Iron Age There was an
Iron Age settlement known as
Verlamion, or Verlamio, near the site of the present city, the centre of
Tasciovanus' power and a major centre of the
Catuvellauni from about 20 BC until shortly after the
Roman invasion of AD 43. The name "Verlamion" is Celtic, meaning "settlement over or by the marsh". Excavations preceding the museum's new entrance done in 1996–97 within the centre of the Roman town gave archaeologists the chance to date a black ash layer to 60–65 AD, thus confirming the Roman written record. It grew steadily; by the early 3rd century, it covered an area of about , behind a deep ditch and wall. Verulamium contained a
forum,
basilica and a
theatre, much of which were damaged during two fires, one in 155 and the other in around 250. These were repaired and continued in use in the 4th century. The theatre was disused by the end of the 4th century. One of the few extant Roman inscriptions in Britain is found on the remnants of the forum (see
Verulamium Forum inscription). The town was rebuilt in
stone rather than
timber at least twice over the next 150 years. Roman occupation ended between 400 and 450 AD. The body of St Alban was probably buried outside the city walls in a Roman cemetery near the present
cathedral. His hillside grave became a place of pilgrimage. Recent investigation has uncovered a
basilica there, indicating the oldest continuous site of Christian worship in Great Britain. In 429
Germanus of Auxerre visited the church and subsequently promoted the cult of St Alban. A few traces of the Roman city remain visible, such as parts of the
city walls, a
hypocaust – still
in situ under a mosaic floor, and the theatre, which is on land belonging to the
Earl of Verulam, as well as items in the museum. Further remains beneath nearby agricultural land have only had a few exploratory trenches, which have never been fully excavated and were seriously threatened by deep
ploughing, which ceased in 2005 after compensation was agreed. Test trenches in 2003 confirmed that serious damage had occurred to buildings on the northern side of Old Watling Street by deep ploughing. Permission needs to be granted to enable the full extent of the damage to the western half of Verulamium to be investigated.
Anglo-Saxon After the Roman withdrawal the town became the centre of the territory or
regio of the
Anglo-Saxon Waeclingas tribe.
St Albans Abbey and the associated
Anglo-Saxon settlement were founded on the hill outside the Roman city where it was believed St Alban was buried. An archaeological excavation in 1978, directed by
Martin Biddle, failed to find Roman remains on the site of the medieval
chapter house. As late as the eighth century the Saxon inhabitants of St Albans nearby were aware of their ancient neighbour, which they knew alternatively as Verulamacæstir or, under what
H. R. Loyn terms "their own hybrid", Vaeclingscæstir, "the fortress of the followers of Wæcla", possibly a pocket of British-speakers remaining separate in an increasingly Saxonised area.
Medieval on top of the city's Clock Tower The medieval town grew on the hill to the east of Wæclingacaester where the
Benedictine Abbey of St Albans was founded by
Ulsinus in 793. Between 1403 and 1412 Thomas Wolvey was engaged to build a clock tower in the Market Place. It is the only extant medieval town belfry in England. The original bell, named for the Archangel Gabriel sounds F-natural and weighs one ton. Gabriel sounded at 4 am for the
Angelus and at 8 or 9 pm for the curfew. The ground floor of the tower was a shop until the 20th century. The first- and second-floor rooms were designed as living chambers. The shop and the first floor were connected by a flight of spiral stairs. Another flight rises the whole height of the tower by 93 narrow steps and gave access to the living chamber, the clock and the bell without disturbing the tenant of the shop. Two battles of the
Wars of the Roses took place in or near the town. The
First Battle of St Albans was fought on 22 May 1455 within the town, and the
Second Battle of St Albans was fought on 17 February 1461, just to the north. A
street market on Wednesdays and Saturdays, founded by Abbot
Ulsinus, still flourishes. In 1553, Henry VIII's son
Edward VI sold the right to hold the market to a group of local merchants and landowners via
letters patent which also incorporated St Albans as a
borough. The old market hall, which dated from around 1596, was replaced by the
Corn Exchange in 1857.
Modern Before the 20th century St Albans was a rural
market town, a
Christian pilgrimage site, and the first coaching stop of the route to and from
London to the north, accounting for its numerous old inns. Victorian St Albans was small and had little industry. Its population grew more slowly than London, 8–9% per decade between 1801 and 1861, compared to the 31% per decade growth of London in the same period. The railway arrived in 1858. In 1869 the extension of the city boundaries was opposed by the Earl of Verulam and many of the townsfolk, but there was rapid expansion and much building at the end of the century, and between 1891 and 1901 the population grew by 37%. In 1877, in response to a public petition, Queen
Victoria issued the second royal charter, which granted
city status to the borough and
Cathedral status to the former Abbey Church. The new
diocese was established in the same year, in the main from parts of the large
Diocese of Rochester. In the inter-war years it became a centre for the
electronics industry. In the post-
World War II years it expanded rapidly as part of the post-War redistribution of population out of
Greater London. It is now a popular tourist destination. ==Governance==