Over the years I've visited many Cathedrals but somehow St Albans has always eluded me. We put that right today and we spent an hour or two exploring every corner of this ancient building.
The Cathedral was originally an abbey and is the resting place of Britain's first Christian martyr, St. Alban. It was founded in the eighth century but the building underwent many changes over the centuries. It was damaged by an earthquake, storms and vandalism, not to mention looting following the dissolution of the monasteries, and it wasn't until the nineteenth century that the building was restored to some sort of completeness. It also finally became a Cathedral in 1875.
Because of the Christmas holidays it was quite busy today so patience was the name of the game when it came to capturing wide, sweeping architectural vistas. I wasn't entirely successful but I found plenty of interesting details to photograph and it's near enough to home for me to pop back for another try on a quieter day.