Hops and Vines Part 4......

I know it's been a while but I finally got round to writing about the last day of our Hops and Vines trip in October.

The last day found us leaving the hotel and heading for the Roman City of St Albans, the last place to visit on our weekend away.

Click on photos to bigify.

The city was renamed St. Albans for Alban, a citizen of the Roman city of Verulamium, who became a Christian after having sheltered a visiting Christian priest from persecution.   He was put to death in the 3rd century AD for refusing to renounce his new faith.  Alban was buried on the hillside and is honoured here as the first Christian martyr of Britain.  There is a shrine to St. Alban in the magnificent Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban, which dates back to 1077.

The Cathedral and Abbey Church of St. Alban

The splendid high altar screen was erected by Abbot William of Wallingford in 1484.

The statues in the recesses and the crucifix were restored in the late 19th century.  The altarpiece showing Christ's resurrection is by Sir Alfred Gilbert, who also designed the 'Eros' statue in Piccadilly Circus. 

Tapestry depicting the history of the Cathedral

In the Nave the pilgrims prepared themselves at altars in front of the Norman pillars for their visit to the Shrine, where they prayed for the healing of body and soul.  The paintings on the west side of these pillars can be interpreted as altar pieces.  The paintings were hidden after the Reformation under whitewash and rediscovered in 1862.  Removing the lime-based wash destroyed much of the colour and detail.  If you biggify the photo above you will see the faint outline of some of the paintings on the pillars on the left hand side of the pews.

The stained glass in the Rose Window was designed by Alan Younger and given by Laporte Industries in 1989.  It was unveiled by Diana, Princess of Wales.

Replica of the Wallingford Clock

This is a replica of the 14th century clock which is depicted in the tapestry on the north wall of the Nave.  The original clock was designed and constructed by Richard of Wallingford, who was Abbot here from 1327 until his death in1336. It was amazingly advanced for its time, being one of the very earliest mechanical clocks.  In addition to striking the hour, the clock incorporated an Astronomical section which showed the current position of the stars as well as the Sun and Moon and also the current phase of the Moon.  Not only this, but he clock also predicted Lunar eclipses.  A symbol represented the mythical Dragon, which was supposed to have eaten the Moon whenever an eclipse occurred.

There is so much more to see in this beautiful Cathedral, so if you ever find yourself in St Albans do go and visit it.

Leaving the Cathedral behind we ventured round the quaint streets of the City looking for somewhere to have something to eat and a little retail therapy.

After a nice meal we returned to the coach and completed our journey home.

I hope you enjoyed our Hops & Vines Trip as much as we did.