Patrick Comerford
I have been in St Albans, the cathedral city in Hertfordshire, twice in the past week. It is about 30 km (20 miles) north-west of London, and an hour by train from Milton Keynes. I spent one afternoon this week visiting the Roman Theatre and Verulam Park, the site of the Roman city of Verulamium. I spent much of the other afternoon last week on my first-ever visit to St Albans Cathedral or Abbey, where I also saw the installation ‘Peace Doves’ by the sculptor Peter Walker, in which thousands of paper doves hang from the tower.
The cathedral claims to be the oldest place of continuous Christian worship and pilgrimage in Britain. It was once the leading Benedictine monastery in England and the nave, 85 metres long, is the longest nave in any cathedral in England.
Although the cathedral is one of the newer cathedrals in the Church of England, its name recalls England’s first martyr and saint, Saint Alban, and today’s city of Saint Albans stands on the site of Verulamium, the first major town on the Roman Watling Street for travellers heading north. Saint Alban was martyred in Verulamium in the third or fourth century. Later, this was the home of the only English-born Pope, Nicholas Breakspear, who became Pope Adrian IV.
The Diocese of St Albans was formed in 1877, and today includes Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire and parts of the London Borough of Barnet. St Albans Cathedral become a cathedral in 1877, but dates back to the eight century.
As St Albans Abbey, this was an abbey church until its dissolution in 1539, and then a parish church until it became a diocesan cathedral in 1877. The abbey was probably founded in the eighth century, but much of its architecture is Norman or Romanesque from the 11th century, with Gothic and 19th-century additions.
According to Bede, Saint Alban lived in Verulamium in the third or fourth centuries at a time when Christians were suffering ‘cruel persecution.’ The legend says Alban sheltered Amphibalus, a priest fleeing persecutors. Alban hid Amphibalus in his house for a number of days, and was so impressed by his faith that he too became a Christian.
When soldiers came to seize Amphibalus, Alban donned his guest’s cloak, was arrested and was sentenced to death. He was executed on a hill overlooking the River Ver. When he was beheaded, according to the legend, was struck off head rolled downhill and that a well gushed up where it stopped. As for the executioner, it is said his eyes fell out and dropped to the ground alongside Alban’s head.
The date of his execution is not known. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle gives the year 283, Bede places it in 305, while other sources indicate the period of 251-259. St Albans Cathedral stands near the supposed site of Saint Alban’s martyrdom, and the road up to Holmhurst Hill where the abbey stands is called Holywell Hill, with the offices of the Diocese of St Albans in Holywell Lodge, a Grade II building that is probably much older than its 19th century appearance.
A shrine with the remains of Saint Alban existed from the mid-4th century or earlier, and Bishop Germanus of Auxerre visited it in 429. The 13th century chronicler Matthew Paris said the Saxons destroyed the building in 586.
Offa II of Mercia founded a double monastery at St Albans in 793, and in time it became the leading Benedictine abbey in England, rebuilt in the early 11th century with building material from Verulamium.
The first Norman abbot, Paul of Caen, a nephew of Archbishop Lanfranc of Canterbury, rebuilt the church in the Norman or Romanesque style between 1077 and 1115. To make maximum use of the hilltop site, the abbey was oriented to the south-east. It was the largest abbey built in England at that time, and the tower at 144 ft high is the only 11th century great crossing tower still standing in England.
The abbey was consecrated on Holy Innocents’ Day, 28 December 1115, by the Archbishop of Rouen, with King Henry I and many bishops and nobles attending.
Internally, the abbey church was bare of sculpture, almost stark. The plaster walls were coloured and patterned in parts, with extensive tapestries adding colour. Sculptural decoration was added in time.
The original Norman arches survive in the present building principally under the central tower and on the north side of the nave. The arches in the rest of the building are Gothic, following mediaeval rebuilding and extensions, and Victorian era restoration.
The number of monks grew from 50 to over 100 in the 1190s, and the abbey church was extended westwards with three bays added to the nave in the early 1200s, and a more prominent shrine and altar to Saint Amphibalus were added.
Nicholas Breakspear, who was born near St Albans, was turned down when he asked to enter the abbey. Eventually, he was accepted into an abbey in France. In 1154 he was elected Pope Adrian IV, the only English Pope ever. The head of the abbey was confirmed as the premier abbot in England that same year.
There are outstanding wall paintings throughout the cathedral. Those on the west side of the pillars date from the early 1200s and depict the Crucifixion and the life of the Virgin Mary. A mediaeval wall painting of the Doubting Thomas with the Risen Christ can be seen on the east wall of the north transept.
These wall paintings were hidden under whitewash after the Reformation, and they were not rediscovered until 1862.
St Albans Psalter (ca 1130-1145) is the best-known Romanesque illuminated manuscript produced at the abbey. Later, Matthew Paris, a monk at St Albans from 1217 until he died in 1259, was an important chronicler and artist: 18 of his manuscripts survive.
An earthquake damaged the east end of the abbey church in 1250 and damaged the eastern end of the church, and the south side of the nave collapsed in 1323, damaging the shrine of Saint Amphibalus.
The Abbey Gateway, built in 1365, is the only part of the monastery buildings – apart from the church – to survive the dissolution during the Tudor reformations and is now part of St Albans School.
When Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, the fourth son of King Henry IV, died in 1447, he was buried in St Albans.
