Sept 2012: The Great Gateway in St. Albans

Cycling around St. Albans is a joy, there is so much to see and admire.

I move across from the Cathedral to see this rather boxy building

Its joined to this set of connected buildings

Which is a school!

Its a blocky building. To have an idea how it looked way back, here’s a photo from Wikipedia.

The gatehouse is the building on the top of the left hand side quadrangle. This is how the great cathedral looked before King Henry VIII did the dissolution business. Pretty big and huge, eh? Now of course nothing is left of any of the red roofed bits excepting the gatehouse and some little bits attached to it.

A war memorial

I am now looking back at the cathedral on the left.

This was pretty awesome eh?

Some bits seems to be renovated

There are two arches

One which is used for cars and the other for pedestrians

Wheel my bike through

Well, see what it says..

A cute little door

A well supported ceiling, I wonder if those are murder holes?

Heading out

The modern lock in the door make a decided counterpoint…

Coming out

Looking back at the ceiling, pretty neat work, eh?

Looking across to the Cathedral

Another door and this one looks much more authentic

You can see that the handle was moved, the old hole is still there

And a new lock has been fitted, man, the old keyhole is massive

And the door has been repaired…

lovely little piece of history..it must have seen quite a lot of people passing through its arches..fascinating..

Sept 2012: An Inn called as White Hart in St. Albans

While riding to St. Albans, I noticed this rather strange sight on the side of a road.

Its a war memorial

But why is there a war memorial on this one street. Asking a local, seems like these were people who all died from this street in the first great war. Wow, I cannot imagine, 9 men from the same street…must have been devastating..

I ride on

I am approaching it from the back end. its an old timbered coaching inn.

One of the oldest buildings in St. Albans

Parts of this building date back to 1500AD

At one point in time, the place could sleep 26 guests and 50 horses.



The age of the building can be seen from the swayback and drunkenly leaning walls…

You can see how the walls don't meet in exact angles

Ancient ancient walls, you could close your eyes and hear the horses, smells of the privy and mud…

The coaches would turn into that entrance and enter into the courtyard

Quite an interesting history, this place has. I quote

The inn was involved in scandal and a notorious legal action brought by Lord Grosvenor against the Duke of Cumberland (the brother of King George III) in 1770. The Landlady and Chambermaid were called as witnesses to the events which occurred when Lady Grosvenor stayed there for an assignation with the Duke, who appeared "dressed plain like a country farmer"! These events cost the Duke £10,000 pounds in damages awarded to the lady's husband; Lord Grosvenor.

That is a serious chunk of change to lose…



This low ceiling has a history as well. I quote from the above site

The carriageway was the scene of a tragic accident in 1820. Elizabeth Wilson seated on top of the Northampton Coach failed to duck as it swept under the entrance and was killed by the impact. It is said that the harmless ghost of the unfortunate lady haunts the house to this day! This incident provided the inspiration for the similar demise of Mr. Jingle in Charles Dickens' Pickwick Papers.

Hmmm, I didn't know that and I didn't feel it at all. The road you can see on the other side of the road, leading away, heads to the Cathedral…

Fascinating.

Sept 2012: A romantic ruin at Sopwell Nunnery

So I am riding towards St. Albans and have to cross a busy A road. The yellow lines make for an interesting optical sight..the road actually dips

The overbridge helps me escape this mad roundabout but these days i cut across directly, what the hell, I have equal rights! so there.

The view across the lovely countryside..

Then here is the sign…

Its set about 1/2 km away from the road, over some very well maintained grass lawns.

It used to be a nunnery and then it was taken over and a country house built on this site

It is rumoured that Anne Boleyn stayed at this nunnery

The person who bought the place was the commander of Henry VIII. Yes, the same chap who Anne married.

Its a very quiet place

Not much is left

Although the walls are quite thick.

Ivy is climbing up the walls.



solidly built lintels

Stone window work

It looks like it was 2 storied

somebody should remove these plants, they will bugger up the brickwork

You can still see the window support holes in the stonework

I ran my fingers over the stonework, nope, nothing, not a glimmer…

What would people have seen when they looked out of here?:

Ok, the lintel is a new addition, the original brick arch is still visible

The round window is cute

Looking at the window from the outside

You can see the arches affixed to the top of the brickwork, so some kind of restoration has been done on this place



As I mentioned, not much is left

Here’s my bike leaning against the wall

I spy a little gap in the corner at the end of the garden and start walking to it

looking at the passing brickwork

From the gap, looking back

From the gap in the wall, nothing much to see, other than a field.

Heading back

I turn right to the bottom of the garden to see some more ruins

Looks like the kitchen

You can see the sloped roof tile slots on the roof…


Heading back

Looking at the ruins..

As I mentioned, I did touch the bricks and tried to hear the bricks say something. One could hear something but not much. Considering the nunnery was built in 1140AD and then rebuilt as a mansion in 1560AD, nothing much to feel I guess. Here is a leaflet from the local govt giving a bit more background and a map of the surroundings.