Wulsin (also known as Abbot Ulsinus) was a ninth- or tenth-century

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

St Alban's Abbey St Albans Cathedral, officially the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban but often referred to locally as "the Abbey", is a Church of England cathedral in St Albans, England. Much of its architecture dates from Norman times. It ceased to be a ...

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 ...

. According to the 13th-century chronicler

Matthew Paris Matthew Paris, also known as Matthew of Paris ( la, Matthæus Parisiensis, lit=Matthew the Parisian; c. 1200 – 1259), was an English Benedictine monk, chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts and cartographer, based at St Albans Abbey ...

, in 948 he founded St Albans School, which is still active. Abbot Wulsin (Ulsinus) also founded the

St Albans Market St Albans Charter Market is an outdoor street market in the cathedral city and market town of St Albans. The market runs from Market Place North-East up St Peter's Street to the junction with Catherine Street and is managed by St Albans City and D ...

in an attempt to establish a settlement within the confines of the abbey. According to the Abbey Chronicles, the Abbot Wulsin "... loved the area of St. Albans and the people who lived there and sought to improve it. He made it possible for people to come and live there, bringing them together from the surrounding areas, adding to and enlarging the market, and also helped those constructing buildings with the cost of timber..." The date given for this activity is 948 although it is now generally considered that Wulsin's floruit was earlier, around 860–880. Towards the end of the 9th century, Wulsin built churches at the three entrances to the town, on the streets now known as St Peter's Street, St Michael's Street and St Stephen's Hill, to welcome pilgrims on their way to the shrine of

St Alban Saint Alban (; la, Albanus) is venerated as the first-recorded British Christian martyr, for which reason he is considered to be the British protomartyr. Along with fellow Saints Julius and Aaron, Alban is one of three named martyrs recorded ...

inside the abbey church. St Peter's is located to the northeast of the abbey. St Michael's lies to the west among the foundations of the old basilica (law-court) of Roman Verulamium, where Alban was condemned to die. Bearing in mind that, in sending the first missionaries to Britain, Pope Gregory had instructed them to build churches on important pagan sites, this can hardly be a coincidence. The first churches were likely to have been simple timber structures. The town of

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 ...

grew around these establishments. Ulsinus diverted

Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England that crosses the River Thames at London and which was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the Middle Ages. It was used by the ancient Britons and paved as one of the main R ...

, which linked St Stephen's and St Michael's, in order to bring traffic through the town centre (the abbey owned the market rights and also charged tolls). This brought traffic up Holywell Hill, which is named after a medieval holy well, and it was along this route that the supplies for the Abbey were transported.Wotherspoon, M. et al., Archaeological Solutions, "18 & 19 George Street, St. Albans: Historic Building Appraisal
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References

Abbots of St Albans 10th-century English clergy 10th-century Christian monks {{UK-Christian-clergy-stub