The Problem of Ulsinus' Churches According to the Abbey chronicler, in the year 948, Abbot Ulsinus (or Wulsin) built the the churches of St. Peter , St. Stephen and St. Michael at the entrances to the town. The chronology of the Saxon Abbots is difficult to establish but the recorded sequence makes more sense if Ulsinus abbacy was earlier than 948, with a floruit for him of 860-870. However, the core both St. Michael's and St. Stephen's consists of a Late Saxon Church of remarkably similar size and plan. Although it is perhaps Plans showing the earliest phases of St. Michael's and St. Stephen's and how a similar sized church would fit the plan of St. Peter's.
Transcript
The Problem of Ulsinus' ChurchesAccording to the Abbey chronicler, in the year 948, Abbot Ulsinus (or Wulsin) built the the churches of St. Peter, St. Stephen and St. Michael at the entrances to the town. The chronology of the Saxon Abbots is difficult to establish but the recorded sequence makes more sense if Ulsinus abbacy was earlier than 948, with a floruit for him of 860-870. However, the core both St. Michael's and St. Stephen's consists of a Late Saxon Church of remarkably similar size and plan. Although it is perhaps possible that these churches could date from 948 a later date around the end of the 10th, beginning of the 11th. century seems more likely. Of course the earliest existing work may not be the earliest church and at St. Stephen's excavation has suggested that there may well have been a timber structure preceding the Late Saxon church although the purpose of this remains uncertain.
Plans showing the earliest phases of St. Michael's and St. Stephen's and how a similar sized church would fit the plan of St. Peter's.
St. Michael's
St. Michael's todayThe Tower was built in 1896 Schematic plans showing the Medieval
development of the ChurchThe original Late Saxon church, built c.1000 consisted of a nave and chancel.In Norman times the church was enlarged with the provision of aisles to the nave; the northern being the first built.In the Thirteenth century the Lady Chapel and probably the south porch were added. Lancet windows of the Early English style were used in the chapel and also in the clerestory of the nave.In the Fourteenth century the the east wall of the chancel was rebuilt (the present window in Decorated style is a modern copy) and parts of the side walls wee also rebuilt. The chancel arch was rebuilt and later in the century the western window in the south wall was inserted.Three of the lancets in the north clerestory were replaced in the early Fifteenth century and were probably the work of Thomas Wolvey the architect of the St. Albans clockhouse. He was also responsible for the Fifteenth century tower (which may have replaced an earlier one) unfortunately demolished at the end of the Nineteenth century. Wolvey is buried somewhere in the church. Later Fifteenth century windows occur in the south wall of the lady chapel and internally at its north east corner is the blocked stair leading to a rood loft. Set above this loft, partly on wooden boards infilling the top of the chancel arch, a picture of the Doom (the Last Judgement) was painted. Other Fifteenth century windows occur in the south wall of the chancel and in the north aisle (2).
The church was restored in the later Nineteenth century, carefully by Sir Gilbert Scott and with enthusiasm by Lord Grimthorpe. The latter modified the church by demolishing the tower and extending the nave to the west. A new tower was built at the west end of the north aisle. A new vestry was built where the south aisle had once been. Another vestry was added to the north side of the church in 1937.
The St. Michael's Doom
Top- Drawing made after the discovery of the painting in 1808
Bottom - Details of the surviving portion painted on oak boards
In 1808 a Fifteenth century painting of the Doom was discovered over the chancel arch and on boards infilling the top of the arch itself.
Unfortunately only the portion painted on the oak boards survives but this is an extremely rare survival. Fortunately a drawing made at the time of
discovery records the missing portion of the painting so that the alternatives of salvation or damnation gazed at by the medieval
congregation can still be appreciated.
St. Peters
One of the three churches which the Abbey tradition claimed were built by Abbot Ulsinus. Like the two other of his churches this served a large rural parish but also provided for a large part of the town. (An area much larger and more populated than that part of the town in St. Michael's parish). This church has been much more drastically altered than St. Stephen's and St. Michael's. By the end of the 18th century it was in a very bad condition and in 1799 part of the tower was taken down; in 1801 the belfry floor collapsed and in that year the transepts were demolished and the chancel shortened. The existing building results from the "indefatigable" Lord Grimthorpes "restoration" of 1893. However it is clear that in the 15th century it was much bigger than the other churches with a cruciform plan with large transepts and along eastern arm; very much a town church.The parish originally included, as chapelries, Sandridge, St. Andrew (in the town) and Ridge, which were made into separate parishes in the 14th
century. In 1119-46, Abbot Geoffrey granted the use of the church revenues to the Abbey Infirmary and in 1252 Abbot John instituted a vicarage. The Infirmarer then became rector and as such was required to supply the monks wine from the revenue of the church. If he failed in this obligation he was fined 8s. (40p.) for each day missed!
St. Peters Church
The 2001 excavation
In 2001 a small excavation was undertaken which showed that one of the Fifteenth century columns sat on a possibly earlier foundation, which itself cut an earlier east-west wall. This wall was probably the original north
wall of the nave and therefore probably of Late Saxon date although there was no direct evidence for its date.
St. Stephen's
Schematic plans showing the Medieval Development of St. Stephen's Church
St. Stephen's followed a similar course of development to St. Michael's. The original late Saxon building
consisted of a nave and chancel to which aisles were added but here the south aisle was not added until the
Thirteenth century and was integral with the building of the lady Chapel. The north wall of the north aisle has
been located by excavation, although little of it remained. This was not dated but as the church was
consecrated between 1101-1118 it was almost certainly built before that date. This north aisle was demolished
in the Fifteenth century.
Left - The north wall of St. Stephen's showing a Late Saxon Window cut by the arcading of the added Norman aisle. The modern extension is entered through a Fifeenth century doorway
built after the demolition of the aisle.
