Events

Defences of St Albans walk

Sunday 13th October 2024

People may think of St Albans as a town devoted to peace and the veneration of its martyr, but it has been on the front line in half a dozen conflicts starting with the Viking wars, becoming the Eastern Association's fortified garrison town in the seventeenth-century Civil Wars and ending with the Cold War and the threat of nuclear attack – to name a few.

This walk will describe the history of these conflicts in St Albans and look at what remains physically on the ground (or under it) for some of them. It is a circuit round half the medieval town boundary and with an excursion to look at the sites of some Civil War redoubts just to the north of the medieval town. The centre piece of the walk is to look at the abbey as a castle – which it was – with a keep and outer circuits of defences. 

The walk is about three miles long and all, except for a short stretch of footpath, on pavements and will take around three hours. It is on the level and fully accessible.

Meet at 2.00 p.m. outside the Alban Arena, St Albans, AL1 3LD, parking is available in the Civic Centre Car Park, Bricket Road, St Albans, AL1 3JX. For further information and to book a place on the walk, please contact Peter Burley using the contact details below.

For further information.

• Contact name : Peter Burley
• Contact email : bedshertsmiddx@battlefieldstrust.com