S is for St Albans Cathedral

St Albans

Alban was our first Christian martyr. His shrine was placed here in 429 and lies behind the 1484 high altar screen. It was formerly known as St Albans Abbey before it became a cathedral in 1877. It is the second longest cathedral in the United Kingdom (after Winchester).

The church we see now started in 1077. Situated outside the city of Roman city of Verulamium there is Roman brickwork in the church’s tower and other parts of the building. 

This is where ‘Early English meets Decorated’ wrote Siân in the guidebook. The four bays in the south nave collapsed in 1323 and they only had ‘Decorated’ in stock for the rebuild.

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