St. Germain's
An oratory to St. Germain (or Germanus) of Auxerre was built in the time of Abbot Eadfrith (c.840-860). This is said to have been built on the site of a chapel, then ruinous and deserted, which had been built where the house
was in which St. Germanus stayed in 429 during his visit to Verlamium to combat the Pelagian heresy. Wulf a Dane was installed as a hermit and was suceeded by Eadrith after his resignation from the abbacy. The Chapel was dedicated in 1108-15 and was repaired in 1326-35. It seems likely that the survivng fragment of Roman city wall known as 'St. Germains block' owes its survival to the fact that it was once incorporated in this chapel.At the dissolution the chapel along with Mary Magdelene passed to Sir Richard Lee.
St. Mary Magdalene
This oratory was built by Abbot Wulsin (c. 860-880) and a chapel of St. mary Magdalene was dedicated in 1094-1119. There was still a hermit in residence in 1530. After the dissolution the property was described as a chapel with a mansion and land adjoining, it was leased to Sir Francis Bryan in 1541 and granted to Sir Rivchard lee in 1547.
The Abbey's Local Cells
Three of the Abbey's daughter houses or cells were situated close to the town.
Sopwell Priory
Plan of Sopwell Priory as Revealed by Excavation (after Johnson)
The priory of St. Mary of Sopwell was said by Matthew Paris to have been founded by Abbot Geoffrey (1119-46) and this house was probably established to house the nuns who had existed at the Abbey itself until around this date.
In 1428 the famous robber captain William Wawe and his band broke into Sopwell expecting to find there Eleanor Hulle a lady of some influence at the royal court. While they were plundering the hue and cry was raised by a man in the "village". This suggests that there was occupation near to the priory presumably at its gates, on Sopwell Lane outside the town, or at Greenlane End.
In 1537 the house was dissolved under the Act of the previous year and the site was granted to Sir Richard Lee. He adapted the buildings for domestic use but later built a new house on the site. It is the remains of this house which are known today as the Nunnery Ruins or Sopwell nunnery. The
"barns of the cell" with which the priory's agricultural land was provided are still remembered in the Cell Barnes area of St. Albans.
St. Mary de Pre
The Hospital of St. Mary de Pre was founded by Abbot Warin who in
1194 granted to the monastery the place in which their church was built together with the conventual buildings on either side of Watling Street. Its cemetery was consecrated in the period 1214-35. At first Pre was ruled by a Master and was a hospital for leprous nuns but as leprosy died out its role changed and it became an ordinary priory in the mid fourteenth century.
In 1528 an inquiry found that the prioress had died and that the three nuns which comprised the convent had left. The priory was dissolved by Pope Clement VII and annexed to St. Albans Abbey, then held by Cardinal Wolsey. In the July Henry VIII granted the site of the former priory and its lands to Wolsey himself who conferred it on his new Oxford college. After his downfall Wolsey's lands were seized by the king and Pre was leased to a London merchant and in March 1530, for a term of 30 years, to Richard Raynshaw, yeoman of the King's Guard. In 1531 King Henry swapped Pre with the Abbot of St. Albans. When the Abbey was dissolved the site of the priory was granted to Sir Ralph Rowlatt.
The site of St. Mary de Pre has twice been disturbed by the digging of pipe trenches which revealed wall foundations and the outlines of buildings show on aerial photographs. One of the buildings remained standing until well into the Eighteenth century.
Plan of the remains of St. Mary de Pre
The Hospital of St. Julian
The Hospital of St. Julian, for leprous men, was founded by Abbot Geoffrey (1119-46) on a plot of land along side Watling Street known as
Kingesho. King Henry II granted the lepers the sum of 1d a day in perpetuity and from 1160 the annual sum of 30s 5d was paid to them by the Sheriff of Hertfordshire. in 1344 it was decreed that in future there should be 6 lepers and priority was to be given to monks of St. Albans and those born within the jurisdiction of the Abbey. Married men were only admitted if also adopted a religious life, so freeing the husband from the tie of marriage.In 1505 after a dispute over the mastership of the hospital it was annexed to St. Albans.
Nothing is known of the archaeology of this hospital but there is in the St. Albans Museums collections the skeleton from a burial found during building works close to the corner of Vesta Avenue and Watling Street which no doubt came from its cemetery.
The name St. Julians is still in use as an area of the modern city.
Shropshire Lane or Butts LaneThis lane was not built up untill well after the medieval period. It led beyond the town to the Abbot's warren of Shropshire Lane which was broken into by the insurgents in 1381. The alternative name, Butts Lane came about because the lane also led to the archery butts situated in Tonman Ditch.
Halliwell Street
Throughout the Middle Ages the name Halliwell Street, with various spellings was invariably used for what today we call Holywell Hill. The name was certainly in existence by 1250, and although a document of 1377-99 refers to "Halywell Hull" this name does not seem to have become common until post-medieval times. The street ran from the Malt Chepping down to the river and Halliwell Bridge, which was in existence by 1258 when Stephen Grasenloyal had a tenement next to that next to "pontem Alliwell".
The 'traditional' site of the Holy Well was excavated in 1986 but the existing structure was no earlier than the late nineteenth century. In the fifteenth century Halywell was the name given to the river; e.g.. in 1441 a garden is described as "situate by Halywell Bridge adjoining the bank of the Halywell " and in 1458 a messuage and curtilage was " by the stream called Holystreme running towards Sopwell ".
On the west of the street properties were bounded to the rear by the Abbey precinct wall. On the east the street was broken by Sopwell Lane. Above this the properties originally stretched back to Tonman Ditch, Below Sopwell Lane the situation is not clear. In post-medieval times much of the area in this lower part of the street, and down to the river was occupied by the garden of Holywell House. Whether there were long properties stretching back to the borough boundary is uncertain. One well documented property was bounded by Potters Hedge and this is assumed to be the old boundary line which more or less continues the line of Tonman ditch down to the river.