The High Altar Screen and reredos was first built in 1484 by the 47th abbot, William Wallingford. The statues on the screen were destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries at the Tudor Reformation, but were replaced in Victorian times.
After Abbot Thomas Ramryge died in 1521, the abbey fell into debt and decay under three weak abbots. The abbey was surrendered at the Dissolution in 1539, and the abbot and the remaining 40 monks were pensioned off. The buildings were looted, all gold, silver and gilt objects were carted away, stonework was broken and defaced and graves were opened to search for riches.
The abbey became part of the Diocese of Lincoln in 1542 and was moved to the Diocese of London in 1550. Richard Lee bought up all the buildings, except the church and chapel and some other crown premises in 1550 and began the systematic demolition for building material. When he had removed the stone removed, Lee returned the land to the abbot in 1551.
The Lady Chapel was turned into a school, the Great Gatehouse became the town jail, other buildings passed to the Crown, and Edward VI sold the abbey church was sold to the town for £400 in 1553 to use as the parish church.
During the English Civil War in the mid-17th century, the abbey church was used to hold prisoners of war and was vandalised. Grant from William III and Mary II in 1689 and 1698 was used to repairs the building and to conceal many Gothic features.
But the church was dilapidated, and the abbey lost many of its windows in a storm in 1703. As the 18th century continued, great cracks appeared in the walls, walls were leaning, subsiding and falling, roof timbers decayed, the roof was rotten, and many windows were cracked or shattered. The abbey came close to demolition in the 1770s, when a proposal to build a smaller church almost succeeded, and again in 1797 when a storm caused further subsidence and the church was flooded.
Despite repair schemes in the 19th century, part of the clerestory wall fell through the roof of the south aisle in 1832, leaving a gap almost 30 ft long. A survey showed mortar was in a wretched condition throughout the building and wooden beams were rotten and twisted. The clerestory wall was rebuilt, the nave roof was repaired, and 40 blocked windows were reopened and glazed.
As the abbey became the cathedral of a new diocese, Sir George Gilbert Scott oversaw a number of works from 1860 until he died in 1878. Around £20,000 was spent on the abbey in 1870-1875, and Scott became the ‘saviour of the Abbey.’
St Albans was transferred from the Diocese of Lincoln to the Diocese of Rochester in 1845, and the new Diocese of St Albans was formed in 1877. Thomas Legh Claughton, then Bishop of Rochester, became the first Bishop of St Albans, and remained until 1890. He died in 1892 and is buried in the churchyard.
Sir George Gilbert Scott was working on the nave roof, vaulting and west bay when he died in 1878. His plans were partially completed by his son, John Oldrid Scott, but the remaining work fell into the hands of Edmund Beckett (1816-1905), Lord Grimthorpe, whose work was controversial. The architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner describes him as a ‘pompous, righteous bully.’
Scott’s work was in sympathy with the existing building, but Grimthorpe’s plans reflected Victorian ideals, and he spent considerable time dismissing and criticising the work of the Scotts, father and son.
Grimthorpe designed a new west front, and it was completed in 1883 at a cost of £20,000. He often mixed architectural styles carelessly, remade the nave, rebuilt the south wall cloisters, completely remade the south face, demolished the Perpendicular window in the north transept and replaced it with a rose window of his own design, adapted the antechapel for consistory courts and redesigned the Lady Chapel. His use of cement led to cracking, while his use of ironwork in windows caused corrosion and damage to the surrounding stone.
Scott’s son John Oldrid Scott, had continued working at the cathedral. He designed Bishop Claughton’s tomb and built a new bishop’s throne, and designed new choir stalls.
The main west window was reglazed and dedicated as a war memorial in 1925.
With the liturgical movement of the 1970s, the need was seen to encourage a closer link between the celebrant and congregation in the nave. The nine-tonne pulpit and the choir stalls and permanent pews were dismantled and removed in 1972. The altar space was enlarged and improved, new choir stalls were put in place, the pews were replaced with seats, and a new pulpit was installed.
The nave and clerestory roofs were repaired in the 1970 and 1980s, the clerestory windows were repaired, other work by Grimthorpe was replaced, and his west front was repaired. A new visitor centre was built on the south side of the cathedral, close to the site of the original abbey chapter house and was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1982.
The shrine of Saint Alban was restored in 1992-1993, and it is the focus for pilgrims each year on Saint Alban’s Day, 22 June.
Other work in the late 20th century included inserting stained glass by Alan Younger in Grimthorpe’s north transept rose window, unveiled by Princess Diana in 1989. Seven new painted stone statues by Rory Young were inserted in 2015 in the the nave screen, which dates from ca 1360.
The shrine of Saint Amphibalus was restored in 2020.
Robert Runcie, later Archbishop of Canterbury, was Bishop of St Albans in 1970-1980 and returned to live there when he retired in 1991. He is buried in the churchyard and commemorated with a gargoyle on the roof.
The Very Revd Jo Kelly-Moore has been the Dean of St Albans since 2021. Sunday services are: Sunday Services: 8 am Eucharist; 9:30 am, Parish Eucharist; 11:15 am, Choral Eucharist; 6 pm, Choral Evensong. The cathedral is open daily from 8:30 to 5:30.
• Peace Doves is an art installation by the sculptor Peter Walker, in which thousands of paper doves hang from the cathedral tower. It continues in St Albans Cathedral until Tuesday 13 February.
