The Hidden Cathedral

It's raining at home today, which puts me in mind of England (even though it has probably rained on us a grand total of eight times during our travels there – still, it has a reputation for having a wet climate, so I hear). So I shall take up where I left off in chronicling our trip in the spring of 2015!

Where were we... Ah, yes, we are now en route to Hampshire, and along the way we made the required stop at St. Albans.

2015 England Trip Journal
April 9

     How pleasant it is not to rush when one is packing to leave a place! That is the luxury of renting a car. We had a two hour journey ahead of us, plus a stop in St. Albans, and we could leave whenever we liked. Even though it wasn't the most tastefully decorated (or very decorated), I have fond memories of our Luton flat, mostly because of what we did in between leaving in the mornings and coming back at night. Plus, we had a big fridge, a dryer, and no stairs between rooms – precious commodities when you're traveling in England.

Our drive down was pleasant. Mom especially enjoyed all the long stretches of motorway. :) We had a bit of trouble finding St. Albans Cathedral once we got into town – we had an excellent view from the motorway outside of the city – which is something I have observed about many famous large structures: you can't see them until you come around the last corner blocking them from view!

St Albans Cathedral is easy enough to see from the distant highway...

At last I figured out how to search for things on the satnav and got directions directly to the cathedral. We walked through that very same park where Richard and Claire had brought me and Bekah nearly two years before. We had beautiful sunny weather to walk by the little lake and watch the many people there doing the same. I even wore my sandals!

The park at St. Albans Cathedral

We spotted a heron!

I found a new bit of history in the cathedral this time! There is a sort of dungeon-looking stone room under the nave area where (I think) the Duke of Glouscester had once hidden during the time of Henry VI. You couldn't actually get down there, due to some metal bars across the opening, but there were some eerie stone steps leading down into the mysterious chamber, and is was rather exciting imagining the man himself standing down there.

The frescoes on the walls date back to sometime during the Norman period, part of the ceiling is medieval and part is Tudor, and the rest of the cathedral is a conglomeration of every architecture in between! It is one unique building.

One of the many different ceilings in St Albans Cathedral.

The quire and Tudor ceiling of St. Albans.

The frescoes rediscovered.

After discerning the various styles of architecture inside and getting pictures, including my traditional triumphant ascending of the giant stump outside, we headed back to eat a bit of lunch from our food stash in the trunk – including our mini Magnum ice cream bars (hazelnut and pistachio flavors). We did wander around the park a bit more before leaving, and just, you know, ran into a fragment of a Roman wall. No big deal.

Just another Roman wall...

Conqueror of the stump!

Some of the lovely landscape in the park.

There was a bit of quite heavy traffic on the M25, but we made it without incident to Hampshire. It was exciting to see road signs for Alton, not only because it is Jane Austen country (which Hampshire officially claims on its road sign – Jane would have been most amused, and a little honored, I think), but because it is a warmly familiar place we are coming back to.

The town where we stayed, Alresford (pronounced 'Allsford'), was a quintessential English small town. Our cottage was grouped with some brick and half-timbered houses along a street that seemed built along with the mill that was almost across the road, probably in the 1600s or 1700s. Mill Hill, our street, was at the bottom of part of the high street, so we were within walking distance of some lovely shops and restaurants.

We couldn't find parking, so mom practically had to beg me to knock on the door of our hosts – which I eventually did, although with great discomfort. :) (Have I mentioned I'm a bit of an introvert?) No one answered, however, so Mom was able to call, and it turned out that her family was there and could let us in.

The stream that feeds the mill of Mill Hill.

How pleasant it was to drop our stuff, sit on the sofa, and watch some BBC news. :) We missed a TV in Luton, so we watched a lot of 'Foyle's War' on the tablet instead. Of course 'Foyle' happened to be on in Hampshire, too, and we couldn't resist watching it. Or I should say rewatching it. (While I ate some fish fingers and custard.)

Fish fingers and custard for dinner!

© 2017 Anna Morton