The difference in the space available on either side of the street led, as in Church Street, to differing functions on either side. On the east above Sopwell Lane there was space for the development of inns. After the dissolution of the Abbey almost the whole of this frontage developed into a string of inns up to the Malt Market. Most of the buildings here today seem to be no earlier than the mid C 16 but there were several inns here in the Middle Ages.On the northern comer of Sopwell Lane stood the 'Mermaide' recorded in 1497. Next to this was the Angel which may have had a medieval origin.To the south of the present White Hart (where the Comfort Hotel now is) was the Bull which at the time of the dissolution was the property of the Charnel BrotherhoodThe White Hart, in earlier times known as the 'Hartshorn' was leased by the Abbot in 1535 to John Broke and his wife Elizabeth, 'with a brewing lede, one growte lede, one tabyll with a Pair of trescelles standing in the hall, and in the parlour one tabyll with a peyer of trescells and ten bedstedds'! The visible portions of the existing building are of late sixteenth and seventeenth century.To the north of the White Hart was the Saracen's Head. This name is recorded in the C15 but there seems to have been two Saracens Heads' in the town. This one was perhaps that left in his will by Robert Deeping in 1496/7. Parts of the existing building may be late MedievalFurther up was was the 'Dolphin' recorded in the C16 but probably in use earlier'At the top of the Hill were the Woolpack or Wool-sack and the Peahen. There is mention of 'a messuaqe called le Pehenne' in' 1480 which is probably a reference to the latter. To the north of the Peahen, where London road is now was the Key or Cross Keys first mentioned in 1437 and described in 1455 as being in the High Street.
On the western side of the street towards the top of the hill encroachment took place in the C14 into the Abbey as it did in Hiqh Street and Church Street. One of those mentioned in the C14 survey was John Swanbourne. In the C15 a descendant of John Swanbourne (probably the same), a minor, died intestate, with no heirs and his estate was claimed by the Abbot as lord of the Fee. However, Thomas Banington, a connection of Swanbourne's daughter, turned up from Essex and occupied the estate. Eventually in 1452, Abbot Wheathamistead persuaded him lo give up possession- for
an annuity of sixty shillings and a gown. What is interesting here is that one tenement was on on the eastern side of the street and eleven tenements on the western side of the street, all of which stretched back to the Abbey garden. This would suggest that they were all below the present entrance to Sumpter Yard.
In 1194 Abbot Warin, to support the newly founded Hospital of St. Mary de Pre, granted it among other things, a tenth of the rent from the stone house which he had built on the wall of the Abbey cemetery. This seems to have been in this street at its northern end or perhaps in High Street.During the Abbacy of Thomas de la Mare, (1349-96) Richard Egleshale and Cemencia his wife gave to the Abbey their tenement 'in vico de Haliwelle' called the Stonehall. One of the Swanbourne tenements was situated in 'Haliwellestrete', to the south of the 'Stonehall' and to the north of 'the Bell'. and was on the eastern side of the street. It has been suggested that the Bell was the inn of that sign in Chequer Street. Another reference to a Stonehall occurs in 1496/7; an inn 'commonly called the 'Stonn Hall or the sign of the Sarsyns Hede'. To add to the confusion there was a property in the Market Place called Stonehall by 1543.
In 1491 the will of Thomas Kylyngworth refers to the place "sometyme John Henyssy set and lying in Haliwelstret.....ayenst the crosse of Sopwellende " and this implies that there was a cross in the street by the Sopwell Lane Corner. The Inn known as the Mermaid, which stood close by, seems in the Seventeenth century to have been known as the Red Cross so perhaps this was what the cross was called.
Somewhere on the west side of the street was the Holywell Gate of the Abbey which was attacked by the townsmen in 1327. Its position is not known but it was near to the bridge
Excavation just to the south of the present Belmont Hill comer revealed, among other traces of medieval activity, two pits into which had been thrown the remains of several horses. These were all stallions, of twelve to fourteen hands and all had lived to a ripe old age (the exception being a Shetland pony or donkey). The carcasses had been skinned before before being dismembered. They had been buried in the C14/C15.
In Grove Road next to the southeast corner of the Abbey J.M.I. school grounds a small excavation revealed part of the foundation of the Abbey precinct wall.
58-60 Holywell Hill
58 - 60 Holywell Hilland an imaginative
reconstructionof the guildhall
This building has the characteristic form of a 15th century Medieval Guidhall. It consists of a building of 2 bays apparently jettied on both of its long sides. The ground floor consisted of an open arcade and the first floor a single long room open to the roof.This building is likely to be that recorded in a deed for a property on the west side of the street which abutted on the north on a tenement called the Charnel Hous (Charnel House). This name relates to the Charnel Brotherhood, the common name for the Guild of the Fraternity of All Saints which ha a chapel known as the Charnel Chapel in St. Peters churchyard. At a later date the name Charnel House was given to another Hall in the Market Place which was replaced in the mid 16th century, after the dissolution of the Abbey, by a new town Hall.
Sopwell Lane
This street was the way to London, via Barnet, and replaced an earlier route via St. Stephens Hill and Watling Street. The evidence of the property boundaries on the northern side of the street which are extremely short suggest that the street was inserted into an existing town plan and this seems to have happened by the early twelfth century. in 1265 heads were placed on poles at the four entrances to the town, whereas in Saxon times three churches had been built at the entrances to the town.
It is not clear what the pattern of boundaries was on the southern side of the street as the later development of the large garden of Holywell House removed the pattern at the bottom of Holywell Hill before detailed maps of the town were drawn. Although some properties are described as stretching to the river others are described as being near to Sopwell Mill and evidence of Medieval occupation in the form of pits has come from the building of St. Peters J.M.I School and the flats on the southern side of Riverside Rd. Some of the properties described as being in Sopwell Lane will therefore have been beyond the borough boundary. It seems likely that the southern side of Sopwell Lane within the borough had, like the northern had properties which did not stretch far from the street but further research is required to resolve this problem.
In 1482/3 John Frygleton left 3s 4d for repairs to the well near John Strengar's mansion house. This was presumably a public well, the only one so far recorded in medieval St. Albans.
On the town boundary were situated the Sopwell bars which controlled access into the town. It was here that the Yorkist forces first tried, unsuccessfully yo break into St. Albans in 1455.
