HTArea 2c - Romeland and the Abbey Gateway COVER · Area 2c: Romeland and the Abbey Gateway Local...

Character Area 2c

Romeland and the AbbeyGateway

© Crown copyright and database rights 2011 Ordnance Survey 100018953

AREA 2C: ROMELAND AND THE ABBEY GATEWAY

Alle

yG

omba

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BRITTON AVENUE

19

LB

5862

42

51

VE

RU

LAM

RO

AD

26

34a

23

2b 19

Hou

se

2830

40

25 32aE

D &

Ward B

dy

CR

107.9m

The Colonnade

1315

b9

1115

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35

1b17

7

6

11a

5

29

33

Herit

age

Clos

e

7

13

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22

23

17

Posts

Wax

hous

e Gate

(Path

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ST ALBANS

Verulam House

KNIG

HTS

OR

CH

ARD

ED & Ward BdyCR

71

81

1

37

49

3

53

59

104.2m

4 1

8

45

31

Linds

ay C

ourt

28

21

34

29

26

106.1m

CollegeYard

4

21

Court

15

1 to 4

Dagnell

Can

on

3

43

Ceasars

PH

1

54

2

CO

LLEG

E ST

REE

T

Sub StaEl

27

18

30

2016

19

25

14

19

11

17

18

LOWER DAGNALL STREET

CO

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ACE

TEM

PER

ANC

E ST

REE

T

2

PH

29

1a1

16

272236

46

2

39

41

3224

PH

1

3

BOW

ES-L

YON

MEW

S

15

House22a

11

1

11a

3

13

5b23b

23a

13

76


Gra

veya

rd

23c17

17

18

1416

to

19

24

25

Chapel

24

20

23d

28

LB

SPIC

ER S

TREE

T

PCs

Alm

shou

ses

15

1a

18

814

17

2

13

4 to 6

1

1

QU

EEN

STR

EET

99a

20

1

2111

14

2

2 to 10

14

24

ROMELAND HILL

TANKERFIELDPLACE

97.8m The

Abbe

y

4

7

Inst

itute

1

11 to 16

19

6 5

17

4

2626a

26b

5

1

3

1b1a

1811

2

12

28

27

6

GEORGE STREET

St Albans Abbey (Benedictine)

104.9m

9a

9b

8

Cathedral and Abbey Church of Saint Alban

HouseOsborne

7

PH

25

23

12

23e

109

ROMELAND

Recreation Ground

Romeland Garden

Abbey Gate

16

3

15

1

2

1

10

15

15a

17

NEW

EN

GLA

ND

STR

EET

New England Street Play Area

Recreation Ground

2941

55

50

9

54

WEL

CLO

SE S

TREE

T

El Sub Sta

2119

1

2

Romeland

10

17

8a6

7a9

8

17a

House

7

1

OLD GARDEN COURT

13

17

90.2m

The

Scho

ol F

lat

St Albans

1

7

16

7a

9

20

MemlWar

97.2m

School

ABBE

Y MILL

LANEAbbeyGate House

Alle

yG

omba

rd's

BRITTON AVENUE

19

LB

5862

42

51

VE

RU

LAM

RO

AD

26

34a

23

2b 19

Hou

se

2830

40

25 32aE

D &

Ward B

dy

CR

107.9m

The Colonnade

1315

b9

1115

a15

35

1b17

7

6

11a

5

29

33

Herit

age

Clos

e

7

13

4

22

23

17

Posts

Wax

hous

e Gate

(Path

)

ST ALBANS

Verulam House

KNIG

HTS

OR

CH

ARD

ED & Ward BdyCR

71

81

1

49

3

53

59

104.2m

4 1

8

45

Linds

ay C

ourt

106.1m

CollegeYard

4

21

Court

15

1 to 4

Dagnell

Can

on

3

43

Ceasars

PH

1

54

2

CO

LLEG

E ST

REE

T

Sub StaEl

27

18

30

2016

25

BOW

ES-L

YON

MEW

S

15

House22a

11

1

11a

3

13

5b23b

23a

13

76


23c17

17

18

1416

to

19

24

2520

23d

18

4

2626a

26b

5

1

3

1b1a

1811

2

12

28

27

6

GEORGE STREET

St Albans Abbey (Benedictine)

