St Albans, Hertfordshire : Historical writing

Descriptive gazetteer entries

These other entries in our collection of descriptive gazetteers are also about St Albans. You may be able to find further references to St Albans in the descriptive gazetteers by doing a full-text search here.

Place Type of entry Source
ALBANS (St.) a town, three parishes, a subdistrict, and a district Imperial
St Albans municipal borough Bartholomew
St Albans (or Mid) Division parliamentary division Bartholomew
Vernlam (or Verulamium) site of ancient Roman town Bartholomew

This additional information from our descriptive gazetteers is for locations within the parish or parishes associated with St Albans.

Place Type of entry Source
SLEEP a hamlet Imperial
TITTENHANGER a hamlet Imperial

Travel writing

This website includes the complete texts of books describing journeys around Britain, written between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries. Selecting one of the links below will take you to the first reference to St Albans within the selected text. This will not always be a description of a visit: travellers often mention places other than where they are, for example as a basis for comparison.

Traveller Section No. of Refs.
William Camden Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire 34
Thomas Pennant Gorhambury and Verulamium 19
Thomas Pennant In St Albans 15
Thomas Pennant Towcester to Redborn 9
Daniel Defoe Letter 6, Part 1: Middlesex, Hertford and Buckinghamshire 7
Daniel Defoe Appendix to the second volume 4
Thomas Pennant St Albans to London 3
Thomas Pennant Ampthill to Luton 3
William Camden Dorset and Somerset 2
William Camden Middlesex and London 2
William Cobbett June 19th to 24th, 1822: Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire 2
Daniel Defoe Letter 7, Part 2: East Midlands 2
Thomas Pennant Luton to Hatfield 2
Arthur Young 1776 Tour of South Wales and South Midlands 2
William Camden Britaine 1
William Camden Romans in Britaine (2) 1
William Camden The Division of Britaine 1
William Camden Essex and Suffolk 1
William Camden Norfolk and Cambridgeshire 1
William Camden Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincoln 1
William Camden Yorkshire: East and North Ridings 1
William Camden Northumberland 1
Charles Wesley 1738: Around London, and Oxfordshire 1
Charles Wesley Sept. 2 - Dec. 30, 1745: Yorkshire and Durham 1
Charles Wesley 1750: Bristol and London 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 5 (London), Part 2: The City 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 12, Part 1: South-Western Scotland 1
Celia Fiennes 1697 Tour: Coventry to London 1
John Wesley 1769-70: Opens a New Church; Comments on Rousseau; Geology; Swedenborg 1
Karl Moritz Chapter 13: Northampton to London 1
Thomas Pennant Tyringham to Woburn 1
Arthur Young 1776 Tour from Essex to Shropshire 1

This website includes two large libraries, of historical travel writing and of entries from nineteenth century gazetteers describing places. We have text from these sources available for these places near your location:

Place Mentioned in Travel Writing Mentioned in Historical Gazetteer
Chiswell Green 0 1
Tittenhanger 0 2
Gorhambury 5 2
London Colney 2 2
St Stephen 1 3
Sandridge 1 2
Colney Heath 0 2
Redbourn 10 2
Radlett 0 2
Leverstock Green 0 2
Ridge 0 2
Harpenden 2 2
Shenley 0 2
Wheathampstead 3 2
Leavsden 0 2
Abbots Langley 1 3
Lemsford 0 2
High Street Green 0 2
Nash Mills 0 2
Aldenham 0 2

Names from historical writing

The following appear as names for St Albans. Follow the links for what the author actually said:

Name Author Source
ALBANS ST John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
GWERLLAN Thomas Pennant The Journey from Chester to London (London: Wilkie and Robinson, 1811).
SAINT ALBAN Thomas Pennant The Journey from Chester to London (London: Wilkie and Robinson, 1811).
SAINT ALBANS William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
William Cobbett Rural Rides (Letchworth: Temple Press, 1932).
S. ALBANES William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
S. ALBANS William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
S<SUP>T</SUP> ALBANS Celia Fiennes Through England on a Side Saddle in the Time of William and Mary (London: Field and Tuer, The Leadenhall Press, 1888).
ST ALBANS John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
ST ALBANS OR MID DIVISION John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
ST <EM>ALBANS:</EM> Thomas Pennant The Journey from Chester to London (London: Wilkie and Robinson, 1811).
ST <EM>ALBANS</EM> Thomas Pennant The Journey from Chester to London (London: Wilkie and Robinson, 1811).
UEROLAMIUM William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
UROLANIUM William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
VERLAM William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
VERLAMCESTER Thomas Pennant The Journey from Chester to London (London: Wilkie and Robinson, 1811).
VERLAME Thomas Pennant The Journey from Chester to London (London: Wilkie and Robinson, 1811).
VERLUM William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
VERNLAM John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
VERNLAM OR VERULAMIUM John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
VEROLAM William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
VEROLAMIUM William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
Thomas Pennant The Journey from Chester to London (London: Wilkie and Robinson, 1811).
VERULAM William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
Daniel Defoe A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain, divided into circuits or journies (London: JM Dent and Co, 1927).
Thomas Pennant The Journey from Chester to London (London: Wilkie and Robinson, 1811).
VERULAMIUM John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
Thomas Pennant The Journey from Chester to London (London: Wilkie and Robinson, 1811).
WATLINCESTER Thomas Pennant The Journey from Chester to London (London: Wilkie and Robinson, 1811).
WATLINGA CESTER William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
WERLAM CAESTER William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).

NB: These variant names come from our collections of historical travel writing and descriptive gazetteers:

  • The above links take you to the first reference to this particular version of the name within a book of travel writing, or to the relevant gazetteer entry.
  • Some names may derive from research by antiquarian writers such as William Camden and Thomas Pennant into the Roman, Saxon and medieval names of places. Their claims are not always supported by modern place-name researchers.
  • References by travel writers to the place using its "normal" name are not included. Descriptive gazetteer entries are included only if the name does not appear anywhere else.