I visited the cathedral city of St Albans in January 2022 when I had a few hours to spare while waiting for my wife attending her lessons from the nearby university in Hatfield. The city is just a 15-minute drive from Hatfield, which is an hour and 15 minutes drive from my city of Peterborough. I decided to just visit two famous places in the city that are close to each other - St Albans Cathedral and the ruins of the Roman Theatre of Verulamium.
St Albans Cathedral was named after St Alban, the first British Christian martyr, who was executed in 305 AD for refusing to participate in a pagan sacrifice. The ground where the Cathedral stands specifically the north transept is the traditional spot where St Alban was executed.
Who was St Alban?
Alban was a citizen of Verulamium, the Roman town that grew to become St Albans. During the reign of the Emperor Diocletian many Christians were persecuted for their beliefs. One such was Amphibalus, a deacon who fled from the authorities. Alban, though himself a pagan, offered shelter to Amphibalus.
During the time he hid the deacon from the Roman authorities Alban himself became converted to Christianity. Eventually both men were captured by the Romans and put to death. Alban could have escaped his fate if he agreed to sacrifice at a pagan altar, but he refused, and was executed. (Source: Britain Express)
After wandering outside the cathedral grounds enjoying the beautiful gardens and nearby Clock Tower, I entered the Cathedral through the the gift shop. I managed to see some of the highlight places inside the cathedral. I come from a cathedral city myself and St Albans is just as magnificent as our very own Peterborough Cathedral. Our cathedral looks bigger from the inside because of its open plan design while St Albans have walls separating the different parts of the Cathedral.
The Norman Tower
St Albans is the only major church in England with an 11th century great crossing tower still standing. It is also the only cathedral tower in England to be built using Roman bricks.In some places, the walls of the tower are seven feet thick and the whole structure weighs 5000 tonnes. (Source: St Albans Cathedral)
The Quire
The Quire was the main monastic area during the medieval period. This is where monks would have sung their services. Services still take place here every day. (Source: St Albans Cathedral)
Medieval wall paintings
Experience the wonder of our medieval wall paintings - the best preserved collection in any English Cathedral. They are rare survivals, the earliest dating from the early 1200's. (Source: St Albans Cathedral)
At 85 metres, the Cathedral has the longest Nave in England. The word ‘Nave’ comes from ‘navis’ – the Latin name for ship since medieval people thought the ceiling looked like an upside down ship. The pillars in the Nave are decorated with stunning medieval wall paintings. The best preserved collection in any English Cathedral. A screen with carvings and statues was added to the Nave in the 1300s. The original statues were destroyed during the Dissolution. Today this screen is home to statues of seven martyrs, which represent different Christian traditions. (Source: St Albans Cathedral)
The Font
Beautiful stained glass
We have some spectacular stained glass windows around the Cathedral, including the magnificent Rose Window. The colourful design you see today was added in 1989, replacing an earlier Victorian plain glass window. Our stained glass windows date from between 1376 and 2006 and include a nod to royalty, a tribute to those who fought in the First World War and more. (Source: St Albans Cathedral)
All photos were taken with a micro four thirds camera (https://amzn.to/2Qjtg8h) attached with a telephoto zoom lens (https://amzn.to/32TeGWA).
Photo Gallery
