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eo:St Albans no: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. After the Roman withdrawal, and prior to becoming known as St Albans, the town was called Verlamchester.
The localityThere 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.  The centre of the city suffers significant road traffic congestion because it lacks a proper by-pass. The council estimates that 75% of traffic entering the city is through-traffic. During 2004 the problem was heavily exacerbated by a series of road works, prompting severe criticism of Hertfordshire County Council's Hertfordshire Highways agency. 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). It also claims to have the oldest pub in England, named "Ye Olde Fighting Cocks" (Nottingham again provide a counter-claimant in "Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem"). History
 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. The growth of St Albans was generally slow, reflecting its status as a rural market town and a coaching stop of the route to and from London. In the inter-war years it became a popular centre for the electronics industry. In the post-World War II years it was expanded significantly as part of the the post-War redistribution of population that also saw the creation of new towns. 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. TwinningSt Albans is twinned with: In addition, there are friendship links with: Miscellany
Notable People
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