Keyfield
Immediately to the north of Sopwell Lane as it left the town and outside Tonman Ditch was Keyfield named after the Key at t the top of Holywell Hill. It was here that the Duke of Warwick's forces camped before the First Battle of St. Albans in 1455
The Crane
Situated on the southern corner with Holywell Hill is St. Albans best preserved late Medieval inn with a long jettied range stretching along Sopwell Lane. On the southern side this range had originally an open gallery which provided access to the first floor chambers although this has been built under. All these chambers had unglazed windows. On the ground floor, which has been more altered, the remnants of a large window indicates the position of the principal room. This range was probably built in the early years of the sixteenth century and its original name seems to have been the Crane for it was so called in 1556. It later became known as the Chequers and in recent times was the Crown & Anchor public House.
Details of Timber Frame
The long Jettied range on Sopwell Lane The building on Holywell Hill
The Goat
The Goat was built c.1500 as a medieval hall house of H shaped plan with an open hall set between two two storied wings. It had become an inn by 1587
26 Sopwell Lane
Front Elevation with the Windows Restored
Now distinguished by the recent brick noggin filling the timber frame, this building was built as a shop in the early years of the Sixteenth century. The larger of the two ground floor rooms provided living accommodation.
The triangular Market Place extended into the wide St. Peters Street, described in 1245 as the "great street" (magno vico) which goes to the church of St. Peter. To the north of the churchyard the street was known as Bowgate. Below Newlane the properties on the eastern side of the street generally stretched originally, back to the defense of earthen bank and ditch known as Tonman Ditch or Monk Ditch, but in the later Middle Ages those at the north of this frontage stretched to the Manor of Newlane (situated in Newlane). On the western side of the street the properties immediately above the Market place backed onto the northern side of Dagnall street; further north they stretched originally to Tonman Ditch on the western boundary of the town.The situation above the Catherine Lane/Newlane cross roads is less certain. Some properties, on both sides of the street, stretched back to the 1327 boundary line, although this does not seem to have been defined by a ditch. There were properties in Newlane by the fifteenth century which will have effected things on the east but I am not sure what the situation was in respect to Catherine Lane. In the early years of the sixteenth century Nicholas Geffrey provided for the repair of the " cawsey in St. Peters Streate " in other words for a paved or surfaced footpath.
Like other street the limits of this street seem to have varied. Some properties described as being in St. peters street being in the present
In 1444/5 the tenement known as "le Fyshh" was being repaired and other named tenements are "le Wolsack" (1446), "le Castell" and "Le Lambe" (1473). "Bromleys" (1496/7) and the "Leyden Porch" (1496/7). The Castle stood on the northern corner with Shropshire Lane and it was here that the Duke of Somerset died during the First Battle of St. Albans in 1455.
This street has seen much redevelopment and today few medieval buildings survive.
St. Peters Church
click for information on the church
The Charnel Chapel
In the south west comer of the churchyard, its position still marked by some ancient masonry in the base of the churchyard wall, was the chapel of the guild known as the Fraternity of All Saints. This was also known as the Charnel Brotherhood and its chapel as the Charnel Chapel because of its position in the church yard.
St. Peters Church before the 1893 restoration
The Queen Adelaide
One of the few medieval buildings to survive in the street this building was more recently the Queen Adelaide public House. It has a two storey cross wing on the street with a hall behind
Dragon Beam to support jetty around the corner of the building
Carpenters Markon principal joist
"Scar" on joists of former beam
supporting jetty
Built as a house in the Fifteenth century, the Cock still retains the two storey wing on the corner of St. Peters Street and Newlane (Hatfield Road). This was originally jettied along both streets fronts and the "dragon beam" essential in such a construction is visible. Also visible are the joists for the upper floor on which a fine series of carpenters marks are visible and the position of the original stair well can be determined from the pattern of empty mortises. (So it's possible to enjoy a drink and study this detail at the same time!) The hall range which once stretched along Newlane was rebuilt in the Seventeenth century.
The Mansion House
In 1496/7 Roger Porter left to his wife Alice the remaining years of his lease on the tenement called "the Mansion" in St. Peters Street which he held of the master and bretheren of St. Julian's Hospital. After the Dissolution the Mansion House came into the possession of Sir Richard Lee and there is a building in the street which still bears this name. However I do not know if any medieval structure remains.
The Mansion House in the Late Ninetenth Century
St. Peters Green
Set by the entrance to the churchyard is a row of buildings some of which date from the fifteenth century.
Now Hatfield Rd. and once Cock Lane, named after the Cock (see above), it is not certain when this lane was "new". It was certainly so called in 1381 but is not mentioned in the 1327 perambulation of the town boundary which is described as running from Stonecross to the corner to the corner of St. Peters Churchyard, thence to the Grange of John, son of Richard Baldewyn and thence by Tonman Ditch to Sopwell Lane. However a Robert of New Lane (Nova Venella) paid tax in 1307. John's grange would have needed access so perhaps the lane was formed to provide this and later extended beyond the town. The way to Hatfield appears to have been via the present Sandpit Lane.In 1426 Abbot Wheathamstead obtained a license in Mortmain for the possession of 'unum messuagium vocatum Newlane ' and the substantial estate that went with it. This was given by John Bernewell, Edmund Westby & Matthew Bepset. In 1429 the new post of Master of Works was to be supported from revenues including those from 'Squylers et de Newlane ', and later these two estates became known as the manor of Newlane (or Newland) Squillers. Squylers was granted a license in Mortmain in 1429 and was granted to the Abbey by deed of gift by Roger Husewyffe and Richard Bingham in 1430. It seems likely that John's Grange recorded in 1327 was the predecessor of the later "Newlane". The site of the manor of Newlane was "redeveloped" in 1733 when the present Marlborough Almshouses were built.
In his will of 1437 John Bernewell left to his wife a croft called Dovehouse croft and a croft "in front of the one belonging to the lord Abbot, called Newlane, facing it from the other side of the street ". Perhaps this Dovehouse croft was where a Dovecot still
The Manor House of Newlane in 1634 with a
dovecot in its grounds and another on the opposite
stood in the C17. (see map on right). Another 3 crofts in Newlane where left by Edmund Westby in 1471.
