Editing History of St Albans (section)

===Nineteenth century===
[[File:White-Hart-20031026-005.jpg|thumb|St Albans has many old [[coaching inn]]s (pictured: The White Hart, Hollywell Hill)]]
Before the 20th century, St Albans was a rural [[market town]], a [[Christian pilgrimage]] site, and the first coaching stop of the route to and from [[London]], accounting for its numerous old inns. Victorian St Albans was small and had little industry. It grew slowly, 8-9% per decade between 1801 and 1861, compared to the 31% per decade growth of London in the same period. The railway arrived relatively late. In 1869 the extension of the city boundaries was opposed by the Earl of Verulam and many of the townsfolk, but there was rapid expansion and much building at the end of the century, and between 1891 and 1901 the population grew by 37%.<ref name=briggs>Asa Briggs, "The Victorian City", in ‘’Cathedral & City: St Albans Ancient and Modern’’, ed. [[Robert Runcie]], Martyn Associates, 1977</ref>

'''Population of St Albans in the Nineteenth Century'''<ref name=briggs/>

{| class="wikitable"
|-
|| 1801 || ''3,872''
|-
|| 1831 || ''6,582''
|-
|| 1851 || ''8,208''
|-
|| 1861 || ''9,090''
|-
|| 1871 || ''10,421''
|-
|| 1881 || ''10,659''
|-
|| 1891 || ''12,478''
|-
||1901 || ''16,181''
|}

The medieval road pattern was amended from the 18th century onwards. London Road was constructed in 1754, Hatfield Road in 1824 and Verulam Road in 1833.<ref name=briggs/> Verulam Road was created (as part of [[Thomas Telford#The 'Colossus of Roads'|Thomas Telford]]'s large-scale improvement of sections of the [[Watling Street|London to Holyhead road]]) specifically to aid the movement of stage coaches, since St Albans was the first major stop on the [[stagecoach|coaching]] route north from London. Victoria Street was called Sweetbriar Lane until 1876.<ref name=briggs/>

[[File:St Albans City railway station 2115508 abd38a94.jpg|thumb|St Albans City station, opened 1868 (pictured in 1958)]]
[[File:The Old Station in St Albans - geograph.org.uk - 111152.jpg|thumb|The Old London Road Station, closed 1951]]
There were three railway stations in the town, two of which are still active: {{rws|St Albans Abbey}} and {{rws|St Albans City}}. The first, St Albans Abbey, was opened by the [[London and North Western Railway]] on 5 May 1858 as the terminus of the [[Abbey Line]], a branch line from {{rws|Watford Junction}}. This was followed by the [[Midland Railway]] Company's station, now known as St Albans City, which opened on 1 October 1868 on the [[Midland Main Line|main line from Bedford to London]]. There was also a third railway station in the city centre, {{rws|St Albans (London Road)}}, which was opened on 16 October 1865 by the [[Great Northern Railway (Great Britain)|Great Northern Railway]] on its [[Hatfield and St Albans Railway|Hatfield and St Albans branch]]. This branch line closed to passengers in 1951.<ref>[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/herts/vol2/pp469-477 British History Online]</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Butt|first1=R.V.J.|title=The directory of railway stations : details every public and private passenger station, halt, platform and stopping place, past and present|date=1995|publisher=Stephens|location=Sparkford|isbn=978-1-85260-508-7}}</ref>

In 1877, in response to a public petition, Queen [[Victoria of the United Kingdom|Victoria]] issued the second royal charter, which granted [[City status in the United Kingdom|city status]] to the borough and [[Cathedral city#1836.E2.80.931888|Cathedral status]] to the former Abbey Church. The new [[Diocese of St Albans|diocese]] was established in the main from parts of the large [[Diocese of Rochester]]. The Abbey Church of St Alban had fallen into disrepair, despite work done on it under Sir [[George Gilbert Scott]] in 1860–1877, and some thought it ought to be allowed to decline into romantic ruin, but in the latter year, under the chairmanship of the [[James Grimston, 3rd Earl of Verulam|Earl of Verulam]], a restoration committee was formed, of which [[Edmund Beckett, 1st Baron Grimthorpe|Edmund Beckett]] (later Lord Grimthorpe) became the dominant member. Grimthorpe put up £130,000 of his own money and by sheer force of personality brought about a restoration of the church (1880–1883) in [[Gothic Revival architecture|Neo-Gothic]] style, sparking the ire of the [[Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings]]. [[Nicholas Pevsner]] said that the Abbey "is the only one of the major churches of England that has a West Front completely, or almost completely, Victorian."<ref name=briggs/> However, it seems reasonable to assume that, without Grimthorpe's money the Abbey Church would now be a ruin like many other former monastic churches.

The original St Albans Football Club was founded in October 1881, if folded in 1904. The present day St Albans City Football Club was founded on 13 April 1908. The club's home ground is Clarence Park, which was donated to the city by Sir John Blundell and opened on 23 July 1894.

The aforementioned transport links attracted a seed merchant, [[Samuel Ryder]], to locate his business in St Albans, which eventually moved to offices and a large purpose-built packing seed hall on Holywell Hill, which is now a [[Café Rouge]] restaurant. He served as Mayor of St Albans in 1905, and remained a councillor for several years after his term of office. In later life, Ryder began to suffer from poor health and was advised to take up golf as exercise. He joined the local Verulam Golf Club, making large donations to the club including the famous [[Ryder Cup]] and sponsorship of the tournament.

[[Ralph Chubb]], the poet and printer, lived on College Street in St Albans from 1892 to 1913, and attended St Albans School. His work frequently references the Abbey of St Albans, and he ascribed mystical significance to the geography and history of the town.

Another St Albans writer, [[Charles Williams (British writer)|Charles Williams]], lived as boy and young man in Victoria Street from 1894 to 1917. He also attended St Albans School.