104.9m

9a

9b

8

Cathedral and Abbey Church of Saint Alban

HouseOsborne

7

PH

25

23

12

23e

109

Recreation Ground

Abbey Gate

15

2

1

10

15

15a

17

New England Street Play Area

Recreation Ground

9

El Sub Sta

2

10

8a6

8

1

OLD GARDEN COURT

13

17

90.2m

The

Scho

ol F

lat

St Albans

1

7

16

7a

9

20

MemlWar

97.2m

School

ABBE

Y MILL

LANEAbbeyGate House

Character AreaStatutory Listed BuildingsLocally Listed BuildingsArticle 4 Area

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Metres

College PlaceOdds: 1-31 (incl)Evens: 2-28 (incl)

Lower Dagnall StreetOdds: 19-41Evens: 24-38 (incl), 44-46 and 50-54

New England StreetOdds: 29-55

Queen StreetOdds: 1-9a (incl) and 11-21 (incl)Evens: 2-14 (incl) and 22

Romeland Hill2 (Abbey Institute (New Place)), 6 and Tanker-field Place (all: 1-19 incl)

Spicer StreetOdds: 1a, 1-13 (incl) and 15Evens: 2 (public conveniences), 24-28 (incl),ancillary buildings to Congregational Chapel tothe north.

Temperance StreetOdds: 1a, 1-37 (incl)Evens: 2 and 18-34 (incl)

Welclose StreetEvens: Wall adjoining Romeland House andfronting 2-16 (also curtilage of LB)

Area 2c: Romeland and the Abbey Gateway

Locally Listed BuildingsScheduled Monuments

College Place, George Street (part), Lower Dagnall Street (part), New England Street (part), QueenStreet, Romeland, Romeland Hill, Spicer Street, Temperance Street and Welclose Street.

Article 4 Direction - Covers majority of area (see map)

None

Listed Buildings

George Street16 (Grade II)

Lower Dagnall Street40 and 42 (Grade II)

Romeland1, 2 and 3 (Romeland Cottages) (Grade II)

Romeland Hill1 (Tankerfield House)3-5 consec (Grade II)Romeland House (Grade II*)

Spicer StreetOdds: 19 (formerly ‘The Vine’ P.H) (Grade II),21-25 (Ramshaws Almshouses) (Grade II).Evens: 4-14 (inc former Abbey National BoysSchool (Arquen House)) (Grade II), Congrega-tional Chapel and gates and railings (Grade II).

Welclose StreetOdds: 1-7 (Grade II), 9-17 (Grade II), 19 & 21-including railings (Grade II).

Romeland House, Romeland Hill (grade II* listed). Imagecourtesy of John Bethell.

Cottages at nos. 11—21 Queen Street which are locallylisted

37

This character area is located to the west ofthe city centre (Area 4a), the south ofVerulam Road (Area 5b) and to the east ofMount Pleasant (Area 5c) and Fishpool Street(Area 4c). Today it is primarily a residentialarea, although its proximity to thecommercial centre and its history results in amore mixed character than some of thesurrounding character areas. The residentialcharacter is evident in the northerly part ofthe character area whilst Spicer Street andRomeland Hill include offices. Romelandserves as an intermediary area, betweenresidential Fishpool Street (Character Area4c) and commercial George Street (CharacterArea 4a) which contains largely independent

specialised shops. The area’s links with theAbbey has helped to form its charactertoday; it was initially used in connection withthe monastery and then developed withservice uses for pilgrims visiting the Abbey.After the dissolution the area became moreresidential in function as the inn trade beganto be focused more towards Holywell Hill tothe east (Area 4d). As this character areawas historically part of the medieval core ofthe city, many of the buildings are statutorylisted due to their early date. In additionmost of the area is covered by an Article 4Direction which aims to protect its uniquecharacter from uncontrolled changes to theunlisted buildings and their curtilages.