At some time in the early C15 John Ferrers, steward to Henry Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick, gave ten shillings of annual rent arising out of 4 tofts in Newlane to St. Peters church.
Catherine Lane
Now known as Catherine Street this is not mentioned in the 1327 perambulation of the town boundary. Its present course is much straighter than it was in earlier times. The 1634 map of the town shows no buildings here. It was by this route that Queen Margaret''s troops reached the top end of St. Albans to attack Warwick's Yorkist forces in the Second Battle of St. Albans in 1461
On the southern corner of the Lane, fronting onto St. Peters Street, was a property known as the Lamb. This was recorded in the will of John Wangford in 1473 and that of Robert Clothman in 1497/8 when it was described as a meadow and tenement in St. Peters Street. In later times this property belonged to St. Peters Church and the churchwardens accounts suggest that Lamb close ran along the southern side of the lane, the property being bounded on the west by Houndspath. In more recent times the building was a Public House with the sign of the Painters Arms.
Note -the Eastern Side of the Market place, the Malt Market (modern Chequer Street) is discussed on a seperate page
Clicking on the relevant part of the map will take you there
The Market Place
The Medieval Market Place was much larger than the street which bears that name today. Originally it was laid out as a large triangular open space with its base along the south of the present High Street, its eastern side along the eastern frontage of the present Chequer Street and the western side along the western frontage of the present French Row/Market Place. At its northern end the Market place merged into the very wide St. Peters Street.
According to the Abbey Chronicles the Abbot Wulsin ( or Ulsinus ) "... loved the area of St. Albans and the people who lived there and sought to improve it. He made it possible for people to come and live there, bringing them together from the surrounding areas, adding to and enlarging the market, and also helped those constructing buildings with the cost of timber..." The date given for this activity is 948 although it is now generally considered that Wulsin's floruit was earlier, around 860-880.Excavations between 1981-84 prior to the construction of the Christopher Place and Maltings shopping centres showed that the properties there abutting on the market place were not laid out before the mid-12th century so that the location of the original market place is uncertain. At the time of the Domesday Book (1086) the market tolls and other payments from the town were worth £11-14-0 a year. King Henry II (1154-89) confirmed to the Abbot "..the town of St. Albans with the market place and every liberty a borough ough to have.." and by 1287, at the latest, market days had become established as Wednesday and Saturday and so remain today.
By the later Middle Ages the open area of the original Market Place had become built over as temporary stalls were replaced by permanent shops, resulting in the pattern of streets and alleys in the area today. One such lane, Pudding Lane ("le Puddynglane") was certainly in existence in the mid-14th century.Today traders of all descriptions occur at random throughout the market but this was not the case in earlier times. In 1245 Isabel, the wife of Michael, had a stall "where meat is sold" and in 1261 there is reference to "the street where iron is sold", and in 1250 Alice daughter of Droicons had a stall in St. Peters Street "where bread is sold". By the later Middle Ages the area was certainly divided into the Fleshshambles, the Fishshambles, the Leather Shambles, the Pudding Shambles, the Corn Market, or Wheat Chepping, the Hay Row, the Wool Market and the Malt Chepping and the general position of these is shown on the map. Shambles and Chepping meant market.
The Bull Ring
A Bear being Baited by Dogs
(from the Watching Loft in the Abbey
In 1500 the fisherman John Hole left his tenement situated opposite "le Bollryng" and post-Medieval deeds show that this was situated in the area where in 1634 the pillory was situated. Perhaps the tormenting of man and beast took place in the same area in the middle Ages.During the Peasants Revolt in 1381 a rabbit taken from the Abbots warren was hung on the pillory later to be replaced by the head of a man released from the Abbots gaol and who for some reason was not popular
It was probably not only bulls who were baited in the Market Place for among the scenes of everday life which decorate the fifteenth century Watching Loft in the Abbey church is one showing an unfortunate chained bear being set upon by three ferocious dogs.
The Charnel House and The Moot Hall
In 1381 the St. Albans rebels were tried in the Moot Hall and also tried there was the "hedge priest" John Ball, one of the national leaders of the revolt. However there is no evidence that Ball had ever visited St. Albans before his trial; he was arrested in Coventry and brought to St. Albans because that was where the king was. In St. Albans the Old Town Hall is commonly referred to as the Moot Hall but Mr. J.T. Smith has shown that this building was built in the later sixteenth century as the town hall and it is now clear through the research of Mr. G. McSweeney that the Moot Hall occupied a different site altogether being, paradoxically, more or less where the present nineteenth century Town Hall is.The original borough charter of Edward VI (1553) granted to the town the Charnel House otherwise the Town House for use as the town hall and this hall seems to have been the meeting place of the Charnel Brotherhood replacing an earlier guildhall on Holywell Hill which was also known as the Charnel House. It may be that this hall only came into being after the dissolution of the Abbey, (there is some evidence that it was not in use until after 1543) and that the Charnel Brotherhood played a leading part in the government of the town after the ending of the Abbot's rule and before the establishment of the corporate borough.
The Moot Hall was the building in which the Abbots court which dealt with the borough was held and from its position in the market it was no doubt also the venue for the "Court of Pie Powder" which dealt with market offenses. An alternative name for the building was the Stokhouse ('le Stokhouse alias dictum le Mootehall', 1535) and in some documents the Stokhouse is described as a shop. Presumably there was a shop below an upper hall.In 1472 two shops were described as being in market where meat is sold, next to Bothelyngstock, between a shop on one side and the stockhouse on the other with one head abutting on the Kings highway and the other on a lane called Bothelestrete. A much later document shows that Bothelingstock was the lower end of St. Peters Street and Bothel Street was probably a lane running north-south situated between the Meat Market and the present Chequer Street.
This building was so calle in 1543 but no trace of a stone building exists today. The present building was built in the early 18th century but part is an older 16th century timber framed building. This could however be the site of one of the stone halls which did exist in the medieval town.
