The Six Bells is a

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

in St Michael's Street in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. The seventeenth-century

timber-framed Timber framing (german: Holzfachwerk) and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large woode ...

building is situated within the walls of 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 ...

History

The pub is built on the site of a Roman

bath house Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other cr ...

. This facility was relatively new when the Boudican revolt occurred. It appears to have been damaged when Boudica sacked Verulamium in AD 60 or AD 61. After the city recovered, the baths were replaced on a different site. The name of the pub refers to the bells of the medieval St Michael's Church nearby. The name appears to have been adopted in the 18th century, when the church had six bells; it now has more.

Conservation and excavation

The building has been protected since 1971 and is listed grade II by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...

. There were two digs in the 20th century, and there has been one in the 21st (in 2012 the pub was featured in an episode of the TV series ''Rory McGrath's Pub Dig'', a couple of trenches being dug in the car park).

References

External links

website
Ancient Roman baths in England Roman sites in St Albans Grade II listed pubs in Hertfordshire Pubs in St Albans Timber framed pubs in Hertfordshire {{Hertfordshire-struct-stub