Character Summary


The area has a mixed character with both residential and commercial/office use.Above left: Romeland Garden is a transition point between the commercial centre and residential areas.Above right: Spicer Street, the Abbey has a strong presence in the area.

Right: The area developed to service the monas-tery, of which only the Abbey Gateway remains,now part of St Albans School.

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History

This area is unlikely to have been the first to bedeveloped in St Albans. In the C10 it was stilloutside the medieval core of the city centred onMarket Place. The area was never divided intoburgage plots, unlike Holywell Hill and St PetersStreet (Character Areas 4d and 4a), which wasthe original medieval layout of the town in theC10. Limited archaeological excavation sug-gests that this area was not developed until theC13 and that initial development was around theAbbey (Character Area 2a). Excavation in 1978prior to the construction of Tankerfield Placeshowed an early smithy workshop1, presumablyto serve visitors to the Abbey, which was laterreplaced by timber framed houses. Today theAbbey and the Abbey Gateway still visually con-tribute to this character area.

Therefore it is likely that Romeland Hill initiallydeveloped by providing services to the monas-tery – there was a monastic school from the C13on Romeland - and then to service the pilgrims

to the Abbey, for example with inns. Its locationas the link between George Street and FishpoolStreet, which was a main route into the town untilthe early C19, enabled this. Traces of this ser-vice use can still be seen; for example no. 19Spicer Street, was built in the second half of theC15 and was used as an inn. This earlier func-tion is still commemorated with the porch deco-rated with vines. Similarly, the Old Green ManPH was situated on the site of no. 2 RomelandHill. In 1911, it was replaced by the Lads Insti-tute, designed by Percival Blow for the AbbeyParish; the building was then called the AbbeyInstitute and belonged to St Albans School, it isnow called New Place and used as a drama stu-dio for the school. As late as 1776 the triangularspace formed by Romeland and Romeland Hillwas undeveloped. It was then called RoomLand and it originally formed part of a large openspace just outside the Abbey Gateway wheremedieval fairs were held.

1 Alban’s Buried Towns Rosalind Niblett and Isobel Thomson

No. 19 Spicer Street - the old Vine pub - whose previousfunction is indicated by the vine decoration above the door.

The cathedral and Abbey Gateway are a visual focus inthe area.

Romeland, an open space historically known as RoomLand and used for medieval fairs.

The New Place

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After the Dissolution, the focus of this part of thetown slowly moved away from being ancillary tothe Abbey. Although inns and pubs still re-mained in the area, the focus of service functionsassociated with passing travellers relocated toHolywell Hill (Area 4d) and as a consequencethis character area changed to a more residentialfunction. During the C17 the Abbey Parish wasdensely populated (apart from Roomland), al-though it had fewer high status buildings com-pared to St Peter’s Street (Character Area 4a).Trades may still have focussed on the Abbey asparish church with tradesfolk operating from theirhomes. Due to its proximity to the surviving Ab-bey buildings and the main town, the area mustnevertheless have been sought after, especiallyduring the C18 development of the town. Newbuildings were often of a higher quality, for ex-ample Romeland House, a particularly fine mid-C18 house, listed Grade II*, built for Van derMeulen a prominent Dutch artist who moved toEngland. It is two storeys with an attic storeyand has a parapeted roof with a central pedimentand is constructed of bricks with a purple hueand dressed in red brick. However, in commonwith Fishpool Street, some of the houses sur-rounding these later buildings were simplyrefaced to keep up with the style of the day, with-


out the expense of being completely rebuilt.Therefore several of the buildings on Romelandhave older origins behind Georgian or Victorianfacades. Romeland Cottages, nos. 1-3 Rome-land, are rare survivals, in more or less theiroriginal form, of jettied timber framed build-ings. Some other mixed uses remained or de-veloped because of the proximity to the town,such as schools, churches and public houses. Inthe mid-C19 a Straw Hat factory was located onthe corner of Romeland and Spicer Street, whichwas later used by the Abbey Parish for the Lad’sInstitute until it was replaced by a new buildingdesigned by Percival Blow at no. 2 RomelandHill (see above). The former hat factory still sur-vives and is converted into flats.

