England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
St Albans St Peter

The Parish

St Albans lies in southern Hertfordshire & the St Peter's parish covers not only the northern and eastern quadrant of the city but extends to incorporate a substantial area of the rural area to St Albans' east. St Albans was granted city status during Victorian times with the Abbey church being raised to cathedral status. Prior to this elevation St Albans was a large market town situated about 20 miles northwest of the city of London. St Albans sits where the A5183 heading northwards from the edge of Metropolitan London crosses the River Ver, several other main A roads also arrive at the city from Hatfield, Hemel Hempstead & Luton. St Albans has a long history being the site of the Roman settlement of Verulamium, situated just across the Ver from the Abbey church. The city was founded on its present site by King Offa to mark the martyrdom of its saint, Alban, allegedly in the 8th century. Over the centuries St Albans grew upon its market status attracting several industries such as candle wick manufacture, silk weaving and, in particular, straw plaiting for hat making. Modern St Albans sits in a web of modern communications, the M25 motorway runs about 3 miles to its south whilst the M1 lies a similar distance to the west. The city also has two rail routes into the centre of London. These communication networks have made St Albans a growth point for light industry & high-tech services leading to spectacular recent growth, these industries are added to by proximity of the capital making St Albans a notable commuter settlement, too. The Ver drains the parish soon joining the Colne and ultimately the Thames at Staines, from there it heads eastwards to reach the North Sea through the Thames Estuary. St Albans is sited at around 100 metres above the sea with local heights reaching to 130 metres in gently undulating countryside. St Albans St Peter's parish was rather extensive for a largely rural southern parish and would have supported a population of around 1,000 parishioners. In Domesday times St Albans was also a substantial settlement large enough to place it amongst the top 20% by population, held by the Abbey its assets were substantial too, 18 ploughs were backed up by the usual meadows & woodlands and more wealthy assets included 3 mills and a fishery.

The Church

St Peter's church sits on the main road leading northeast from the crossing of the Ver, St Peter's Street, which heads for Wheathampstead, the church stands in an extensive churchyard of park-like proportions on the eastern side. Whilst the core of the church is medieval the changes wrought by the Victorian restorers in the 1890s amounted almost to a complete rebuild. The earliest fabric available today is of the 14th century and is a mixture of the twin styles of that century, Decorated from the 1st half and Perpendicular from the 2nd. Build of the early church extended into the 15th century which is represented by the piers of the nave arcades. Modern changes began in the early 18th century when the western tower was deemed unsafe and was demolished and rebuilt in brick. Two distinct phases of Victorian work made substantial changes, the first of 1889 not only repaired the brick western tower it also removed the medieval transepts which once graced the church and rebuilt the chancel to a much smaller footprint. The second phase running from 1893 to 1895 attempted to re-style the church into faux-Early English Gothic inserting lancet style windows and 13th century style pinnacles. The changes were immense, a whole new western front, a further western bay to the nave and wholesale rebuilding of the northern aisle, the clerestory and that newly inserted chancel. Today St Peter appears to be, externally, as a consequence a wholly Victorian church. For a fortunate few there is limited street parking outside shops to the north of the site but it would be more comforting to visit after sourcing a town car park. A lychgate grants entry from St Peter's Street but the churchyard is rather open and functions like a city park, it does, however, have many banks of trees which create challenges for the photographer to find adequate views.