| Summary : The history of St Albans Abbey is said to begin with the visit of St German of Auxerre to the tomb of St. Alban the Martyr in 429. St German left relics of other saints with the body of Alban, and these are said to have been rediscovered in 793 by Offa, King of Mercia. To preserve them, he founded a monastery which came under Benedictine rule which was soon laxly practiced or abandoned. Both monks and nuns were admitted throughout the 9th and 10th centuries, in separate houses, the latter placed further away in the almonry before 940. King Edgar reformed it to Benedictine rule in about 970. After 1077, Abbot Paul made regulations for the nuns who lived near the almonry and they were apparently moved to Sopwell circa 1140. There were 50 monks at the Abbey in 1190, and about the same number at the Dissolution in 1539. A large school was attached to the Abbey. The church is Norman erected in 1077-88, and built of flint and Roman brick. The north nave wall, transepts and crossing tower of this building remain. The west end of the nave was extended between 1195 and 1230, in Early English style. Rebuilding of the east end was carried out in the late 13th-early 14th century and the Lady Chapel was completed, in Decorated style. In 1323 part of the nave collapsed and was rebuilt. Minor alterations continued in the 14th-16th centuries. After the reformation the church was sold to the town and by 1832 it was becoming ruinous. It was extensively restored in the late 19th century under Sir Gilbert Scott and Lord Grimthorpe, who rebuilt the west end in Victorian style.Dependencies: Beadlow, Belvoir, Binham, Hatfield Peveral, Hertford, Millbrook, Pembrokem Redbourn, Tynemouth, Wallingford, Wymondham, St Albans Hall (Oxford); the Hospital and nunnery of St Mary de Pre, Sopwell nunnery and St Julian's Hospital, (St Albans). |
More information : (TL 145070) ST. ALBAN'S CATHEDRAL (C OF E) and remains of (NAT)
St. Alban's Abbey (NR) (Benedictine) (NAT) (1)
The history of St. Albans Abbey is said to begin with the visit of St. German of Auxerre to the tomb of St. Alban the Martyr in 429. St. German left relics of other saints with the body of Alban, and these are said to have been rediscovered in 793 by Offa, King of Mercia. To preserve them, he founded a monastery which came under Benedictine rule which was soon laxly practiced or abandoned. Both monks and nuns were admitted throughout the 9th and 10th centries, in separate houses, the latter placed further away in the almonry before 940. King Edgar reformed it to Benedictine rule in about 970. After 1077, Abbot Paul made regulations for the nuns who lived near the almonry and they were apparently moved to Sopwell circa 1140. There were 50 monks at the Abbey in 1190, and about the same number at the Dissolution in 1539. A large school was attached to the Abbey.
Full history (2).
The Cathedral is of several periods and styles, not all of them visually compatible. The original church was Norman, erected 1077-1088, and built of flint and Roman brick, the tower being almost entirely of Roman brick. A series of eight baluster-shafts in the transepts appear to be Anglo-Saxon rather than Norman, and may be the remains of the pre-Conquest abbey.
The west end of the nave was extended between 1195 and 1230, in Early English style. Towers and vaulting were planned, but were left incomplete. In 1323 part of the south side of the nave collapsed and was rebuilt, again in Early English style. Rebuilding of the east end was carried out in the late 13th and early 14th centuries and the Lady Chapel was completed, in Decorated style, about 1320. Minor alterations continued in the 14th-16th centuries.
After the Reformation the church was sold to the town and by 1832 it was becoming ruinous. It was extensively restored in the late 19th century under Sir Gilbert Scott and Lord Grimthorpe, who rebuilt the west end in Victorian style.
Hardly anything remains of the monastic buildings of St Alban's Abbey, but much is known about them from documentary evidence. The buildings were of the usual Benedictine type and included a cloister, abbot's and friar's lodgings, an infirmary, guest houses and other ancillary buildings. The first cloister on the site was built by Paul of Caen (1077-88) and was rebuilt between 1326-43 by Richard of Wallingford. The mutilated remains still exist against the south wall of the church. Other parts of the monastic buildings were erected during the 11th - 14th centuries. (2-9)
Excavations in "Abbey Orchard Field" located the foundations of buildings to the south-west of the church, forming the east range of the great court.
Plans published in 1810 by Carter show that ruins were still standing above ground at that date. (10)
Excavations in 1924 located part of the foundations of the cloister and frater. See plan. (11)
Excavations were carried out in 1974 in Vintry Garden to the north-east of the Abbey. In one trench, nine burials of Medieval date were found, but the other trenches produced nothing of significance. (12)
In 1975, excavations were carried out at Ver Lodge (TL 14340678) to locate the Abbey precinct wall. A single trench, 70.0m long, was dug and the much robbed remains of the wall were found.
St. Alban's Abbey, site of Conventual buildings - scheduled. (13)
Report on the 1978 excavations of the Chapter house. (14)
Description of the sixteen 10th century or earlier limestone baluster shafts in the Cathedral. (15) |