St Albans For other places named St Albans see St Albans (disambiguation) St Albans (thus spelt, no apostrophe or dot) is the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans in southern Hertfordshire, England, around 22 miles (35.5km) north of London. It was the first major town on the A5 for travellers heading north and was previously the Roman city of Verulamium. The locality There are two train stations: the City Station is about 750 metres east of the city centre and is serviced by Thameslink, with trains to London, Luton, London Luton Airport, Bedford, London Gatwick Airport and Brighton. The Abbey Station is about one kilometre south of the city centre and is serviced by Silverlink: there is a single train running between St Albans and Watford Junction, starting a new round trip every 45 minutes during most of the day. Housing is expensive relative to England in general, possibly due to fast commuting to London by train, easy access to London Luton Airport or maybe the large number of pubs. CAMRA has its head office in Hatfield Road and the local branch holds an annual beer festival in St Albans. In recent years this has been a four day event starting on a Wednesday near the end of September. A street market is held in Market Place and St Peters Street on Wednesday and Saturday. St Albans is one of several places that, by repute, has the most pubs per square mile in the country (Edinburgh, Nottingham, Otley and Rochdale are other claimants). History See main article at History of St Albans Clock tower St Albans has a long history of settlement in the general vicinity. The Celtic Catuvellauni had a settlement at Prae Hill a mile or so to the west. The Roman town of Verulamium was built alongside this in the valley of the River Ver a little nearer to the present town centre. The mediaeval town grew up on the hill to the east of this around the venerated spot where the first British Christian martyr, St Alban was beheaded sometime before 324 CE. Successive abbeys and a cathedral have occupied this spot and the town grew as a centre of pilgrimage and as a stopover for people travelling from and to London in the days of coaching. The city today shows evidence of building and excavation from all periods of its history and it is a major tourist attraction. Notable buildings include St Albans Cathedral and the Clock Tower (pictured). The Cathedral's formal name is The Cathedral & Abbey Church of St Alban and it is known locally as the Abbey. See also St Albans School, which occupies the former gateway to the Abbey. Twinning St Albans is twinned with: Nyíregyháza, Hungary Nevers, France Miscellany The Royal Navy has used six vessels with the name HMS St Albans. An experimental water tank was built alongside London Road, St Albans for the Vickers shipbuilding company in 1912 on a site measuring 680 by 100 feet. Three years later in 1915, the first private wind tunnel was also built here, but moved to their Weybridge works shortly after World War I. From December 1918 the test tank was used in developing fuselage profiles for amphibious aircraft, such as the Vickers Type 54 Viking, completed during 1919. St Albans is home for one of the country's finest indoor skateparks, at the Pioneer Youth Club, in Heathlands Drive, next to the fire station. Its ramps are available to all skateboarders and inliners. A new outside mini ramp was built in March. The football team is St Albans City F.C.: its 'stadium' is Clarence Park and they play in the Conference South. There is also the Old Albanian Rugby Club which has a large facility known as the Old Albanian sports complex or the Woolam Playing Fields, which is also the home of the Saracens A team and Zurich A League. Notable People William Cowper (1731-1800) Poet Ralph Chubb (1892-1960) Eccentric lithographer Samuel Ryder, founder of the Ryder Cup Francis Bacon (1561-1626) Philosopher and statesman External Links Photos of St Albans The Cathedral & Abbey Church of St Alban Most Popular Articles: Music    Musical Instruments    Guitar    Classical Music    History    Music Definition    Country Music    Rock Music    Pop Music    Hip Hop    Rap    DJ    Video Games    Casino Games    Poker    Blackjack    Casinos    Real Estate    Loan    Auction    eBay    Marketing    Search Engine Optimization    File Sharing    MP3    Music Industry    Kazaa    Internet    Supermodel    Fashion    Fashion Designers    Erotica    Modeling    Clothing    Boots    Shoes    Diamond Engagement Rings    Diamond    Rugs    Gospel Music    Affiliate    E-Commerce    Radio This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. You must provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html To view or edit this article at Wikipedia go to http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Albans