Scheduled MonumentsEnglandSt Albans Abbey Gatehouse

St Albans Abbey Gatehouse

England
List entry 1003523
Nation
England
The designation
Reference
List entry 1003523
Authority
Historic England (NHLE)
Status
Scheduled Monument
Scheduled area
0.03 hectares
Grid reference
TL 14397 07104
Boundary

Scheduled area

© Mapbox · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Boundary data © Historic England (NHLE)

Overview

History & significance

St Albans Abbey Gatehouse is a fourteenth-century structure forming part of the monastic precinct of St Albans Abbey in Hertfordshire. Built in the 1360s, the gatehouse served as the principal entrance to the abbey's outer court and exemplifies the architectural conventions of high medieval monastery design. The structure is constructed in flint and stone with considerable decorative detailing characteristic of the period, featuring a central archway of substantial proportions suited to controlling access to the precinct. As one of the few surviving components of the abbey's original monastic architecture following the Dissolution of the Monasteries, the gatehouse remains significant testimony to the scale and sophistication of this major Benedictine foundation, which had been among England's most important religious houses since its Anglo-Saxon origins.

St Albans Abbey Gatehouse is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1003523. View the official record →

About this monument

Questions & answers

What is St Albans Abbey Gatehouse?

St Albans Abbey Gatehouse is a fourteenth-century structure forming part of the monastic precinct of St Albans Abbey in Hertfordshire. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1003523.

Who is responsible for protecting St Albans Abbey Gatehouse?

St Albans Abbey Gatehouse is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1003523.

What other scheduled monuments are near St Albans Abbey Gatehouse?

Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including The Clock Tower (0.3 km), St Albans Abbey, site of conventual buildings (0.3 km), Verulamium, part of wall and ditch of Roman city (0.6 km).

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Everything a full report reveals about St Albans Abbey Gatehouse

This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of St Albans Abbey Gatehouse's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Domesday
The settlement's entry in the 1086 Domesday Book: who held it, what it was worth, and the people who worked the land.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
LiDAR
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks hidden under fields and woodland, with likely features flagged.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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The ground beneath

The bedrock under St Albans Abbey Gatehouse

St Albans Abbey Gatehouse stands on White Chalk Subgroup, bedrock that formed in the Maastrichtian. The rock here is chalk.