THE CATHEDRAL AND ABBEY CHURCH OF ST ALBAN
CATALOGUE OF THE
MUNIMENT ROOM
Dr D.J.Kelsall
April 2016
CATALOGUE DESCRIPTION
Title Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban material [multiple media]
Address Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban, Sumpter Yard, St Albans, AL1 1BY. Email:
Date(s) 1260-2008, predominantly 1840-2008.
Extent 30m of text records, ca.2,000 photographs, 6,000 35mm slides, 1,000 3¼in. lantern slides, 20 maps, 250 engravings and pictures (some framed), 900 technical drawings and ca.50 artefacts.
Created by Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban
History The Church dedicated to St Alban was founded by King Offa in 793, over 1200 years ago, as a Benedictine monastery. Early in the eighth century Bede wrote of “a church of wonderful workmanship in which place there ceases not to this day the cure of sick persons, and the frequent working of wonders.”[1] Later abbots, intending to reconstruct the abbey between Viking invasions, collected brick and other building materials from the abandoned Roman city of Verulamium.
After the Norman conquest of 1066 Lanfranc was installed as Archbishop of Canterbury, and his new church there was finished by 1077, the year that the rebuilding of St Albans began - probably with the very same team of workmen. The first Norman abbot at St Albans was Lanfranc’s kinsman, Paul of Caen. The new church was even larger than Lanfranc’s at Canterbury. It is built from the bricks saved from the Roman city of Verulamium, which determine its style, which is severe and strong, unadorned with carving. The mortar of pulverised brick and lime replicates the enduring Roman work seen in the ruined city walls. It was originally plastered outside, and plastered and decorated with masonry patterns inside.
Soon after this Nicholas Breakespeare was born at the nearby village of Abbots Langley, later to become Pope Adrian IV in 1154 ‑ the only Englishman to achieve this distinction.[2] In 1217 Matthew Paris, one of Europe’s outstanding medieval chroniclers, became a monk at St Albans. He died here in 1259, leaving a huge collection of history and the deeds of prominent people in the chronicles of the monastery. As a mirror to his age, this brilliant writer and artist is second to none: his pictures and words are alive with opinions and prejudices. There are records of the abbey’s early history.[3]
By the early 1520s religious orders were collapsing all over Europe as Renaissance notions began to replace those of medieval Christianity. The number of monks had dwindled from a hundred to forty. Cardinal Wolsey was appointed Abbot, but remained in commendam, using the abbey’s income in order to build his own Cardinal College at Oxford.
Abbot Richard Stevenage surrendered St Albans to King Henry VIII’s Commissioners in 1539 and he and his monks were pensioned off. He purchased the Lady Chapel from the King’s Commissioner and used it as a boy’s school. He reverted to his original name, Richard Borman, and remained there as schoolmaster for the rest of his life. This was the end of the monastery of St Albans. All the conventual buildings were destroyed except for the Great Gateway, which continued in use as the prison. The rubble was purchased for new building projects in the area. The church was plundered and the shrine destroyed: 1,000oz of silver, much parcel gilt and cartloads of treasures and books were seized by the King’s men. An eye‑witness account of the event makes grim reading.
Finally the church itself seemed to be under threat and in 1551 the local burgesses collected £400 and bought it from the King for use as their parish church.[4] It then suffered 300 years of neglect as the small market town of St Albans attempted ‑ and failed ‑ to keep their enormous parish church in good repair.
In 1877 the church was raised to the status of Cathedral for the newly‑formed diocese of Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. There followed an expensive and often insensitive period of restoration, paid for by Lord Grimthorpe, whose activities hastened the formation of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings ‑ alas, too late to save much fine medieval building work at St Albans. However, the great church was saved from ruin and it still retains a strong spiritual atmosphere, and an enormous variety of building styles in the various parts of the building.
Scope and content The function of the Cathedral Archive is to collect, manage and preserve the records of the Cathedral and its departments, and to make the information they contain available for administrative and research purposes. It strives to provide adequate and appropriate conditions for the storage, security and preservation of materials that highlight important aspects of the history and development of St Albans Cathedral.
It includes correspondence, financial and administrative records, architect’s drawings and specifications, photographs, 35mm slides, maps, pictures and engravings, and items such as charters, cartularies, copies of some monastic records, research papers and theses.
The Archive arranges and describes these materials according to recognised principles and makes them available to bona fide researchers unless access is restricted by institutional or legal requirements or by written agreements with donors. Many of our older records and papers have been transferred to Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies.
Accruals There will be further accruals.
1.1. The Archive acquires documents and printed sources if of particular relevance either through donation or deposit and makes the records in its keeping accessible to the public for research. These include published sources that reflect links with associate bodies e.g. Cells and Priories of the former Benedictine monastery of St Albans.
1.2. Where necessary and for practical reasons records may be received by the Archive for appraisal. Records not subsequently selected for permanent preservation will, after appropriate consultation, be destroyed or returned to the transferring officer or department.
