Tag: Verulamium

St Albans - St Germain's Block - 2024

St Albans: St Germain’s Block! (30.5.2024)

We walked to the Verulamium Museum through the “Verulamium Park” – from St Albans Abbey. This boundary wall was built using Roman materials – but not until the 11th century. It was part of St Germain’s Chapel – an element found within the grounds of St Albans Abbey. Today, around 30-feet of what is left of this wall forms an isolated structure situated in the middle of the park. This was part of the original Roman Fortifications (designed to keep the British Celts out) – which were abandoned during the early 5th century – with the ruins incorporated into the later buildings of St Albans Abbey. Indeed, there is little evidence of Christianity being present in Verulamium during Roman times.

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Museum Artefacts in St Albans!

St Albans: Verulamium Museum! (29.5.2024)

Of course, Roman rule was collapsing by the time (in the 4th century) that Christianity was becoming popular throughout the Roman Empire. Some wealthy Romans tolerated Christianity prior to this date (perhaps 3rd century) as being just one of many choices of belief from across their Empire – as the Roman Authorities were not yet exclusively “Christian”. This is why Celtic Christianity was probably from Egypt and premised upon the monasticism of the Desert Fathers – having little directly to do with Rome. The Catholic Church did not arrive as a State power in England until the Norman Conquest of 1066 (isolated Catholic Churches and monasteries had arrived in England prior to this date – but possessed no political influence or power with England’s Celtic Chiefs or Anglo-Saxon Kings). In just one-hundred years of its arrival in 1066 – this new and aggressive type of intolerant Christianity had wiped-out its Celtic cousin by the 12th century.

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