By 1800 some of the street layout which we seetoday was in evidence: Spicer Street and Wel-close Street and Lower Dagnall Street had allbeen cut, although Lower Dagnall Street andWelclose Street were called Dagnet Lane. Col-lege Place and Temperance Street had ap-peared by the 1840s (Tithe map), although notcompletely built up, and New England Street andQueen Street were in existence by the time ofthe 1880s OS map.

History contd.

1847 Tithe map—Herts Archives & Local StudiesRomeland Cottages have a jettied timber frame and, typi-cally for this area and the adjoining area 4c, they havebeen refaced at a later date. Image courtesy of John Be-thel.

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Welclose Street and Spicer Street are parallelstreets which link Romeland Hill to LowerDagnall Street. Spicer Street in particularcontains some interesting listed and locally listedbuildings. On the western side are nos. 1, 3, 5and 7 which are locally listed. They comprise ashort terrace of larger Victorian houses. Theseare, unusually for the area, of three storeys andconstructed in a pale yellow stock brick with reddressings. Significant listed buildings on thisside of the road are no. 19 the Vine PH (seeabove) and the Ramshaws Almshouses, a row ofthree modest cottages built in 1846. They are anattractive design built in red brick with a diamondpattern of blue headers and stone hood mouldsto the windows on the ground floor. The centralcottage door has a pointed arch door hoodmould. On the eastern side the larger scaleAbbey National School (which relocated toGrove Road) has similar stone dressings and thesouthern range also displays a pattern in blueheaders. There are three parts to the building,built in 1846, 1874 and 1884, and all are now inoffice and residential uses. The CongregationalChapel, also on the eastern side, dates from1811. It is constructed of red brick, is twostoreys high with a pedimented front, and thewindows on the ground floor are round archedwith interlaced tracery. This building and thestep between no. 16 George Street and

Buildings


Romeland Cottages, which marks the previouslocation of the Methodist meeting place, as wellas the many other buildings previously used forreligious purposes in the adjoining VerulamRoad Character Area, suggests that the densityof population and economic activity and possiblythe presence of the Abbey may haveencouraged other religious groups and buildingsinto this area.

Welclose Street was called “School Lane” in theC15 as this site was associated with themonastic school. Today it is a narrow street andat its southern end, nos. 1-7 and 9-17 are twogroups of tightly packed cottages againconstructed of red and blue patterned brickwork.At the northern end there are more widelyspaced buildings, including nos. 19 and 21 whichare two listed elegant villas from circa 1830 withdecoration below the upper windows. TheVerulam Arms P.H. (see below) forms anattractive landmark building terminating thestreet. The cottages and the larger buildings aresomewhat dominated by the large 1980s officeextension to the rear of Romeland House andthe neo-Georgian 1960s development at nos. 2-16. However, both modern developments arepartly screened from the street by the historiccurtilage wall of Romeland House which islocally listed (and also a curtilage listed building).

Ramshaws Almhouses on Spicer Street. The Congregational Chapel on Spicer Street.

