As one of the earliest recorded towns in Britain, St Albans, known to the Romans as Verulamium, has had a long, colourful and distinguished history. Dominated by the great Abbey Church of St Alban, this town has developed from a large thriving Roman settlement established in the first century AD in the valley of the Ver.

The town adjacent to the Abbey was a thriving market town in Saxon, Norman, mediaeval and Georgian times. The coming of the railway in the mid nineteenth century saw increased development to the east of the original settlement, and the town has been spreading ever since.

St Albans was one of the sites where Magna Carta was drafted, and the town played a great part in the Peasant’s Revolt. It took Parliament’s side in the Civil War. Each of these periods has left its mark on the architecture and environment of the town, from the remains of the Roman city of Verulamium and the later settlements of St Michael’s to the mediaeval inns catering to pilgrims and the Georgian splendour of Romeland Hill and George Street.

Today St Albans is still a thriving market town, a focus for commuters and a magnet for tourists. All this and more is captured in this remarkable collection of over 140 images, celebrating the vibrant life of this most historic of cities.

June & Michael Massey have both lived in Hertfordshire for over thirty years, during which time they have come to know and love the county and its diverse towns and villages. They have worked together for the last five years on a variety of photographic projects and also work as free-lance educational consultants and writers.They are the authors of Hertfordshire, the Glorious County. They continue to contribute both articles and photographs to the county magazine, Hertfordshire Life.

Imprint: Halsgrove. ISBN 978 1 84114 909 7, hardback, 214x230mm, 144 pages. Published May 2010.