Friday 30 April - St Alban's

A sunny day saw us on our way to St Alban's, the site of a Roman city, and a Cathedral named after Britain's first Christian martyr.

Our first stop on the way to the cathedral was at St Alban's Clock House, or Clock Tower, built between 1403 and 1412. It was built as a symbol of the townpeople's desire for independence from the Abbots rule.
An earlier structure, a cross was built in front of the future site of the clock house to commemorate the procession carrying the embalmed body of Queen Eleanor when they stopped in St Alban's. The ultimate destination for the procession was Westminster Abbey and every place they stayed the night had a cross erected to commemorate that journey. The St Alban's cross was erected around 1294 and demolished in 1701 leaving no drawings of the cross.
Only three of the original crosses survive today, those at Wahhan, Northampton, and Geddington.

It is difficult to take pictures of the exterior of St Alban's Cathedral because of the outbuildings being close and my camera not having a wide angle lens. Unless I were to climb the roof of one of the buildings I will leave exterior shots to the website for the cathedral.

It has to be noted that (here's another quote - getting lazy) "The Bell Tower - St Albans is the only major church in England with a great crossing tower of the 11th century still standing. Built almost entirely of recycled Roman brick it stands 144 feet high and its 5,000 ton weight is supported on 4 great piers canted slightly inwards."

I was pleased that I could take photographs within the cathedral. This first one is of the Rose window and I quote again;
"The Rose Window was incorporated into the building by the Victorian restorer Lord Grimthorpe. It was not until 1989 that it was filled with stained glass and unveiled by the Princess of Wales. Rose Windows have ancient symbolism and for Christians represent, by the circle shape, the eternity of God."
 I find this type of stained glass window much more beautiful than ones having thin metal mullions. The carved stone mullions seem to set off the stained glass much more individually and distinctly.

The shrine of Saint Amphibalus, an early Christian Evangelist, a fugitive from Roman persecution. He converted Alban to Christianity in the middle of the third century.

At the Dissolution of the Monasteries the relics were destroyed and the pedestal smashed. The pieces of the pedestal were used as builders rubble and only recovered and reassembled in 1872.

The shrine of St Alban. Oh for a wide angle lens. I could not get back far enough to capture all of the shrine

The altar and altar screen in the shrine's chapel. The reliquary under the red shroud contains a bone of St Alban, a gift of the parish of St Pantleon in Cologne. Is it or is it not his bone and how do they know? What is important was his selfless act of giving his life for another.

Quoting again;
"Lady Chapel - This fourteenth century extension to the church is dedicated to Mary the mother of Jesus. Despite its original use it served as a school for over 300 years and was restored for worship just over a century ago."

These Saxon baluster shafts are from the eighth century. The brickwork above makes up the twelfth century walls.

In keeping with the theme of a Cathedral dedicated to a martyr, modern day figures remember martyrs of the twentieth century. There were twelve figures in all and included Martin Luther King and Archbishop Janani Luwum (brutally murdered by Idi Amin)

I was quite taken with the decorative painting on some of the walls. It added a lightness to the interior architecture.

igh altar screen - Whilst the 15th century screen, made of Tottenhoe Clunch is original, the statues are Victorian replacements of the originals destroyed at the Reformation. You can see Alban and Amphibalus on the bottom row either side of the altar.
The high altar screen dates from the 15th century but the statues are Victorian replacements of the originals, destroyed during the Reformation. Saint Alban and Saint Amphibalus are either side of the altar. I see effects of that time in almost all of the cathedrals I have visited and I have to ask - What were they thinking??

The nave altar, very simple but very substantial - no spindly wooden turnings (who said that?)

And now onto refreshments at Ye Olde Fighting Cocks, reputed to be the oldest continually operating pub in England.

On my travels in the US I often came across signs declaring "George Washington Slept Here". It looks like here in the UK it's good olde Oliver Cromwell.

I just had to have the fish and chips and a pint of their best bitter.

To the west of the modern site of St Alban's is the roman city of Verulamium located on a 200 acre site, of which only about 40% has been excavated. Below are some of the remains of the wall surrounding the city.

These ruins of the wall are situated in a park surrounding a small lake surrounded by a brick walkway. It was so peaceful just wandering around the lake, watching the ducks, geese and swans pestering the pedestrians for food that I took only one photo in the park. Who knew Coots had feet like this?

After leaving the park we made our way to the ruins of the Roman Theatre, not to confused with an ampitheatre. This is the only visible example in Britain, built in the second century. There was every thing from theatre to executions, possibly some Christians met their death here.

Our last stop was a nondescript building housing the remains of a bath house with much of the hypocaust (heating system under the floors) in place. This was used over 1900 years ago and the colours are still vibrant. The Romans certainly liked their creature comforts. It would be several, several hundred years before this kind of comfort was available again in England

This is a city that I could comfortably spend a couple of months visiting. I think it would take at least that much time to do justice to all the pubs in Sta Albans.