Category: Histories of British towns, villages and cities

By Tim Lambert Roman St Albans The history of St Albans began about 20 BC when the local Celtic tribe built their capital there. It would have been a ‘town’ of wooden huts with thatched roofs surrounded by a ditch and an earth rampart with a wooden palisade. In 43 AD the Romans invaded Britain.… Continue reading A History of St Albans

By Tim Lambert Modern St Andrews St Andrews is named after Scotland’s patron saint. According to legend in the 8th century, a Greek monk called St Rule or St Regulus brought some of the bones of St Andrew to Scotland. In the Middle Ages, people flocked to visit his remains. In those days people believed… Continue reading A History of St Andrews

By Tim Lambert Early Austell St Austell takes its name from the Cornish Saint Austol. It is not mentioned in the Domesday Book (1086). It first appeared in writing in the mid-12th century. In the Middle Ages, St Austell was a very small market town. It probably had a population of only a few hundred.… Continue reading A History of St Austell

By Tim Lambert Early St Helens St Helens takes its name from a chapel, which was first mentioned in 1552. It was built where the road from Ormskirk to Warrington crossed the road from Prescot to Ashton. At that time the area that is now St Helens was divided into 4 townships. They were Eccleston,… Continue reading A History of St Helens

By Tim Lambert Saxon and Medieval Stafford In 913 the king’s sister, Ethelfleda, created a fortified settlement at Stafford called a burh. It was probably protected by a ditch and an earth rampart with a wooden stockade on top. (Later it was replaced by stone walls). In the event of a Danish attack, all the… Continue reading A History of Stafford

By Tim Lambert Early Stamford In the 9th century, the Danes captured eastern England. They built a fortified settlement or burh north of the River Welland. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (a sort of national diary) says that in 918 the Saxon King Edward built a burh south of the river and the people loyal to the… Continue reading A History of Stamford

By Tim Lambert Early Stamshaw In the 6th century, the Saxons landed on Portsea Island and they gave names to the areas of Portsmouth. The name Stamshaw was originally made up of two words, stam meaning post and shaw, which was an old way of spelling shore. Nobody knows why there was a post by… Continue reading A History of Stamshaw, Portsmouth

By Tim Lambert Early Stevenage Stevenage began as a Saxon village in 7th Century Hertfordshire. It was called Stith ac, which means strong oak. In those days trees were used as meeting places and perhaps one large oak used in that way gave Stevenage its name. At any rate by the time of the Domesday… Continue reading A History of Stevenage

By Tim Lambert Dedicated to James Lambert Stirling in the Middle Ages Stirling became an important settlement because it is the lowest crossing place over the River Forth. Furthermore, it has a rocky outcrop, which was a natural place to build a fort. (The name Stirling is derived from Striveling, meaning place of strife). By… Continue reading A History of Stirling

By Tim Lambert Dedicated to Pat Churchill Early Stockport Stockport began as a small village. However, in the 13th century, Stockport grew into a town. In 1260 the people of Stockport were given a charter, which gave them certain rights including the right to hold weekly markets and annual fairs. (In the Middle Ages fairs… Continue reading A History of Stockport