1.3. The Archive may transfer records to a more appropriate repository with the consent of the donor if it is felt that documents and their users would benefit.
1.4. All records from internal sources are the property of the Cathedral. Records received from other sources are only accepted as a gift. The Archive does not purchase records or accept them on loan.
1.5. The Archive does not collect three dimensional objects.
System of Arranged into the following series:
Management Bills (churchwardens, stonewardens and overseers of the poor in the mid-19th century)
Books (including Vestry Minute Books (some in excel file), Churchwardens’ Account Books, PCC Minute Books and the Dean’s and Cathedral Council Minute Books. A few more specialised Account Books eg. of the Abbey Schools in the 19th century. There are some interesting scrap-books, especially those covering the years of the Grimthorpe restoration, and chief among these are the volumes of transcripts by Wilton Hall, and five volumes of letters etc. collected by Lord Aldenham.)
Brasses.
Charities.
Charters (11 charters, ranging in date from 1248 to 1606, a copy of the Chatsworth cartulary and a transcript of another of Edward IV, 1484)
Conservation reports.
Drawings and Engravings. Excel file available.
Files. A large collection of correspondence, memoranda, reports etc. covering most aspects of the Church’s history in the past 200 years and filed by subject. Also a valuable collection of letters concerned with Dean Lawrance. A more detailed list is available as a Word file.
Glass.
Leaflets and Magazines. (mostly concerned with the life of the Parish or, since 1877, of the Cathedral. Some indexed in Excel files.)
Licences and Certificates.
Maps and Architect’s Plans (mostly concerned with drainage, heating, lighting and repair or restoration of the Abbey Church. They range from Godman’s plan of St Albans in 1818 to the plans for the new Chapter House in 1979, together with some more recent plans. Excel file of recent technical drawings available.)
Miscellanea. (Some of the most interesting items in the collection.)
Photographs. A large collection, some in albums, covering the Abbey Church from the earliest days of photography. (Excel files available)
Pictures (framed).
Printer’s Blocks. (A number have accumulated over the years, made for parish magazines etc. Some are of historical interest.)
Registers. (These mostly concern the conduct of services, and some confirmations. Early registers of baptism and marriage are held at Hertford record office, but there are separate Excel files of baptism, marriage and burial registers 1568-1998, but note that 1708-1744 registers lost in fire)
Scrap books (a collection, mostly since the 1950s, but a few old ones indexed in Excel file format.)
Slides. A large collection, including some old-fashioned 3¼ inch glass lantern slides, some have been transferred to 35mm. (Excel files available)
Video Tapes (some BBC training videos, together with others concerning the Abbey)
Finding aids A master file list which includes most of the above series follows.
There are separate lists for the following, mostly in MS office Excel format but some in MS Word:
35mm slides
3¼ inch glass lantern slides (1920s-30s)
Glass negatives (quarter plate.)
Baptism, marriage and burial registers from 1558
Memorial plaques and churchyard burials
Loose photographs and Photograph albums
Engravings
Catalogued files of correspondence, etc.
Architect’s plans
Index of Abbey magazines and the Friends’ publication Link
Inventory of cathedral goods
Treasury contents
Index of items in the Lewis Evans collection in St Albans City library
Index of items connected with the cathedral in the local history section of St Albans City library
Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban bibliography
Conditions governing Copyright belongs to the Dean and Chapter of the Cathedral and Abbey
reproduction Church of St Alban.
Date of description 8th March 2008
CATALOGUE
It is hoped that the catalogue which follows may be of use to researchers. Anyone wanting to have access to the collection should in the first instance write to the Dean’s Secretary at The Deanery, Sumpter Yard, St Albans, Herts, AL1 1BY.
I. BILLS.
A collection of Churchwardens’ and Stonewardens’ bills and receipts is contained in the black metal box labelled ‘Churchwardens’. A collection of Overseers’ bills and other documents is in the black metal box labelled ‘Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban’. The papers are sorted into envelopes labelled by years and with information about any papers of interest which are not bills or receipts. These years are covered:
Churchwardens
1840-41, 1852-4, 1856-7, 1858-9, 1859-60, 1860-62, 1862-3, 1863-4, 1864-5.
Stonewardens
1850-51, 1855-6, 1856-7. 1857-8, 1858-9, 1860-61, 1861-2.
Overseers
1806, 1807, 1834, 1835, 1836, 1837, 1840, 1841, 1842, 1843, 1844, 1845, 1846, 1847, 1848, 1849, 1850, 1851, 1852, 1854-5, 1859, 1860, 1861, 1862, 1863.
There is also a collection of general bills from the years 1913-33 stored in the mahogany varnished box with the metal boxes.
CONTENTS OF THE TIN BOXES:
Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban
1806 and 1807 Papers re Poor Law
1835 Papers re Bridget Howe
1835 Relief lists
1834 and 1835 Overseers’ bills, and letters re individuals.
