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ST ALBANS AND HERTFORDSHIRE ARCHITECTURAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY www.stalbanshistory.org N EWSLETTER No. 171 February 2009 Founded 1845 Registered Charity No. 226912 PRESIDENT’S REPORT Inside this issue The Museum of St Albans in Hatfield Road was built on land donated by Earl Spencer at the end of the 19th century. The St Albans City 2 museum would not have come into existence without the Vision initiative of this Society and in particular of its Secretary, the Tuesday lecture 2 antiquarian William Page. From the start, the museum was reports under-funded: money raised by the trustees was sufficient to build only half of what was planned. In 1955 St Albans City New members 2 Council took responsibility for the museum, but it is now Programme Committee 3 widely recognised that the building is unfit to house the exhibitions and modern facilities that would be necessary to Outings 2009 3 present the long history of St Albans to citizens and visitors. New Year Party 3 Members of the Society in the last few months have put forward many ideas to the Museums Director for what a Museum of St Albans should Library notes and 4 contain. Verulamium Museum is very successful, but the history of St Albans is much queries more than the history of the Roman period. Detailed plans are being prepared to extend Clock Tower report 4 Verulamium Museum to improve exhibition spaces and provide more educational and other facilities for visitors. It is very difficult to see how Verulamium Museum could be extended Book reviews 5 even further to meet the requirements of a Museum of St Albans. 19th C Research Group 6 Our attention will be focussed first on what the new museum should contain. We shall then Faraday co-opted to 6 be in a good position to say where it could be built. At our latest Council meeting in December, the Museums Director welcomed our input to the new museum and confirmed Council that the Society is a major stakeholder. Society Lectures 7/8 Your President, together with the President and Chairman of St Albans Civic Society and Community archive 8 the Chairman of the Hertfordshire Association of Architects had a meeting on 7th January with the Chief Executive of St Albans City and District Council (SACDC) and with the Current Society 9 Interim Head of Planning and Building Control. Our purpose was to put forward our Publications misgivings, expressed in open letters to the local press in December 2008, about the Council Members 10 effects of proposed staff changes in the conservation and design teams on the development of St Albans. Such changes must be handled carefully, particularly at a time when SACDC is faced with making critical decisions about what St Albans should be like two to three decades from now. We were assured that our misgivings will be taken into account when the final decision about staff changes is taken – the very least we could have expected. To rectify the prolonged absence of a strategic development plan, SACDC has commissioned Urban Practitioners (UP) to publish 'City Vision: an overarching vision and a spatial strategy' by August 2009, after conducting polls and consulting with various groups of citizens and other stakeholders. We shall then expect a quick response and effective action from SACDC towards creating the St Albans that most citizens want. UP are half-way through their task. On 24th January they presented a preliminary report proposing the general direction of development. A useful three-hour discussion then took place between UP and about 45 citizens representing many local groups, including this Society. David Tuckett on p.2 gives a brief account of the direction of development and aspects of it that are of particular importance to this Society. UP's recent report can be found on the SACDC website www.stalbans.gov.uk (look for the panel headed 'In focus' and click on <City Vision> where the report can be read and/or downloaded as 5 PDF files). You'll need broadband (lots of nice pictures) but the paper version can be read at the SACDC offices. Or contact Louise Mansfield at Urban Practitioners, 70 Cowcross Street, London EC1M 6EJ, [email protected]. Michael Cooper :1 : SAHAAS Newsletter No. 171 February 2009 ST ALBANS CITY VISION Commissioned by St Albans District Council, Urban including for tourism. In particular, it proposes to examine: Practitioners are preparing a 'St Albans City Vision' for 1. Possible uses of the City Centre South (land and residents, businesses and others to express their vision for buildings at the corner of Victoria Street and Bricket the City over the next 20- 30 years. From fact-finding Road) surveys and meetings with local representatives, UP's present draft Vision Statement will be further refined, then 2. A possible museum, visual arts, etc., centre at the published for public consultation in late March/April 2009. Hertfordshire University site (Hatfield Road near the Afterwards, with any changes arising from that City Museum) consultation, the final Vision should be complete in August 3. Improvements in the vicinity of Verulamium Museum. 