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Lower Dagnall Street is a wider street, which istoday used as a route linking the wider area intothe city centre. The west end of Lower DagnallStreet drops downhill to the recreation area(Character Area 5b), which forms a convenientseparation from the buildings located on theother side of the hill, for example along MountPleasant and Hill Street, which are of a differentdate and display a more formal style ofarchitecture. At the western end of LowerDagnall Street are two public houses, theVerulam Arms and Farriers Arms. The VerulamArms forms an important landmark building atthe western boundary of this Character Area andis a red, brick built, early C19 building. A veryattractive feature is the curved corner at thejunction of the two road elevations which, like thehouse opposite and no. 16 George Street, wasdesigned to suit its location on a corner plot.There is also a First World War memorial on thesouthern side of the road which is a modernreplacement of an earlier memorial which wasdamaged. Otherwise the street is dominated bygroups of houses of two storeys with a basementlevel and with high pitched slate roofs. They aremost uniform on the northern side, whereas onthe southern side the groups are broken withbuildings in different styles, for example nos. 29,

Buildings contd.


31 and 33 are pretty, yellow brick, early C19cottages with round headed door openings andfine sash windows, although no. 33 has beenpainted. The western end of Lower DagnallStreet is linked in style and scale to the streetswhich branch from it – College Place,Temperance Street and New England Street –as they all contain two storey, brick, terracedhouses with narrow plans. Many have thedistinctive blue brick patterning in addition to thelocal red brickwork which is characteristic of theearlier C19 and can be found in other parts of StAlbans. In Temperance Street the cottages aremore modest in scale and design.

Queen Street is a short road connected to LowerDagnall Street and Spicer Street in an L shape.Like Welclose Street, it is narrow, with tightlygrouped, small-scale cottages. However,because of the layout of the houses andsurrounding streets, there are some gaps in thestreetscene where the rear elevations andgardens of other houses can be seen. There issome variation in the buildings as well, forexample no. 9a is gabled to the street andoccupies a corner plot and no. 22 has good sashwindows and classical proportions.

The Verulam Arms The Farriers Arms

Small-scale cottages in Queen Street.Nos. 19 & 21 Welclose Street are two c.1830 grade II-listed villas situated next to The Verulam Arms. Their sizecontrasts with the smaller cottages to the south.

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A dominant site visible from Romeland Hill in thischaracter area (although it is situated inCharacter Area 4c) is the St Albans School site.The frontage comprises a range of interestingbrick built buildings dating from c1920, includingthe hall, all designed by Percival Blow. Theyecho the medieval Abbey Gateway with largeGothic arches and also utilise a local material,knapped flint, which is also used in the flint wallwhich borders part of the school grounds. TheAbbey Gateway (Character Area 2a) is still usedby the school and links visually with the school,although historically it is connected with theAbbey and is therefore described in CharacterArea 2a. However, it also provides a visuallyspectacular landmark building to this characterarea at its southern border.

Buildings contd.


Modern development has been limited becauseof the closely packed and historic nature of thearea. The one notable exception was thebuilder’s yard to the east of Romeland Housewhich, in the late 1970s, was developed with theflat development of Tankerfield Place. Thename of Tankerfield Place commemoratesGeorge Tankerfield, one of the Marian martyrsburnt at the stake in Romeland. The flats arebuilt in red brick, with prominent balconies givinginterest to the elevations, and set around acourtyard. It was designed by Hertfordshirearchitects Melvin, Lansley and Mark and fits inexceptionally well into the area and is thereforelocally listed.

Tankerfield Place is locally listed because of its interestingmodern architecture, which is sympathetic to the surround-ing area.

St Albans School as seen from Romeland Gardens.

The Abbey Gateway is now part of the school. PercivalBlow’s 1920s school buildings link to the Gateway throughthe use of similar materials and Gothic architecture.

A stone in Romeland Gardens that is thought to mark theburial place of George Tankerfield who was martyred onRomeland and after whom Tankerfield Place was named.

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There is a great variety of materials in theseroads, but the characteristic local red brickworkpredominates, often with blue brick patterning,plus there are also a few examples of yellow orpurple (Luton Grey) brick. A few of the facadesare rendered; most have been renderedhistorically,for example those in Welclose Street,but a few are later additions. Where this is thecase a more fragmented streetscene results, forexample in College Place and TemperanceStreet. Apart from Romeland House and theSpicer Street Chapel, which are set back andhave fine railings, most of the buildings arelocated on the pavement edge. Most windowsand doors are traditional timber; there are somefine windows and interesting details, some ofwhich have been outlined above. Somebuildings outside the Article 4 direction havebeen subject to unsympathetic alterations underpermitted development.

