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Facts and places of interest in and around St Albans

Interesting Facts about St Albans

• Following the withdrawal of the Romans St Albans was called Verlamchester or Wæclingacaester.

• Holywell Hill takes its name from a story aabout St Alban. It is said that when he was beheaded that his head proceeded to roll down the hill and fell into a well.

• It is said that St Albans has more pubs per square mile in the country; although other cities and towns make the same claim.

• It is also said that ‘Ye Olde Fighting Cocks' is the oldest pub in the country, however a pub in Nottingham makes the same claim about one its pubs. Sir Walter Raleigh is meant to have stayed at the St Albans pub.

• St Albans is twinned with a number of towns in various European countries – Nyiregyhaza in Hungary , Nevers in France , Fano in Italy , Odense in Denmark , Nieuwleusen in the Netherlands and Worms in Germany.

• The Pioneer Skatepark is one of the oldest indoor skate parks in England.

• Do you remember the Panorama April Fool's Day joke where people were seen harvesting spaghetti? Well, it was partly filmed at a pasta food factory in St Albans.

• St Albans was part of the shutter telegraph chain in 1808 -1814 which joined London with the ships in Great Yarmouth.

• Nicholas Bacon who worked for Elizabeth the I built Gorhambury House in St Albans.

• Well known philosopher and scientist, Francis Bacon lived at Old Gorhambury House in St Albans.

• The singer David Essex lives in St Albans.

• Physicist Stephen Hawking was educated at St Albans School.

• Comedian Benny Hill lived in St Albans.

• Property prices are well above the national average in St Albans.

• Pope Adrian IV was educated at St Albans School , which can claim to be the only school in an English speaking country to have educated a Pope.

Places of Interest in and around St Albans

Old Gorhambury House, St Albans

Old Gorhambury House was built in 1563-1568 by Queen Elizabeth I's Lord Keeper, Sir Nicholas Bacon. Now all that is left is the remains of this once huge mansion. The extravagantly two storey porch has survived along with parts of the hall, clock tower and chapel.

Verulamium at St Albans

Verulamium Roman City at St Albans is a very impressive Roman site and there is lots to see; for esample the town walls which defended the town and the foundations of the south-east gate. You can visit the hypocausted building and also a Roman Theatre . The museum and mosaics are also interesting places to visit.

The City was founded in AD43 after the Roman's invaded Britain and the settlement became a very important town. Verulamium was the only Roman town in England to be given self-governing status of ‘municipium'.

Verulamium Museum

The Verulamium Museum is located in a park which is near to the Hypocaust and the Roman Theatre . At the Verulamium Museum you can find out about what went on in the major Roman city at St Albans . There are rooms that have been recreated to how they would have looked in the Roman times and you can also see some of the best Roman mosaics around and wall plasters.

Verulamium Park

The Hypocaust

The Hypocaust shows a wonderful Roman mosaic floor and the under floor heating system which was once part of a Roman villa.

The Roman Theatre

The Roman theatre was built around 130AD and is the only example in Britain . There is banked seating facing a stage along with a stage column which has been re-erected. The theatre would have started off being used for religious events and combat and shows, but from around 180AD it was extended and in 300Ad more work took place. There was seating for 2000 in the audience.

Further archaeological digs have found first century foundations for shops and a Roman Villa along with a secret shrine.

The Museum of St Albans

The Museum of St Albans tells the story of St Albans from when the Romans left up to the present time.

You can discover how St Albans got its name. Alban was Britain 's first Christian martyr, and St Albans Abbey was built in his name.

You can view exhibits of objects used by people in medieval St Albans and learn how they lived.

Tales are told of how St Albans grew from a small market town into a bustling commuter city and find out about the life of Victorians in this area.

There is also the Salaman collection to look out which is considered to be one of the best collections of tools dating from the 1700s to the 1950s.

You can also visit the Wildlife Garden which is very nice and children can follow the trail through the garden.

St Albans Cathedral

St Albans Cathedral stands on a hill overlooking the river Ver valley and from beyond this is the remains of the Roman city of Verulamium . Some of the Roman bricks were used to build the Cathedral. The cathedral is built on what is believed to be the site of the martyrdom of St Alban.

The church has a candlelit shrine dedicated to St Alban who was a Roman who was killed because of his faith in Jesus. There are written documents about this shrine dating back to 429AD.

Clarence Park, St Albans

Clarence Park is located near the centre of St Albans and is a lovely open space of ground with mature trees and shrubs and beds planted with flowers. There are lots of seats to sit and enjoy the atmosphere of the park. There is a band stand which is used for free concerts during the summer months and there is a children's playground too.

De Havilland Aircraft Heritage Centre, which Includes the Mosquito Aircraft Museum

This is the oldest aviation museum in the country and aims to preserve the de Havilland Mosquito and other aircraft engines along with exhibits of other de Havilland items. Exhibits range from Moths to modern DH military and civil jets.

Highfield Park, St Albans

Highfield Park is set in 60 acres of land with walks, playing areas, a pond, woodland and fields along with cycle ways. There is also a Mediterranean Garden area with two petanque (boules) courts and a tree trail. There is a community centre located in the park with a gym and games area.

Kingsbury Water Mill Museum

Kingsbury Water Mull Museum is set with a 16 th century restored water mill next to the Verulamium. Exhibits include farming tools and milling machinery.

Old Gorhambury, St Albans

Old Gorhambury is the remains of an Elizabethan mansion. The decorated remains of Old Gorhambury show the levels to which the Renaissance influenced architecture in England .

Beech Bottom Dyke, St Albans

Beech Bottom Dyke is a huge ditch, with banks on both sides; it is around 30m wide, and 10m deep, and can be seen for just under a mile along the northern edge of St Albans . The dyke was constructed towards the end of the Iron Age, in the early 1st century A.D. It was built by the Catuvellauni, who were a Celtic tribe in this area, and was built to delineate the areas of land around their tribal centre at Verlamion - the predecessor of the Roman city of Verulamium .

Royal National Rose Society

The Royal National Rose Society is the world's oldest specialist plant society, which was founded in 1876; the society is a registered charity and its aim is to encourage, improve and extend the science, art and practice or rose growing.

The Society also maintains the world famous Gardens of the Rose in St Albans .

St Albans Clock Tower

The Clock Tower is situated in The Market Place near the High Street in St Albans and was built in 1402-1411 and underwent restoration in 1866. The tower IS 77 feet in height and has five storeys. The views from the roof take in the city and countryside.

Our Residential Building Surveys and our Commercial Building Surveys are tailor made to suit your needs. When you book your survey we will ask you to grade your own property knowledge from 1 - 4, with 1 being 'next to no property knowledge' and 4 being 'excellent property knowledge'. From this we can tailor make your survey to suit you. Depending upon your knowledge level we will add additional photographs to the survey or will give you more definitions of building terminology, or add extra sketches to help describe particular areas of concern or to show you for example what type of roof your proposed property has or what type of brickwork the property is built in. By doing this we can make sure that you completely understand the property you are buying and that you understand what the issues are.

If you are interested in buying a residential property in St Albans or taking a lease on a commercial property in St Albans then we would be pleased to offer you our professional services. As Chartered Surveyors we provide building Surveys, structural surveys, engineer's reports, homebuyers reports as well as schedule of conditions, commercial building surveys, feasibility studies etc all carried out by independent Chartered Surveyors. We would always recommend that you have a survey carried out on a property you intend to purchase in St Albans and the surrounding area.

If you want a Quick Sale process in the area of St Albans then:

Contact us on 0800 298 5424 for help and advice.