The Cross Market or Cross Chepping
The Great Cross
An Eleanor Cross
Dominating the southern end of the market in the area now known as Market Cross was the Great Cross or Queen's Cross, the "Eleanor Cross", one of the series built to commemorate the resting places of Queen Eleanor's body on its journey from Lincolnshire to Westminster in 1290. This was completed in 1294 at a cost of £100, well over the estimated cost of £90. The master mason was John Battle who was also reponsible for the crosses at Northampton, Stony Stratford, Woburn and Dunstable. Of the twelve crosses built along the route of the cortege only three survive today and the illustration here is based on the surviving cross built by Battle at Northampton. The Cross was demolished in 1701 and there appears to be no contemporary illustration of it, except for a glimpse of the very top on the town map of 1634. The cross was clearly a focal point of the town for it was here that the insurgents in 1381 burnt muniments taken from the Abbey and later read out their short lived charter of freedom. It was here also that the "heretical" books of the Lollard Walter Redhed of Barnet were burnt after he recanted in 1426/7.
The Clockhouse
It was close to the cross that the Clockhouse or clocktower was built between 1403 - 1412, on a vacant plot of land, of about the size of a market stall. The architect was the sometime Royal Mason, Thomas Wolvey who at the time was living in the Abbey manor of Childwickbury. The original owners were Wolvey and John Penny but it was soon vested into the hands of feofees (trustees), at one time numbering 80 who seem to have been important members of the guild known as the Charnel Brotherhood, who probably at this time played a part in the running of the town. The building has 5 floors and two staircases, one entering from the street and continuing for the full height of the building; the other entered from the ground floor room and reaching the second floor
before joining the other. This allowed the curfew bell to be rung and the clock maintained seperately from the occupancy of the lower two floors, which were designed to serve as a shop; the large ground floor windows being shop windows. The original bell cast at Aldgate, London between 1371 and 1418 was clearly made for the tower. Known as Gabriel, it bears a latin inscription reading "I have the name of Gabriel, sent from heaven".
In 1420-1440
A Thorby was paid for work on a "tenement next to the Great Cross on the East" this was perhaps The Cornerhall/Lyon which in 1539 was next to the Fleur de Lys, although in post-medieval times there was a building beween the two which remained seperate until both buildings were demolished before the new Great Red Lion was built in 1896.
French Row/Cordwainers Row
The origin of this first name is unknown despite the local tradition that it derived from the quartering of French troops there in 1217. Although the name is applied today to the street it may originally have referred only to the row of buildings on the west, those on the east being Cordwainers Row although in 1403 the plot on which the clockhouse was later built is described as"in vico Francorum alias dicto Cordewaneresrowe" . However the property to the north of the clockhouse was through the 15th/16th century described as being in Cordwainers Row. The Nuns of St.Mary de Prae had one or two houses and a walled garden here and in 1420-40 Abbot Wheathampstead paid for the construction of a brewery in "vico vocato vulgariter 'Le Frenshrowe'".Excavations prior to the construction of Christopher Place behind the western side of French Row/Market Place revealed the stone footings for 14th/15th century timber framed buildings perhaps use for industrial purposes. These overlay a complex of rubbish pits dug from the late 12th century onwards. This suppports the view that plots with a "head" on French Row/Market Place curved round to Dagnall Street. Certainly in 1539 Henry Webbe had a tenement in French Row which extended to Dagnall Street.
John & Matilda Pikebon
During the Abbacy of Thomas de la Mare (1349-96), John Pikebon and his wife Matilda gave to the Abbey their fine house in French Row, along with 2 acres of land, for the use of the abbey after their deaths. In 1386 John and Matilda acquired the vacant place on which the Clockhouse was later built, then descibed as opposite their capital tenement which had once belonged to
Simon the Vyntner. Thus John and Matilda's house must have been where the Fleur de Lys is today. For some reason the St. Albans tradition is that King John of France was held in a predecessor of the Fleur de Lys after his capture at Poitiers in 1356. This is clearly nonsence because the property was not the Abbey's at the time and anyway a king would have merited better treatment than this; while confined at Hertford Castle he had a large part of his court with him. The Abbey's Chronicles of this date make no reference to the captive king in St. Albans although he and the Abbot were clearly acquainted. So no King John! despite the inn sign; although the Fleur de Lys was an inn before the dissolution of the Abbey, the present building was being rebuilt at around that time or slightly later. During the rebuilding of the adjacent Great Red Lion part of a window said to belong to the Fleur de Lys was discovered and dates from the 14th/15th century.
Fourteenth/Fifteenth century window from the Fleur de Lys
The Christopher Inn
One of the towns oldest inns originally built around 1400 although much altered and enlarged over the years. Now used as shops and offices.
The Christoper Inn today
High Street
Quite where High Street ended and Church Street began is uncertain: in the 15th century Church Street stretched to the Cross Market on the north and therefore probably to the Waxhouse Gate on the south although the situation does not seem so clear in earlier times. In the 15th century and later the area of the present High Street to the east of Waxhouse Gate was known as "The Vintry". This name survives in the present Vintry Garden part of which must occupy the area of the former Abbey vinyard. As in Church Street, by the mid 14th century serious encroachment had taken place onto the Abbey precinct although in 1302-8 Abbot John licensed
Walter le Ferun (Smith) to build a house on the wall between the "Wynyerd" and his own house.
Waxhouse Gate
Waxhouse Gate Today
Waxhouse Gate provided pedestrian access to the Abbey. A gate of this name existed in the mid 14th century and it was rebuilt between 1420-40 by Abbot Wheathampstead. Much of this gate still survives although it was extensively rebuilt with brick and new windows in the early 18th century. Today the gate passage passes under a round headed arch but this results from cutting back in the 18th century. Originally this was a pointed Gothic arch the springing of which can still be determined. The arch within the present shop front sometimes interpreted as an original vehicular access was most probably constructed when the ground floor shop was created.In 1230-80 William Medici had a shop "next to the sacrist's gate"; the Sacrist's buildings stood immediately to the north of the north transept of the Abbey Church so that this might have been an earlier name for the gate.
hold mouse over for a map of the Abbey
17 High StreetNotable today for its pargetted front bearing the date 1665 this building was originally built as a lock-up shop around 1500. Originally the two upper floors were jettied over the street.