Materials


Local red brick is the most common material but yellowand purple (Luton grey) brick is also used.

Many of the buildings display blue brick patterning.

College Place has a mix of rendered and unrenderedbuildings, which results in variety within the streetscene.

Most of the windows and doors are traditional timber andsome buildings display interesting fenestration like thiscurved window to fit the curved corner. Image courtesy ofJohn Bethell.

Most of the buildings in this character area are located onthe pavement edge.

44

This character area close to the city centre isquite densely developed. The one small, public,green area in this character area is RomelandGarden, a small triangular site, which was animportant open space in medieval times.Although later the site of the St Albans Pound, itwas enclosed in 1812 and made into agraveyard and still contains some graves andgravestones. It is now contained behind anattractive flint wall, raised up from the road onthe northern and western sides, and containssome good trees. It has the Abbey, schoolbuildings and Abbey Gateway as a backdrop.Although not immediately apparent fromFishpool Street as a public green space, itserves as a good visual break within thebuilding-dominated Romeland Hill and is anattractive footpath link to the Abbey and groundsbeyond. There is also a raised bank in front ofRomeland Cottages, facing onto Romeland,which is thickly planted as a further backdrop tothe open space. Apart from these public areas,and due to its location close to the city centre,the area relies on landscaping which comes fromthe trees and gardens of the houses and whichcan sometimes be glimpsed from the street. Thenearby Verulamium Park serves as anaccessible amenity space to this character area,and the Abbey Orchard can be seen fromRomeland as part of the backdrop of views of theAbbey and St Albans School.

Public Realm


Romeland Hill suffers from excessive traffic andparked cars as it is a route into the city centrefrom the west and services the bustling school.Lower Dagnall Street is also busy with traffic andparked cars, though to a lesser extent. SpicerStreet, College Place, New England Street,Queen Street and Welclose Street are quieter,although all are quite cluttered with parked cars.Like many of the surrounding character areas,blue brick paviours and traditional kerbs giveinterest to pavements but there is little historicstreet furniture of interest.

Romeland Garden is an important public green space inthe area, with mature trees and bounded by an attractiveflint wall to the north and west.

Romeland Garden used to be a graveyard and still con-

Excessive traffic and parked cars are a problem within thearea.

45


Positive & Negative Characteristics and Scope for Change

Positive The large concentration of historic assets, for example the concentration of listed buildings and

the locally listed buildings which contribute to the setting of those listed buildings and thehistoric interest and quality of the area.

Good modern buildings at Tankerfield Place. The uniformity of architectural styles within some of the residential streets, such as College

Place. The variety of interesting buildings from different periods in some of the more ancient streets,

many with high quality brickwork and detailing. The areas of landscaping: Romeland Gardens and the planted bank on Romeland. The views of the Abbey and Abbey Gateway. The accessibility of the park nearby and the sense of openness that the Abbey Precinct and

Abbey Orchard contribute to the area on the south. The use of the Article 4 Direction which has prevented unsympathetic alterations and therefore

the special character of this area has been largely retained.

Negative The number of parked cars and level of traffic in some areas.

Scope for change Maintenance and re-instatement of blue paviours and traditional kerbs and improvements to

public realm.

Many of the buildings exhibit interesting and high qualityarchitectural detailing.

No.16 George Street (grade II listed) is just one of themany historic assets in this area. Image courtesy of JohnBethell.

The planted bank in front of Romeland Cottages contrib-utes to the landscaping and greenery of the area.

46

HTArea 2c - Romeland and the Abbey Gateway COVER · Area 2c: Romeland and the Abbey Gateway Local...

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