Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 1.djvu/49

Rh ALBAN'S, ST. 39 ALBERBURY. the nave and the choir is St. Cuthbert's screen. There is a fine carved screen over the altar, of the reign of Edward IV. The ceiling is partly groined, and partly painted. There are sevenil monuments of great in- terest ; among them the tomhs of Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, the " good Duke," and of the Abbots Ramayge, and Vhethamsted ; also eight monumental brasses, the earliest dating from 1360 ; and the grave of the historian, Matthew Paris, who was one of the monks. The architecture is not uniform, and the materials em- ployed in the building are very various. It contains examples of every style, from Norman or Saxon down to the late perpendicular of the reign of Henry VIII. The central parts are the oldest. Eoman tiles from Verulam formed the materials for the tower, transepts, and part of the choir, rebuilt by the abbot Paul about the year 1077. For the rest of the structure, flints, bricks, &c., were used. The abbot was mitred, and sat as a peer in par- liament, having also a palatine jurisdiction, and many privileges. Adrian IV. (the Englishman, Nicholas Break- speare) conferred on him a grant of precedence over all English abbots, and exemption from Peter's pence. At the Dissolution the revenue of the abbey amounted to 2,510. It was given by Henry VIII. to Sir Richard Lee. The church was sold by Edward VI. to the town for 400, and a small fee farm rent, afterwards redeemed. It received much damage during the civil war from the parliamentary troops, and the prisoners confined in it. Since 1832, when part of the south-west wall fell, the building has been restored, under the direction of Mr. Cottingham. The town includes four parishes, St. Alban's, or Abbey par., St. Michael's, St. Stephen's, and St. Peter's. The living of the first parish is a reet.* in the dioc. of Rochester, val. 200, in the patron, of the Rev. Dr. Nicholson. The living of St. Michael's is a vie.,* val. 300, in the patron, of the Earl of Verulam. The church is one of those erected by the abbot Ulsig. It is the burial-place of Francis Bacon, and contains a fine sitting figure of him in alabaster, which was placed there by Sir. T. Meautys. The living of St. Peter's is a vie.* in the dioc. of Rochester, val. 303, in the patron, of the Crown. The church has been rebuilt on the site of the old one erected by Ulsig. It has the tomb of Dr. Cotton. There is also a new church, named Christchurch, built in the Byzan- tine style of architecture, and two other churches, one at Colney Heath, and another at Leverstock Green. There are chapels belonging to the Baptists and In- dependents, Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists, and Old Presbyterians. A free grammar school was founded here by Edward VI., to which Queen Elizabeth granted , additional endowments. Under a statute passed in 1844, ' the plan of education has been altered and fitted to the times, and the school, which had very much de- clined, is now flourishing. It is no longer free, but boys living in the town are educated at a charge one- third less than others. The beautiful Lady Chapel of the abbey is used as the school-room. The blue-coat school, for educating boys in the principles of the Church of England, is supported partly by endowment and partly by subscription. There are national schools for the several parishes, British and infant schools, and a girls' school supported by the Verulams. There are numerous almshouses, and various charitable insti- tutions: Marlborough Buildings, which were erected and endowed by Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, are the principal. They stand on the site of an old manor-house, the seat of the Robothams, and form three sides of a quadrangle. They have apartments for eighteen men and eighteen women. A dispensary has been established. The townhall, built in 1830, stands on the site of the charnel-house of the monas- tery, which had served as the townhall previously, and contains, besides the corporation rooms, an assembly room, and a court room for the liberty. Part of the abbey gatehouse is converted into a gaol. There is a house of correction, and a union poorhouse. The manu- facture of straw plait gives employment to several thousand hands. Several hundred young people are engaged in the silk mill, which stands on the site of the abbey mill Berlin wool canvas and cotton wicks for candles are made here. There are iron foun- dries and rope-walks, breweries, and many corn mills The market is on Saturdays, and two fairs are held annually, one on the 25th and 26th March, for cattle, &c., the other on the 10th October, and two following days. Among the distinguished men connected by birth with St. Albau's are, besides the martyr himself, John do St. Alban's, who lived in the 12th century; the phy- sician Giles, in the 13th; Alexander Neckam, abbot of Cirencester, poet and divine, who died in 1227 ; Sir John Mandeville, the great traveller, who was born in 1300 ; Sir Francis Pemberton, chief justice of England, born in 1625 ; Sir John King, an eminent lawyer, born in 1639 ; and Humphrey, the Nonconformist, born in 1622 ; and last, not least, Nicholas Breakspeare, who rose to the chair of St. Peter, as Pope Adrian IV., was born in a farm-house near the town, now railed Breakspeare's Farmhouse. Remains of the walls, ditches, &c., of Veru- lam, still exist to the west of the town, and many valuable relics have been found. The camp of Ostorius has left traces on a spot near the town, and in the name vulgarly given to it, " Oyster " hills. South-east of the town was Sopwell nunnery, founded in 1140, built chiefly of Roman tiles and bricks ; fine ruins of it remain. St. Alban's gives the title of duke to the Beauclercs ; and the Grimstons, of Gorhambury, once the seat of Lord Bacon, take the title of earl from Verulam. Lord Bacon had the titles of Baron Verulam, and Viscount St. Alban's. ALBANY, ALBAIN, or ALBYN, the ancient Gaelic name for Scotland, still in local use as a designation of the Highlands, especially of the districts of Appin, Athole, Breadalbane, Glenorchy, and Lochaber. It is formed, according to some authorities, from the root altin, which signifies " high ;" according to others, from the root alii, "white,'" and thus is akin to Albion. It still appears in the names Breadalbane, a part of Perth- shire probably so called as the highest district of Scot- land, and Glen Mhor nan Albyn, the "great glen of Scotland," the name of the strath along which the Cale- donian canal runs. The modern name Scotland was imported by the tribe of Scots from Ireland in the sixth century, in the same way as England was fixed by the settlement of the Angles in the south part of the island. Albany, though no longer a recognised name of any place, remains a ducal title. The king's second son bears the title of Duke of Albany, in addition to that of Duke of York. The first Duke of Albany was a son of Robert II. The Pretender, Prince Charles, took as hia incognito, the title of Count d' Albany. ALBEBBUEY, a par. in the hund. of Ford, in Shrop- shire, and the hunds. of Cawse and Deythur, in the co. of Montgomery, North Wales, 9 miles to the N.W. of Shrewsbury railway station. It is situated on the river Severn, which forms part of its boundary, and on the Roman road called Watling Street, which runs through it. It contains the chplries. of Great "Wollaston and Criggion, and the tnshps. of Bauseley Alberbury, Benthal with Shrawardino, Eyton, Eowton with Amas- ton, and several others. The living is a vie. in the dioc. of Hereford, val. 187, in the patron, of the Warden and Fellows of All Souls' College, Oxford. The church is dedicated to St. Michael, and is an old stone building, with nave, chancel, and tower. There is an ancient stained-glass window in the aisle, and seven memorial windows in the chancel. In addition to the parish church, there are two chapels of case, one at Criggion, built in 1788. It is a perpct. cur., val. 108, in the patron, of V. Vickers, Esq. The other, at the hamlet of Wollaston, also a perpet. cur., val. 95, in the patron, of the vicar. This district was closely settled by the Romans, and on Bauslcy Hill is a Roman encampment. There are also several barrows. In the reign of Henry II. a castle was built here by Fulk Fitzwarren, who also founded White Abbey as a cell to Grand- monte, in France. There are remains of both. The site of the abbey was given by Henry VI. to All Souls' Col- lege, when alien priories were dissolved.