[Illustration: A large, cruciform ecclesiastical building with a
steeple at the center.]
On the 3d of February last, a part of the wall of the upper battlement
on the south-west side of the Abbey of St. Alban’s fell upon the roof
below, in two masses, at an interval of five minutes between the fall of
each fragment. The concussion was so great, that the inhabitants of the
neighbouring houses describe it as resembling the loudest thunder; and
the detached masses of the wall came down with such force that a large
portion of the roof, consisting of lead and heavy timber, was driven
into the aisle below. The abbey, generally, has been a good deal out of
repair for several years; and it is now estimated that 15,000_l._ will
be required to repair the damage, and to save this venerable fabric from
further injury.
A public subscription has been opened for this laudable object; and when
we consider the interest which the people of this country so properly
attach to the monuments of our early civilization, we cannot doubt that
the Abbey of St. Alban’s will be rescued, for several more generations,
from the devouring grasp of time.
St. Alban’s is, in many respects, one of the towns of England most
dignified by historical associations. It was one of the principal places
of the ancient Britons before the Roman conquest; and, within twenty-one
years after the invasion of the island, was raised, by the Romans, to
the rank of a city, under the name of Verulam. Many considerable
fragments of the Roman Verulam still exist, at a short distance from the
present town, particularly a large piece of a wall, constructed of Roman
tile, now called Gorhambury Block. Dr. Stukely, a celebrated antiquarian
writer, has calculated that about a hundred acres were included within
the Roman wall. The greater part of the city, first built by the Romans,
was demolished by the Britons, under Queen Boadicea, in the 61st year
after the birth of Christ; but it was soon rebuilt, and the inhabitants
continued under the protection of the Romans for a long period. In the
persecution of the Christians, under the Roman emperor Dioclesian, in
the year 304, Alban, a native of Verulam, who had been a soldier at
Rome, suffered martyrdom for his faith; and being the first Briton who
had been put to death for his religious opinions, he is called England’s
proto-martyr, or first martyr, as St. Stephen is called the proto-martyr
of Christianity. In 795, Offa, King of the Mercians, founded an abbey at
Holmhurst, close by the ancient Verulam, in honour of St. Alban, and the
place was thenceforward called St. Alban’s. The abbey flourished for
more than seven centuries. Its buildings, erected from time to time,
resembled a town more than a religious house. It had magnificent
apartments, in which the kings of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries
were frequently entertained. The annual revenues, during its greatest
prosperity, were valued at 2500_l._--an enormous sum in those days.
Of this immense establishment, nothing is left but the present
conventual church, a gate-house, and a few scattered walls. The church,
which was principally erected in the reign of William Rufus, is in
magnitude equal to our largest cathedrals. It measures 550 feet from
east to west; if we include a chapel at one end, 606 feet. The extreme
breadth, at the intersection of the transepts, is 217 feet. The exterior
of this great pile is not very beautiful; but the spectator is struck
with its vastness, its simplicity, and its appearance of extreme age. A
large part of the original edifice is composed of materials taken from
the ruins of the ancient Verulam, consisting chiefly of Roman tile.
These portions of the interior are very rude, and form a striking
contrast to other parts which were finished after the elegant Norman
style was adopted in this country. In this manner it occurs that we see
at St. Alban’s a mixture of the round and the pointed arch, in two sides
of the same building, directly opposite each other. It is singular that
as one side of the building fell into decay, the later style of
architecture, that of the pointed arch, should have been used; while the
more ancient round arch was suffered to remain on the opposite side.
This want of uniformity greatly diminishes the beauty of the interior;
but still many of its effects are remarkably striking, particularly that
of the vast length of the church from east to west. Some parts of the
edifice furnish, also, beautiful and perfect specimens of the most
delicate workmanship.
The Abbey-Church of St. Alban’s contains the monuments of several
illustrious men, particularly that of Duke Humphrey of Gloucester, the
brother of Henry V. But St. Alban’s possesses the much higher
distinction of being the burial-place, as it was the abode, of the great
Lord Bacon. The old Church of St. Michael, in this town, contains the
remains of the immortal founder of the inductive philosophy, which
delivered the human mind from the tyranny of opinions established by
prescription and authority, and led the way for every man to think for
himself, and to rely upon the truths of established facts alone as the
materials for his conclusions. The following is a representation of Lord
Bacon’s monument.
[Illustration: A statue of a man seated on a chair, his head resting on
one hand, with the legend: FRANCISCVS BACON.]
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