three hundred films between 1896 and 1915, of which an estima ...
was born in St Albans in 1874 at 99 London Road. He became a noted figure in the history of film
The history of film chronicles the development of a visual art form created using film technologies that began in the late 19th century.
The advent of film as an artistic medium is not clearly defined. However, the commercial, public scr ...
when he began to explore the new art of moving photography in the mid-1900s. By 1908, he had set up a production base, the Alpha Production Works in Bedford Park Road, later moving to larger premises at Alma Road. Among the pioneering films he shot in St Albans was the animated fantasy, ''Dreams of Toyland'' (1908). He also established a film theatre on London Road to present his productions to the paying public, the Alpha Picture House, which opened on 27 July 1908, Hertfordshire's first permanent cinema. The cinema changed hands several times, variously known as the Poly, the Regent, the Capitol and the Odeon. It was replaced by a new Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
building in 1931, and the cinema continued in operation until 1995. In 2014 the building was restored and re-opened as the Odyssey Cinema.
During World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
in September 1916, following an attack on St Albans, the German Airship SL 11
SL may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* SL (rapper), a rapper from London
* ''Second Life'', a multi-user 3D virtual world
* Sensei's Library, an Internet site dedicated to the game of Go
* Subdominant leittonwechselklänge
* Leica SL, a mirro ...
became the first airship
An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air.
In early ...
to be brought down over England. But when London Colney was attacked, the nation was so angered it became united in its battle.
In the inter-war years St Albans, in common with much of the surrounding area, became a centre for emerging high-technology industries, most notably aerospace. Nearby Radlett
Radlett is a village in Hertfordshire, England, between Elstree and St Albans on Watling Street, with a population of 8,042. It is in the council district of Hertsmere in the south of the county, and is covered by two wards; Aldenham East and ...
was the base for Handley Page Aircraft Company, while Hatfield became home to de Havilland
The de Havilland Aircraft Company Limited () was a British aviation manufacturer established in late 1920 by Geoffrey de Havilland at Stag Lane Aerodrome Edgware on the outskirts of north London. Operations were later moved to Hatfield in H ...
. St Albans itself became a centre for the Marconi plc
Marconi Communications, the former telecommunications arm of Britain's General Electric Company plc (GEC), was founded in August 1998 through the amalgamation of GEC Plessey Telecommunications (GPT) with other GEC subsidiaries: Marconi SpA, GEC ...
company, specifically, Marconi Instruments
Marconi Instruments Limited (MI) was a British company, one of the Marconi group of companies, formerly part of GEC. Originally formed in 1936, there was a buyout of Marconi-Ekco Instruments to form the company Marconi Instruments in 1941.
Th ...
. Marconi (later part of the General Electric Company
The General Electric Company (GEC) was a major British industrial conglomerate involved in consumer and defence electronics, communications, and engineering. The company was founded in 1886, was Britain's largest private employer with over 250 ...
) remained the city's largest employer (with two main plants) until the 1990s. A third plant - working on top secret defence work - also existed. Even Marconi staff only found out about this when it closed down. All of these industries are now gone from the area.
In 1936 St Albans was the last but one stop for the Jarrow Crusade
The Jarrow March of 5–31 October 1936, also known as the Jarrow Crusade, was an organised protest against the unemployment and poverty suffered in the English town of Jarrow, near Newcastle upon Tyne, during the 1930s. Around 200 men (or "Crus ...
.
The City expanded rapidly after World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, as government policy
Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an organ ...
promoted the creation of New Towns and the expansion of existing towns around London. The local authority built large housing estates at Cottonmill (to the south), Mile House (to the south-east) and New Greens (to the north). The Marshalswick
Marshalswick is an area of St Albans in Hertfordshire, England, located around 1.5 miles northeast of the city centre. The whole area historically fell within the bounds of Sandridge civil parish, but it is now divided with the northern part in ...
area to the north-east was also expanded, completing a programme of mainly private house building begun before the war.
In 1974 St Albans City Council, St Albans Rural District Council and Harpenden Town Council were merged, as part of a major national re-organisation of local government in the UK, to form St Albans District Council
The City and District of St Albans () is a local authority district in Hertfordshire in the East of England region. The main urban settlements are St Albans and Harpenden. The council offices are in St Albans.
History
St Albans City and D ...
.
Twenty-first century
In 2011 the population of the St Albans City and District was 140,664, up 9% on the 2001 population of 129,005.
References
Bibliography
*
External links
St Albans History and Archaeology
Chris Saunders.
British History Online - the city of St Albans
*Diocesan House, St Albans
Verulam House is located in Verulam Road, St Albans on the northwestern side between Church Crescent and Britton Avenue opposite College Street. It has previously been referred to as Diocesan House and also known as the Bishop's Palace. It is of e ...
*Verulam House, St Albans
Verulam House is located in Verulam Road, St Albans on the northwestern side between Church Crescent and Britton Avenue opposite College Street. It has previously been referred to as Diocesan House and also known as the Bishop's Palace. It is of ...
{{History of England, bar=yes
St Albans
St Albans () is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, Hatfield, north-west of London, south-west of Welwyn Garden City and south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major ...