The Problem of Ulsinus' Churches

According to the Abbey chronicler, in

Plans showing the earliest
phases of St. Michael's and St. church and at St. Stephen's excavation
Stephen's and how a similar
sized church would fit the plan been a timber structure preceding the
of St. Peter's.
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
has suggested that there may well have
Late Saxon church although the purpose
of this remains uncertain.
St. Michael's 

St. Michael's today

The Tower was built in 1896 Schematic plans showing the Medieval
development of the Church
The 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 Lane
This 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 Brotherhood
The 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 Medieval
Further 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

 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
58 - 60 Holywell Hill St. Peters churchyard. At a later date the name Charnel
and an imaginative House was given to another Hall in the Market Place
reconstruction which was replaced in the mid 16th century, after the
of the guildhall 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
Details of Timber Frame
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.

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
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.

Front Elevation with the

Windows Restored
 St. Peters Street

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
Chequer Street.

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
The former Queen
Adelaide

Built as a house in the

The Cock Fifteenth century, the Cock
still retains the two storey
wing on the corner of St.
Peters Street and Newlane
(Hatfield Road). This was
Carpenters Mark originally jettied along
on principal joist both streets fronts and the
"dragon beam" essential in
such a construction is
Dragon Beam to visible. Also visible are the
support jetty around joists for the upper floor on
the corner of the which a fine series of
building carpenters marks are
visible and the position of
the original stair well can
be determined from the
"Scar" on joists of pattern of empty mortises.
former beam (So it's possible to enjoy a
supporting jetty 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 The Mansion House in the
Richard Lee and there is a building in Late Ninetenth Century
the street which still bears this name.
However I do not know if any medieval
structure remains.

 
St. Peters Green Set by the entrance to the churchyard is a
row of buildings some of which date
from the fifteenth century.

St. Peters Green

Newlane
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" The Manor House of
in 1733 when the present Marlborough
Almshouses were built. Newlane in 1634 with a
dovecot in its grounds and
In his will of 1437 John Bernewell left to his another on the opposite
wife a croft called Dovehouse croft and a side of the street
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
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.

In 1500 the fisherman John Hole left

The Bull Ring 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
A Bear being Baited by Dogs replaced by the head of a man
released from the Abbots gaol and
(from the Watching Loft in the Abbey who for some reason was not popular
 with the insurgents!

It was probably not only bulls who

Church)
The Charnel House and The Moot Hall
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.

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.