1835 Letters from Catherine Berry
1835 Instructions re keeping accounts.
1836 Sundry bills and lists, 6 letters re Poor Law administration.
1839-42 Sundry bills and lists and administration.
1843 Items / Claims re County Voters list.
1844-53 Overseers’ bills, Poor rate material, and Voters Lists (1847 Burgesses list)
1848 Four copies of County Voters List
1859-63 Lists of parochial outdoor and indoor Poor, and accounts.
Abbey Churchwardens
Churchwardens accounts 1840-41, 1852-54,
1856-57 (includes documents re new Burial Ground)
1858-59 (Mention of painting over Tower arch)
1859-62 (Includes Burial Ground Rate)
1862-65
Stonewardens
1850-51, 1855-62.
Appointment of Vestry Clerk, 1852.
Reparation 1868-1881
W.J.Lawrance’s Bible and Confirmation Class attendance 1878-1914.
Certificate of congratulation to WJL on 25 years as Rector, 1868-1893.
R.L.Howard (on lid)
Sale of Danbury in 1892
Cathedral Endowment 1900-1905.
2 packets, lists of subscribers
7 bundles of correspondence
Receipts for donations from 1902
2 Bank Books
Account book
Minutes book (2 entries only)
Ruth’s Charity
2 large Minute and Account books (with plan)
17th and 18th century documents.
Leases, Notices to Quit and Adverts 1814-1898.
Bills and Receipts
Odd papers re 32 Holywell Hill
Accounts, Minutes and Correspondence, 19th-century.
Accounts, Minutes and Correspondence, 1914-1937 (inc. 32 Holywell Hill)
Accounts, Minutes and Correspondence, 1940 onwards
Reports and Repair Estimates 1936-1961 with original 1822 plan.
Copy of the History of Ruth’s Charity by Frank Kilvington
Chapter
Garwen’s Charity
Scheme of 1935
Correspondence and accounts 1948-87
1936-79 Pensions Payment Book
1936-64 Payments Book
1936-79 Ledger
1936-82 Cash Book
1935-88 Minute Book
II. BOOKS
Account and Minutes Books in Cabinet II are as follows:
Drawer I
Parish C.C. Minutes 1920-23 1936-43 Annual P.C.Meeting 1956-67
1923-26 1943-55 1977-86
1926-32 1955-68 1986-99
1932-36 1968-75 Parochial Committee Minutes & Reports 1976-80
Abbey Institute Committee Minutes 1953-69
Drawer II
Abbey Institute Committee 1915-34
Finance Committee 1939-58
Church of England Men’s Society 1915-20 1924-28 1958-68
1920-27 1928-31 1931-39
(St Albans Branch) 1939-60 1922-24
(St Albans Federation) 1945-51 Missions Committee 1926-34
Electoral Roll Committee 1921-33, 1934-51
1960-71 1952-79
Faculty Committee 1915-34, with subscribers. Standing Committee 1921-23
National School Governors 1883-1903 (part) 1936-58, 1996-2000 shelf A.
PCC Fabric & Imprvmnt. Committee 1923-24 Pupil Teacher Centre 1899-1902
1924-28
Subscribers to Testimonial for
PCC Fabric Committee 1982-87 Rev A.R.Buckland 1909
1988-91
For ALC 1976-1988 see Architect’s files. Sunday School Teachers’ Assn. 1877-94
Visitors’ Fund 1897-1914
Drawer III
Abbey Accounts, various 1843-1928 Cross Keys Charities 1784-1919
Accounts 1954-56 King George’s Charity 1898-1916
Collections 1881-83, 1896-1901, Lord Grimthorpe’s Repair Fund 1908-23
1957-59 School of Industry 1791-1814 and Sunday Guarantee Fund 1924-26 School 1807-83
Institute Accounts 1908-54
Ticket Fund 1862-85 Paying-in Books
1885-1916 Abbey Churchwardens 1913-17
Visitors’ Cash Accounts 1897-1922 1921-22
Visitors’ Record 1903-49 National Schools 1899-1916
Visitors’ Book 1921 PCC 1920-23
Wages Book 1927-29, 1963-64 Visitors’ Fund 1906-15
Missionary Association Bray Norrice’s Charity 1825-32
Cash books 1927-32, 1933-38 Cross Keys Abbey Church Trust 1923-27
Ledgers 1927-30, 1935-41 Emma Wells Charity 1914-28
Richard Hale Charity 1926-32
Drawer IV
Vestry Minutes: 1785-1813 1849-83 Vestry Notices : 1866-83
1828-49 1883-1968 1883-1921
Churchwardens‘ Accounts 1811-48
1849-1910
1911-81
***
Cathedral accounts ledgers 1962-65 are on shelf C
Cathedral Accounts from 1881 and bills 1913-33 are on shelf G
Minute Books on Shelf A:
Greater Chapter Minutes 1901-33
Deanery Conference Minutes 1925-58
Cathedral Council Minutes 1968-75
Cathedral Council Minutes 1976-80
Cathedral Council Minutes 1981-84