2009, including proposals for a number of specific sites. Among other ideas it recognises the local ethnic diversity Appropriate parts of it will be included in the local and seeks to draw on it as an asset. Sustainable Community Strategy and the Core Statement of the Local Development Framework, which will Each of us can contribute to the Vision after visiting the supersede the 1994 District Local Plan. exhibition (from late March, exact dates to be published) and respond with their suggestions or comments, as Of general interest to SAHAAS, the draft Vision sees St indicated by the Chairman on page 1 of this newsletter. Albans as the cultural centre of a North London arc of towns and it seeks to enhance its heritage status, David Tuckett TUESDAY LECTURE REPORTS Back in November our lecturer was David Short, who Death, apparently only named thus in 1821: previous talked on the History of Ashwell, describing the geology names included the Great Pestilence and the Plague. The of the surrounding country and the raised area which disease crossed the world from the Far East and reached contains several barrows and a large Iron Age fort. Europe in about 1346. By 1349 it was known in St Albans Remnants of gold votive plaques decorated with Abbey and Abbot Michael of Mentmore and 47 monks goddesses, probably associated with a shrine, have also died; 80-90 monks in the associated houses of the Abbey been found. It is hoped to do more excavations of this also perished and deaths numbering 31 in Tyttenhanger interesting site. and 84 in Codicote were recorded. The last outbreak in C. 930 Ashwell was established as a settlement, later Hertfordshire was recorded in the late 17th century in mentioned in Domesday Book. The area, held by Westminster Wheathampstead. Abbey, became a borough and an important town in 1086. Its Professor Nutton's talk described the various outbreaks population was probably about 350 and, by the 14th century, it over the centuries right across the world; it seems that the was the fifth largest town in Hertfordshire. The present church cause and distribution of the disease have still not been was built in the 14th century and contains famous graffiti about definitively identified. Research continues and scientists the Black Death when half the population died. are turning again to the evidence and descriptions In the 18th century straw plaiting was an important recorded in medieval times. Professor Nutton's talk was employment and the 19th century saw the establishment most absorbing and of great interest to his large and of Fordham's Brewery. However, over the centuries appreciative audience. Ashwell slowly declined in status and population and became the charming village of today - a thriving Betty Ewens community with a population of some 1700. When David ended his interesting talk he had covered over 200 years NEW MEMBERS of the history of Ashwell. We are delighted to welcome the following, and hope In December, Ken Peak, chairman of the London Colney they will enjoy becoming involved with A&A activities. Local History Society, gave a talk on London Colney. Situated on the road from London, a steady stream of Mrs Maureen Cummings Spicer Street, St Albans coaches passed en route for St Albans and the North. Mr & Mrs Robert Scruton Boundary Road, St Albans The village was greatly changed by the advent of the Ms Lynn Berry Runcie Close, St Albans railways. Two inns have survived: the Green Dragon and the Bull, and the church dates from the 1820s. Ken Mr Richard Harris Seymour Road, St Albans described the surrounding countryside and nearby Mrs Janice Grimsey Radlett Salisbury Hall, where forces gathered in 1471 prior to the Mrs Cathy Webster Watling Street, St Albans battle of Barnet during the Wars of the Roses. The Hall and family later became home to the design team of de Havilland's, where the DH98 Mosquito was designed. Although Mrs Lexi Barbakoff Harpenden surrounded by modern development, the village nucleus is Mr & Mrs DM Lasky Upper Heath Road, St very picturesque, with some lovely half-timbered houses. Albans On 13th January Professor Vivian Nutton gave a lecture Mrs Ann Voisey Brampton Road, St Albans on various aspects of the history surrounding the Black :2 : SAHAAS Newsletter No. 171 February 2009 REPORT FROM THE PROGRAMME COMMITTEE A New Members Evening was held at the Museum of St Albans 2009 Outings programme in Hatfield Road on Tuesday 2nd December for those who had joined the Society within the last year.