St Albans Cathedral

The Cathedral and Abbey Church of Saint Alban is the seat of the Bishop of St Albans and serves the Diocese of St Albans in the counties of Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, the Borough of Luton and the London Borough of Barnet. The Cathedral is also a parish church with a large and active congregation.

The cathedral is a centre of worship and mission with a world renowned musical tradition and a highly regarded Education Centre. Ecumenical links are strong with honorary ecumenical chaplains from the Roman Catholic, Free Church, Lutheran and Russian Orthodox traditions. Regular services are conducted in the cathedral by the ecumenical chaplains who take full part in the life of the place.

The cathedral is built on what is believed to be the site of the martyrdom of St Alban. The hill upon which it stands overlooks the valley of the river Ver, beyond which lie the buried ruins of the Roman city of Verulamium.

It is recorded that St Germanus of Auxerre visited the shrine of St Alban in 429. Early in the 8th century, Bede wrote of the 'beautiful Church worthy of all Alban's martyrdom where miracles of healing took place.' The monastic structure of this church was re-ordered by King Offa of Mercia in 793 and a new order and discipline introduced by St Oswald in the 960s. The availability of huge amounts of building material from the ruins of nearby Roman Verulamium was put to good use in the Norman era, from which time many of the features of the building date.

St Alban’s Shrine, demolished at the Dissolution of the Monasteries, was restored in 1993, when it was rededicated in the presence of HM The Queen Mother. The shrine is a site of national pilgrimage and is used as a place of prayer and meditation by visitors every day.

Additional info

There are facilities for disabled visitors who should enter by the east end Slype door. There is a Touch and Hearing centre and a braille guide plan. The public address system has an inductive loop facility and hearing aids should be tuned to 'T'.