St Albans

city and unparished area in southern Hertfordshire, England

St Albans is the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans in Hertfordshire, England. It is 22 miles (35 km) north of London. St Albans is the former Roman town of Verulamium.

A map of St Albans from 1944

History

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It was originally named Verlamion by the Celtic Catuvellauni tribe, and Verulamium by the Romans. It was the first major town on the old Roman road of Watling Street for travellers heading north.

Many of the Roman walls were knocked down by William the Conqueror and used to build St Albans Abbey, otherwise known as St Albans Cathedral. The town had many notable buildings but most were knocked down by Henry VIII. The only building left is the abbey. Though many other buildings have been built nearby Ye Old Fighting Cocks, which claims to be the oldest pub in the UK, a Roman amphitheatre and hypocaust floor, a disused bear baiting square in Verulamium Park, and the imposing Rats Castle at the top of Hatfield Road as well as Roman Verulanium Museum

The bones of St. Alban, the first English martyr, were kept in the Abbey in a shrine, but were stolen during the 19th century.They were smuggled out of the country into Munich. A few years ago The German Cathedral sent the shoulder bone of St. Alban and it is kept in the shrine behind a curtain

Now, due to its proximity to London, St. Albans is a commuter town.

St Albans School

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St Albans School is a public school.[1] It occupies a site to the west of the Abbey, which includes the 14th century Abbey Gateway.[2] The school was founded in AD 948 and is the only school in the English-speaking world to have educated a Pope. Adrian IV was the only Englishman to become Pope.[3][4]

Important people from St Albans

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Other websites

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References

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  1. Means fee-paying.
  2. http://www.st-albans.herts.sch.uk/
  3. Mackie, John Duncan (1907). Pope Adrian IV: The Lothian Essay, 1907. Blackwell. p. 2.
  4. "The English Pope by George F. Tull". www.churchinhistory.org.