Williamsburgh Cathedral

Williamsburgh Cathedral, formally the Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of The Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Alban at Williamsburgh, is the national church of Saint Albans and is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in the region. It is the cathedral church of the Archbishop of Williamsburgh, leader of the Anglican Church in Saint Albans and the nations most senior cleric. It is the national or state church; as such, all events of national importance generally feature the cathedral in some manner.

The foundation date of the first church on the site is disputed. The cathedral's official history states that it was founded by Alban the Martyr in 209AD and fragments recovered in a 1910 archaeological survey appear to back this, though no actual remains of that first church have yet been found. Following a fire in 581, the church was rebuilt. A brief description claims that this second church was cruciform in shape, with a nave of 3 bays, a central tower and a quire and chancel of 2 bays and an apse. This church had no significant importance, and the nearby monastic church of Saint George was a more prestigious and striking structure.

The building of a shrine to Saint Alban which included a number of his bones in around 890 precipitated a wholesale rebuilding project to accommodate increasing numbers of pilgrims. At the same time, the church became attached to it's own foundation of Benedictine monks who were established in order to offer hospitality to those pilgrims. Under the first Abbot, Martin of Torres, work was begun on an impressive structure of a 5-bay nave, a wide transept and a quire and chancel of a further 5 bays. Unusually, this church had no central tower but rather feature striking towers at the termination of the transepts. Materials from the second church were incorporated into the third, and the shrine to Alban was located under the crossing, signifying his growing importance in the national conscience.

With the adoption in 990 of Alban as the national patron, the number of pilgrims again grew rapidly, and at around this time the church eclipsed in income the principal foundations of the country.