17 High Street today and a possible reconstruction of
its original form
Until 1911 two similar shops stood to the west of No. 17 but these were demolished to make way for the building of a department store. No 17 was saved by public protest. Their site is now occupied by Heritage Close , prior to the building of which some interesting medieval finds were excavated, although the archaeology of the street frontage had effectively been removed in 1911.
Nos.10-14 High Street
Similar shops to those described above survive at Nos 10-14 High Street although these have been much altered. All these seem to have been lock-ups with no living accommodation as there appears to be no provision for heating.
Fullers StreetThe present Mud Lane by Westminster Lodge sports centre was known as Fullers Lane in the C17. This seems to have been the Fullers Street of medieval times. In 1266 a plot of land in this street was said to adjoin thetentorium (tenterground - a place where the fulled cloth was hung out to dry) of Richard son of Robert. In the same year Alexander Goldstob granted to his daughter Emma, for ten shillings a messuage and three particate (?enclosures) of land and two tentoria in the Fullers Street, paying yearly 1/2d to herself and 4d to the Nuns of St. Mary at Sopwell and 4d to the heirs of John Woolmonger (lanovii). In 1274 Henry de Porta had illegally set up a fulling stock in his house in Fullers Street - cloth had to be fulled at the Abbey fulling mill. The cloth trade was of great local importance. In 1355, 11 weavers, 5 fullers and 2 dyers had infringed regulations. In the reign of Edward II (c. 1360) there were11 weavers, 6 fullers and 5 dyers. The weavers produced broadcloth, (a cloth 2 yards by 48 yards). In 1395 there were 27 producers, the 4 most prolific producing 15, 10, 5 and 5 cloths. In 1341, 11 men and women held a stock of 15 stone of fleeces. (At St. Mary de Prae in 1342-3, 6 fleeces were sold for 2s 2d at the rate of 87 to 15 stone).Fulling was not the only activity carried out in this street. In c.1276 Richard of Waltham, a glove maker, held a messuage here with pasture, land and one vineyard.
Mills
In the Domesday survey of 1086, 3 mills are recorded at St. Albans, although exactly which these were is uncertain. (see below). The mills did not only grind corn, there was also a malt mill and a fulling
A Medieval Mill redrawnrom a manuscript.
Notice the eel traps setn the stream to takeels heading for the
ea to spawn.
Sopwell Mill
must have been on or near the site of the existing mill. Mentioned in 1381 with its Flotegatestrem and Mullestrem
Stankfield Mill
was further downstream towards the site of the post medieval New Barnes Mill.Both these were so named in 1119-46 when, along with 2 mills of Park, they provided eels for the Abbey kitchen. These were perhaps 2 of the 3 mills recorded in Domesday Book in 1086. The other being the Malt Mill or the Abbey Mill? Stankfield Mill was rebuilt in 1326-35.
Ditchmill
Another early mill was Ditchmill; its location is uncertain but later it is recorded as part of the manor of Kingsbury and in 1194 is mentioned in the foundation charter of Prae. It may have been where Prae Mill was later, (Its name coming from its proximity to the large pre-Roman dyke known today as Devils Ditch?)
Map showing Location of Watermills
Fulling Mills
Before 1381, as well as Stankfield Mill and Sopwell Mill there had been another mill on that side of the town, recorded as 'the old fulling mill which once stood below Eywood', where it had been in 1247 when Robert Stanhard was convicted of stealing woolen cloth from there. In 1381 the fulling mill was 'below the Abbey' i.e. Abbey Mill.
Abbey Mill
Woods
Eywood
The wood of Eywood stretched from the edge of the town towards Park Street This had belonged to the Abbey before the Norman Conquest and was restored to it by Abbot Paul (1077-93). At its foundation in 1140 the cell of Sopwell was described as being next to Eywood, and the wood seems to have occupied the area between the river and Watling Street, stretching to Park Street. Some of the trees were certainly beeches and mention of pasture suggest that the trees were pollarded to provide grazing beneath them. The wood was broken into by the townsmen in the troubles of 1326 and 1381. The short lived Charter of Freedom of the latter year granted 2 paths through Eywood; 1.- from Eywood Lane to Park Street and 2. - from Park Street through the tenements of John Eywode and Roger Hwcie to "Stanesfeldmulle".showing that there were settlements or assarts in the woodAt Christmas 1423 the Duke of Gloucester spent the holiday as the guest of the Abbot but some of his servants poached the Abbots deer in Eywood. They were punished by the Duke's own hands!
Deefold Wood & Field
Deerfold wood stretched over the south east corner of the former
Verulamium. Its shape on the map is taken from the pattern of field boundaries on a lte 17th century map, fields then known as Dorvels, a corruption of deerfold and the remnant of wood that then existed. Aerial photographs of Verulamium show marks which suggest that at some date trees were grubbed up. The wood is recorded in 1235-60 when Ralph Chenduit hunted there with hounds which led to conflict with the Abbot.In 1381 the rebels gathered in Deerfold Field and were summoned to meet Sir Walter atte Lee, who had arrived with 200 knights to put down the insurrection, under the wood of Deerfold. In 1495 Richard Brown, a weaver of St. Michaels, left to his wife Joan his lands nd teements in"Dere Folde Field".
The modern street name Stonecross derives from a medieval roadside crosss and this was one of several, probably normally of wood, in and around the town. It was in existence by 1327 when it was recorded as a point on the borough boundary, and although shown on a map of 1634 (perhaps symbolically) its site was described the following year as "the site where the Stone Cross was".
