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 Albans 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)
Before I went inside the Cathedral I wandered a bit in the cathedral grounds to see the Abbey Gateway, the Verdun Tree and the Vintry Garden in detail. I also had a quick look at the nearby Clock Tower. I come from a cathedral city myself and St Albans is just as magnificent as our very own Peterborough Cathedral.
Abbey Gateway
A new gateway, now called the Abbey Gateway, was built to the Abbey grounds in 1365, which was the only part of the monastery buildings (besides the church) to survive the dissolution, later being used as a prison and now (since 1871) part of St Albans School. The other monastic buildings were located to the south of the gateway and church. (Source: Wikipedia)
The Verdun trees are oak and horse chestnut trees planted in the United Kingdom in the aftermath of the First World War. Acorns and chestnuts were collected from trees on the battlefield at Verdun and sent to England to be distributed and planted as war memorials. Some were sold by the London and North Western Railway in 1917 to raise money for the War Seal Foundation, founded by Oswald Stoll. Others may have been brought back to the UK by Field Marshal Lord French...and one horse chestnut – reportedly from a group of twenty – was planted in St Albans in January 1976. (Source: Wikipedia)
This is an enclosed public garden that is located right next to the Cathedral and has a long history.
All photos were taken with a micro four thirds camera (https://amzn.to/2Qjtg8h) attached with a telephoto zoom lens (https://amzn.to/32TeGWA).
