St Albans Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
For other places named St Albans see St Albans (disambiguation)
St Albans (thus spelt, no apostrophe or dot) is the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans in southern Hertfordshire, England, just north of London. It was the first major town on the A5 for travellers heading north and was previously the Roman city of Verulamium.
Markets are held in Market Place and St Peters Street on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The football team is St Albans City FC: their 'stadium' is Clarence Park and they play in the Nationwide Conference South. There is also the Old Albanian Rugby Club which has a large facility known as the Old Albanian sports complex or the Woolam Playing Fields.
There are two train stations: the City Station is about 750 metres east of the city centre and is serviced by Thameslink, with trains to London, Luton, London Luton Airport, Bedford, London Gatwick Airport and Brighton. The Abbey Station is about one kilometre south of the city centre and is serviced by Silverlink: there is a single train running between St Albans and Watford Junction, starting a new round trip every 45 minutes during most of the day.
St Albans is home for one of the country's finest indoor skateparks. It is located at the Pioneer Youth Club, in Heathlands Drive, next to the fire station. Its ramps are available to all skateboarders and inliners. A new outside mini ramp was built in March.
Housing is expensive relative to England in general, possibly due to fast commuting to London by train, easy access to London Luton Airport or maybe the large number of pubs. CAMRA has its head office in Hatfield Road and the local branch holds an annual beer festival in St Albans. In recent years this has been a four day event starting on a Wednesday near the end of September.
Notable buildings include St Albans Cathedral and the Clock Tower depicted on the right. The Cathedral's formal name is The Cathedral & Abbey Church of St Alban and it is known locally as the Abbey. See also St Albans School, which occupies the former gateway to the Abbey.
The Royal Navy has used six vessels with the name HMS St Albans.
Two of St. Albans more poetic denizens were William Cowper (1731-1800), and the eccentric lithographer Ralph Chubb (1892-1960).
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History
St Albans has a long history of settlement in the general vicinity. The Celtic Catuvellauni had a settlement at Prae Hill a mile or so to the west. The Roman town of Verulamium was built alongside this in the valley of the river Ver a little nearer to the present town centre. The mediaeval town grew up on the hill to the east of this around the venerated spot where the first British martyr, St Alban was beheaded sometime before 324 CE. Successive abbeys and a cathedral have occupied this spot and the town grew as a centre of pilgrimage and as a route focus for people travelling north from London. The town today shows evidence of building and excavation from all periods of its history and it is a major tourist attraction.
Twinning
St Albans is twinned with:
External Link
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