The town of Verulamium was one of the three most important Roman settlements in Britain and was also the site of the execution of the first British Christian martyr St Alban. The town fell into decline following the departure of the Roman army in the fifth century; however, in the early medieval period a monastery was established at the shrine of St Alban and the town grew around it. Following the Norman Conquest the monastery was rebuilt and it became one of the leading abbeys of the land. During the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII many of the abbey buildings were destroyed, but the church was taken over by the town and survives as the cathedral today. Present-day St Albans is again thriving, and a number of noteworthy modern buildings stand alongside its historical structures.
St Albans in 50 Buildings explores the history of this fascinating city through a selection of its most interesting buildings. Just some of those included are the Roman theatre, the Verulamium Museum, the cathedral, various churches, the medieval Kingsbury Barn, the seventeenth-century Pemberton Almshouses, the Georgian Romeland House and Abbey Mills, and the nineteenth-century Town Hall. This book will help you to discover the architectural treasures St Albans has to offer.