The Stonehall
This1420-1440
In building was so calle in 1543 but no trace of a stone building exists
The Clockhouse
today. The presentFrench
building Row/Cordwainers Row
was built in the early 18th century but part is
an older 16th century timber framed building. This could however be the
AItThorby wastopaid for work thatison a Clockhouse
"tenement next to the Great Cross on the
sitewas
The close
of one
origin ofthis
of thethefirst
cross
stone halls
name the
which
unknown did exist
despiteinorthe
the medieval
local town.that it
tradition
East" this was
clocktower wasperhaps The Cornerhall/Lyon
built between 1403 - troops
1412, on whicha inin1217.
1539 was next to the
derived from the quartering of French there Although the
Fleur
vacant de Lys,
plot ofalthough
land, of in post-medieval
about the size of times
a market there was a building beween
name is which
appliedremained
today to seperate
the streetuntil it may originally have
werereferred only to
the two
stall. The architect
The was Cross thewest,
sometime
Market both
Royal
or buildings
Cross Mason, Chepping demolished
the row of buildings on the those on the east being Cordwainers Row
before
Thomas theWolvey
new Great who Redat Lion
the timewaswas built in 1896.
living in the
although in 1403 theDominating plot on which the the
southern
clockhouse end ofwas the later
market built
in is
the area
Abbey manor
described as"in of vicoChildwickbury.
now
Francorum
known as The
alias
Marketoriginal
dicto Cross
Cordewaneresrowe"
was the Great Cross . However
or
owners were Wolvey
the property to the north and
Queen's John
of theCross, Penny
clockhouse but
the "Eleanor it was
was through
Cross",the one15th/16th
of the series
soon vested into the hands ofCordwainers
feofees (trustees), at
The
century
one timeGreat
described
numbering
asbuilt
being
80
to
who
in
commemorate
seem to have
the
Row.
been
resting
The Nuns
places of
of St.Mary
Queen de
Prae had one or twoEleanor's houses and body a walled
on its garden
journeyhere fromand Lincolnshire
in 1420-40toAbbot
Cross
important members
Wheathampstead paid offor
thethe
Westminster guild known
1290.asThis
construction
in thea was
of brewerycompleted
in "vico in vocato
1294 at a
Charnel Brotherhood,
vulgariter 'Le Frenshrowe'". who probably at this time
cost of £100, well over the estimated cost of £90. The
played a partprior
Excavations in the running
tomaster
the of thewas
construction
mason town.
ofJohn The
Christopher
Battle who Place
wasbehind
also reponsible
the
building has 5
western side of French floors and two
for Row/Market staircases,
the crosses atPlace one
Northampton,
revealed the StonystoneStratford,
footings for
entering from
14th/15th century thetimber
street
Woburn and
framed continuing
and Dunstable.
buildings forperhaps
the fulltwelve
Of the use for crosses
industrialbuilt
height ofThese
purposes. the building;
overlay
along the
a the other
complex
route entered
of
of the from
rubbish
cortege theonly
pits dug three
from survive
the late today
12th
ground floor room
century onwards. This and reaching
andsuppports
the illustration the second
the view herethat floor
is based
plots withon thea "head"
surviving on French
cross
before joining the curved
other. This allowed the curfew The Clocktower
Row/Market Place built by round
Battle toatDagnall
Northampton. Street. Certainly
The Crossinwas 1539 Henry
bell to had
Webbe be rung anddemolished
a tenement theinclockFrench maintained
inRow1701whichandseperately
there
extended
appears to Dagnall
to be noStreet.
from the occupancycontemporary of the lower two floors, which
illustration of it, except for a glimpse of
were designed to serve the veryas a topshop; on the
the large
town ground
map of 1634. The cross was
John & Matilda
floor windows being Pikebon
shop awindows.
clearly focal point The of original
the town for it was here that the
bell cast at Aldgate,insurgentsLondon between in 1381 burnt 1371 and muniments taken from the
During the Abbacy
1418 was clearly made of Thomas
for the de la
tower. Mare
Known (1349-96),
as short John Pikebon and his
Abbey and later read out their lived charter of
wife Matilda
Gabriel, gaveatolatin
it bears the inscription
Abbey theirreading fine house "Ithat in French Row, along with
have
freedom. It was here also the "heretical" books of
2An
the
Eleanor
acres
nameof land, Cross
for thesent
of Gabriel, use of from theheaven".
abbey after their deaths. In 1386 John and
the Lollard Walter Redhed of Barnet were burnt after
Matilda acquired the vacant place on which the Clockhouse was later built,
he recanted in 1426/7.
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 provided pedestrian access to

the Abbey. A gate of this name existed in the
mid 14th century and it was rebuilt between
Waxhouse 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
Gate  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
Waxhouse Gate Today 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

Notable today for its pargetted front bearing the

17 High Street 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.

Nos 10-12 High Street today

 
 

Outside the Town

Fullers Street
The 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 the
tentorium (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 A Medieval Mill redrawn
which these were is uncertain. rom a manuscript.
(see below). The mills did not Notice the eel traps set
only grind corn, there was n the stream to take
also a malt mill and a fulling els 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
Map showing Location of
Another early mill was Ditchmill; its location Watermills
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?)

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 wood
At 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".

 
 Stone Cross

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 Wood
Known 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 The second Battle of St. Albans was the
namely Frithwood and first in the country in which handguns
Communeswode. In 1440 bricks were used. Warwick's forces included a
of St. Albans bought at Le mercenary detatchment of Flemish
Frithe near St. Albans were used handgun men
in the ovens and fireplaces at
the royal palace at Kings  
Langley, Herts and at the Tower
of London. It was here that the click for a plan of the battle
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.

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 Place
Immediately 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 Thomas Roos of Rockingham, Northamptonshire

Westmoreland)

Richard Neville of Middleham, Yorkshire (Earl of Ralph Shirley of Shirley, Sussex

Warwick)

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, John Wenlock of Wenlock, Shropshire

Northamptonshire (Duke of York)

William Pudsey of Selaby, Durham Philip Wentworth of Nettlestead, Suffolk

Thomas Rempston of Warren, Huntingdon Richard West of Hempston-Cantilupe, Devon

Henry Retford of Lincolnshire  

John Savile of Thornhill, Yorkshire  

James Strangeways of Whorlton, Yorkshire  

Walter Strickland of Sizergh, Westmoreland  

Thomas Vaughan of Hergest, Herefordshire  

James Wandesford of Kirklington, Yorkshire  

Richard Grey of Powis, Powis  

 © The Richard III Foundation, Inc.