Barnet WoodKnown today as Bernards Heath. the name seems to derive from a wood cleared by burning. In1276 the wood was described as next to the church of St. Peter perhaps suggesting that at one time it stretched further to the south. The wood was divided into two parts namely Frithwood and Communeswode. In 1440 bricks of St. Albans bought at Le Frithe near St. Albans were used in the ovens and fireplaces at the royal palace at Kings Langley, Herts and at the Tower of London. It was here that the main body of the Dule of Warwick's Yorkist forces engaged the Lancastrian army of Queen Margaret in 1461 in what became known as The Second Battle of St. Albans. Queen Margaret was victorious and sacked the town which really had no part in the affair.
The second Battle of St. Albans was the first in the country in which handguns
were used. Warwick's forces included a mercenary detatchment of Flemish
handgun men
click for a plan of the battle
Bowgate
The Northern end of St. Peter's Street was known as Bowgate, perhaps derived from Borough Gate. The short lived Charter of Freedom, gained during the Peasants Revolt in 1381 granted "a common of pasture from the town of St. Albans on the high road as far as Stone Crouche" (Stone Cross), which suggests that this northern part of the town was not built up at that date.In the later 15th century several crofts are recorded here. In 1493
Isabella Lewis left 3s. (15p) for the repair ofthe road in Bowgate.
St. Peters Grange
St. Peters Lane led to St. Peters Grange which the townsmen threatened to burn in 1381. Perhaps because of this when John Moot was Abbot (1396-1401), he built an "incomparable grange" with cowshed, stable dovecot, kitchen and bake house and surrounded it with a strong "earth wall" and deep ditch.
Hall PlaceImmediately to the north of St. Peters churchyard was once a medieval house known as Hall Place. Unfortunately this was demolished in 1907 but photographs suggest that it had an open hall with a three bay crown-post roof and a cross wings. The house was once the property of Sir Edmund Westby and local tradition has it that King Henry VI stayed the night there before the First Battle of St. Albans in 1455 The name survives in Hall Place Gardens.
Hall Place - to the north of the churchyard,as mapped in 1634
First Battle of St. Albans
May 22, 1455
The first battle of the "Wars of the Roses" was fought out between the retinues of King Henry VI's supporters and those of the Duke of York and his allies. The latter, along with his kinsmen the Earls of Warwick and Salisbury, raised around 3.000 men and attacked Henry's army of 2,000 men who had barricaded themselves inside the town of St Albans. After the Yorkist's initial attacks had been repulsed, Warwick's men forced their way into the town and
the King's forces were overwhelmed in the street fighting that ensued. The Duke of Somerset, the Earl of Northumberland, Lord Clifford, plus about 50 other notable Lancastrians, were killed in the fighting.
With permission from the Lance and Longbow Society and their publication of "The Poleaxed Source Book" by Martin Stephenson, Dave Lanchester, & Pat McGill. - http://www.lanceandlongbow.com
Yorkists Lancastrians
James Baskervillle of Eardisley, Herefordshire Ralph Babthorpe of Babthorpe, Yorkshire (killed in battle)
Edward Brooke of Holditch, Suffolk Edmund Beaufort, Somerset (killed in battle)
William Bourchier of Brampton, Devon Sir Henry Beaufort, Earl of Dorset, wounded
Edward Bouchier, Essex James Butler, Wiltshire
Henry Bouchier of Pleshey, Essex Thomas Clifford of Skipton Craven, Yorkshire (killed in battle)
Christopher Conyers of Sokebourne, Durham Richard Cotton of Hampstall Ridware, Staffordshire (killed in battle)
John de Clinton of Amington, Warwickshire Sir Thomas Courtenay, Earl of Devon, captured
Walter Devereux of Weobley, Herefordshire Bertine Entwisell of Entwisell, Lancashire
Ralph Fitzrandolph of Spennithorne, Yorkshire Robert Harcourt of Stanton Harcourt, Oxford
Thomas Lumley of Lumley, Durham Richard Harrington of Westerley, Lancashire (killed in battle)
Richard Hamerton of Hamerton, Yorkshire Richard Harrowden of Harrowden, Northamptonshire (killed in battle)
Thomas Harrington of Hornby, Lancashire Henry Plantagenet, (Henry VI), captured
James Metcalfe of Nappa, Yorkshire William Neville, Lord Fauconberg, captured
John Middleton of Belsay Castle, Northumberland Thomas Packington of Hampton Lovett, Worcestershire
Christopher Moresby of Moresby, Cumberland Thomas Percy of Egremont Castle, Cumberland
Thomas Mountford of Hackforth, Yorkshire Henry Percy of Alnwick, Northumberland (killed in
battle)
John Mowbray of Framlingham, Suffolk John Radcliffe of Smithills, Lancashire (killed in battle)
Richard Neville of Middleham, Yorkshire (Earl of Westmoreland)
Thomas Roos of Rockingham, Northamptonshire
Richard Neville of Middleham, Yorkshire (Earl of Warwick)
Ralph Shirley of Shirley, Sussex
William Neville of Skelton, Yorkshire Henry Stafford of Stafford, Staffordshire (killed in battle)
Robert Ogle of Choppington, Northumberland Lord Humphrey Stafford of Stafford, Staffordshire
William Oldhall of Hunsdon, Herefordshire Edmund Sutton of Dudley, Worcestershire
William Parr of Carlisle John Sutton of Dudley, Worcestershire
Thomas Parr of Kendal, Westmoreland Thomas Tresham of Rushton, Northamptonshire
John Parr of Westminster, Westmoreland Thomas Thorpe of Thorpe, Northumberland
James Pickering of Ellerton, Yorkshire Edmund Tudor, Earl of Richmond
Edward Plantagenet, (Edward IV), Middlesex Jasper Tudor of Hatfield, Anglesey
Richard, Plantagenet of Fotheringhay, Northamptonshire (Duke of York)
John Wenlock of Wenlock, Shropshire
William Pudsey of Selaby, Durham Philip Wentworth of Nettlestead, Suffolk
Thomas Rempston of Warren, Huntingdon Richard West of Hempston-Cantilupe, Devon
