The Six Bells | |
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General information | |
Type | Public House and Roman ruins |
Architectural style | Vernacular (pub), classical (baths) |
Technical details | |
Structural system | Timber-framing (pub), masonry (baths) |
Website | |
the-six-bells | |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
Official name | The Six Bells |
Designated | 1971 |
Reference no. | 1103083 [1] |
The Six Bells is a public house in St Michael's Street in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. The seventeenth-century timber-framed building is situated within the walls of the Roman city of Verulamium.
The pub is built on the site of a Roman bath house. This facility was relatively new when the Boudican revolt occurred. It appears to have been damaged when Boudica sacked Verulamium in AD 60 or AD 61. After the city recovered, the baths were replaced on a different site. [2]
The name of the pub refers to the bells of the medieval St Michael's Church nearby. The name appears to have been adopted in the 18th century, when the church had six bells; it now has more. [2]
The building has been protected since 1971 and is listed grade II by Historic England. [1]
There were two digs in the 20th century, [2] and there has been one in the 21st (in 2012 the pub was featured in an episode of the TV series Rory McGrath's Pub Dig, a couple of trenches being dug in the car park). [3] [4]
St Albans is a city located in Hertfordshire, England. It was originally founded as Verlamion a settlement belonging to the Catuvellauni .It was subsequently transformed into the Roman settlement of Verulamium from where it grew into a municipium around AD 50. After the Anglo-Saxon settlement it was known as Verlamacaestir. It later became known as St Albans because of its association with Saint Alban.
St Albans is a cathedral city in Hertfordshire, England, east of Hemel Hempstead and west of Hatfield, 20 miles (32 km) north-west of London, 8 miles (13 km) south-west of Welwyn Garden City and 11 miles (18 km) south-east of Luton. St Albans was the first major town on the old Roman road of Watling Street for travellers heading north and became the city of Verulamium. It is within the London commuter belt and the Greater London Built-up Area.
Verulamium was a town in Roman Britain. It was sited southwest of the modern city of St Albans in Hertfordshire, England. A large portion of the Roman city remains unexcavated, being now park and agricultural land, though much has been built upon. The major ancient Roman route Watling Street passed through the city. Much of the site and its environs is now a scheduled monument.
St Albans Cathedral, officially the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Alban but often referred to locally as "the Abbey", is a Church of England cathedral in St Albans, England. Much of its architecture dates from Norman times. It ceased to be an abbey following its dissolution in the 16th century and became a cathedral in 1877. Although legally a cathedral church, it differs in certain particulars from most other cathedrals in England, being also used as a parish church, of which the dean is rector with the same powers, responsibilities and duties as that of any other parish. At 85 metres long, it has the longest nave of any cathedral in England.
The Ver is a 28 km (17 mi) long chalk stream in Hertfordshire, England. It is a tributary of the River Colne.
Ye Olde Fighting Cocks is a public house in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. It is one of several pubs that lay claim to being the oldest in England, claiming to have been in business since 793 AD. The pub was once recognized as the oldest in England by the Guinness World Records, but this title was wrested in 2000. The building is described by Historic England as being of 16th-century appearance, but as the earliest date for which it can be proved to have been licensed is 1756, and even that date is not certain, its claim to this record is somewhat uncertain. Others such as the Ye Olde Man & Scythe in Bolton, Greater Manchester, and Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem in Nottingham may have better claims. Even in St Albans, the White Hart and the Fleur de Lys are believed to have been trading as inns in the late medieval period.
Saint Alban is venerated as the first-recorded British Christian martyr, for which reason he is considered to be the British protomartyr. Along with fellow Saints Julius and Aaron, Alban is one of three named martyrs recorded at an early date from Roman Britain. He is traditionally believed to have been beheaded in Verulamium sometime during the 3rd or 4th century, and his cult has been celebrated there since ancient times.
Verulamium Park is a park in St Albans, Hertfordshire. Set in over 100 acres (0.40 km2) of parkland, Verulamium Park was purchased from the Earl of Verulam in 1929 by the then City Corporation. Today the park is owned and operated by St Albans City and District Council.
Flamstead is a village and civil parish in north-west Hertfordshire, England, close to the junction of the A5 and the M1 motorway at junction 9. The name is thought by some historians to be a corruption of the original Verulamstead.
St Stephen's Church is a Church of England parish church in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. It is located to the south of the town centre, at the top of St Stephen's Hill. It is a Grade II* listed building.
St Michael's Church is a Church of England parish church in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. Much of the building is late 10th or early 11th century, making it the most significant surviving Anglo-Saxon building in the county. It is located near the centre of the site of Roman Verulamium to the west of the modern city.
St Leonard's Church is in Sandridge, a village in Hertfordshire, England. It is an active Anglican parish church. The building is Grade II* listed: notable features include its chancel arch made from recycled Roman brick.
Potters Crouch is a small hamlet in Hertfordshire, England, south-west of St Albans near Chiswell Green. It is in the civil parish of St Michael.
Wigginton is a village and civil parish about 6 miles (10 km) southwest of Banbury in Oxfordshire. The village is beside the River Swere, which forms the southern boundary of the parish. A Channel Four documentary, Hitler's British Girl, investigated the possibility that Unity Mitford gave birth to the son of Adolf Hitler in Hill View Cottage, Wigginton.
St Albans Museums is a collection of museums and historic buildings in the city of St Albans, Hertfordshire, England that is run by St Albans City and District Council. It oversees St Albans Museum + Gallery and the Verulamium Museum, and also the Hypocaust at Verulamium, St Albans' medieval Clock Tower, and the ruins of Sopwell Priory.
Gorhambury House is a Palladian-style house near St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. It was built between 1777 and 1784 to replace Old Gorhambury House, which was left to fall into ruin.
The Church of St Nicholas in Norton in Hertfordshire is the parish church for what was originally the village of Norton but which today has become a suburb of Letchworth Garden City. The present building dates from about 1109 to 1119, with additions in the 15th century including the tower. Before the Reformation it was a stopping point on the pilgrim route to the Abbey of St Albans and the shrine there.
The Blue Anchor was a public house in Fishpool Street, St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. The pub occupied an eighteenth century building which was listed Grade II in 1971.
The Church of St Mary the Virgin is the Church of England parish church of Letchworth in Hertfordshire. A church appears to have been on the site since before the Norman Conquest. The current church was built in the late 12th century and is Grade II listed. It comes under the Diocese of St Albans. The original dedication of the church is unknown; it was rededicated to St Mary during the First World War.
The Roman Bath is a public house in St Sampson's Square, in the city of York, in England. It is built above an ancient Roman bath house. The remains were uncovered during building work when the present pub was erected in 1929–31 replacing an inn. The exterior has Tudor Revival features including applied half-timbering. The pub is however more notable for the Roman remains which can be viewed inside.
51°45′14″N0°21′15″W / 51.75375°N 0.35411°W