St. Albans, historical & picturesque. With an account of the Roman city of Verulamium ... Illustrated by Frederic G. Kitton

Front matter

ST. ALBANS Historical & Picturesque. WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE ROMAN CITY OF VERULAMIUM. BY CHARLES H. ASHDOWN, F.R.G.S. Illustrated by FREDERIC G. KITTON. oAlbux itettlam stoob Miloto ©crulam's botuu St. Albans is a tofoit. St. 3Ubans teas it tooob ; Old Rhyme. LONDON ; ELLIOT STOCK, 62, Paternoster Row, E.C. 1893. Richard Clay and Sons, Limited, london and eungay. JDrtiiratrti (by special permission) TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE JAMES WALTER, SECOND EARL OF VERULAM, WHO, UNTIL RECENTLY, OCCUPIED THE EXALTED POSITION OF LORD-LIEUTENANT AND CUSTOS ROTULORUM OY HERTFORDSHIRE. This Work is limited to THREE HUNDRED COPIES, Of which the First Hundred are issued as an edition de lu.xe. [All Rights Resented.] INTRODUCTORY. Many English towns have been immortalised in works devoted exclusively to their history, but none is more justly entitled to such distinction than St. Albans.

Dating from the remote period that succeeded the rule of the Romans in Britain, this famous Hertfordshire town emerged from obscurity and became intimately connected with many of those remarkable events which, from time to time, have stirred the hearts of Englishmen and tended to advance their country to the proud position she now occupies. It is, therefore, surprising that, hitherto, there has never been produced a publication con taining an approximately-exhaustive account of our ancient City. True, this important subject has not been neglected by Chauncy and Clutterbuck, but in their comprehensive works only a comparatively few pages could be spared for St. Albans, while our latest County historian, Mr. Cussans, omitted it altogether, presumably through lack of sufficient local encouragement.

The present volume, however, does not pretend to supply that omission, for, to effect this result, it would be necessary to explore greater depths of local learned lore, and to include here, in their entirety, certain minute details which are usually considered as essential to the completeness of any historical record. St. Albans is so charmingly picturesque and pre-eminently rich in interesting associations, that we, in our separate capacities, have preferred to deal only with those special points which, we venture to believe, will appeal more forcibly to, and be more welcomed by, the majority of our readers than would the more serious labours of the erudite topographer. The Illustrations in this Work are chiefly the result of many sketching expeditions among the highways and byways of St. Albans since 1890.

Chapter I

Verulamium. Its remote Antiquity — Ancient Roads — Verulamium, a British Settlement — Its Defences — The Causeway— Cæsar's Two Invasions — The Attack on the City — The Defeat of the Britons under Cassivelaunus — The Romans return to Gaul — British Princes of Verulamium — Expedition of Caligula — The Third Roman Invasion — Verulamium Fortified — Its Defences and Dimensions — Verulamium and Pompeii compared — The Boadicean Insurrection — The Roman City Burnt and the Inhabitants Slaughtered — Verulamium Rebuilt — Its subsequent Prosperity — Made a Municipium under Nero — Introduction of Christianity — The Diocletian Persecution — The Martyrdom of St. Alban — Visit of Germanus — Fall of the Roman Empire — Verulamium Captured by the Saxons — Uther Pendragon Expels them — The Angles Retake the City — Its Destruction by Fire.

There are probably few sites in Great Britain which have such a varied wealth of historical associations as that of Verulamium. Back, far back, into the misty past of bygone ages ; back through the epochs of iron, bronze, and stone ; back to that vaguely defined palæolithic epoch which even our geological savants, handling æons of ages with indifference, mention with a certain degree of respect, we are carried by links of evidence which render the chain continuous up to the present time. What generations of men of B various races have trodden that earth which now nourishes the golden grain waving in the autumn breeze ! The rude flint weapons which we find in the soil were once the sole means of offence or defence with which our remote ancestor, palæolithic Man, contended with the huge woolly mammoth, the great Irish elk, and other long-extinct animals ; with the lapse of centuries Man began to fashion his flint weapons with more taste and skill, and then the neolithic age approached, flourished, and waned.

Those rudely-chipped and those smoothly-polished implements, unearthed from the soil of Verulamium, are indisputable evidences of the occupation of the site by prehistoric Man for untold generations. Gradually there arrived another phase of Man's development, when he drew from Mother Earth the long-hidden metals, and fashioned swords and spears of bronze. With this came a marked change in his erstwhile savage state ; an exacting priest hood, fostered by his own superstition, caused the gigantic trilithons of Stonehenge to be reared, the huge figures on our hill-slopes to be cut, and covered our land with cromlechs and barrows. Then, and not till then, can the history of the Briton with any degree of certainty be deciphered, — all that preceded is vague and intangible. Roads were formed in most parts of the island, a great many being con structed in the neighbourhood of Verulamium.

They were merely track-ways, and wound along the sides of hills or through the dense forests from one settlement to another. Of these ways the most celebrated was the Watling Street, extending from the shores of Kent to the Thames, which it crossed at the site of the then non-existent settlement of London ; from thence it reached Sulloniac (near Elstree) on the borders of Hertfordshire, and afterwards proceeded direct to Verulamium, being continued towards the north by way of the British town of Durocobriv (near Dunstable). A second road ran from Verulamium to Lexden (Colchester) by way of Hertford ; a third through Calleva (Silchester) to Winchester ; a fourth joined Verulamium with Regentium (Chichester), a fifth went to Enfield, another to Baldock, a seventh to Ravensburgh. Connected thus with the principal British settlements, Verulamium held no unimportant position ; it was a centre from which radiated the trade and commerce of an extensive tract of country, occupied by the Cassii, or Catyeuchlani, whose capital it was.

It apparently occupied the same site as the Roman city which succeeded it, but its area of VERULAMIUM. 3 about two hundred acres would be insufficient to accommodate the large numbers of cattle which formed the chief wealth of the tribe. To provide for these an extensive district on the other side of the river was utilized, and to a certain degree fortified, the earthwork known as Beech Bottom, and that which can be traced thence to the river nearly opposite St. Michaels, then by the river to Sopwell, and returning through the camp to Beech Bottom again, being its probable limits.1 Verulamium itself was defended on three sides by a wide and deep dry ditch, fringed with palisades and sharp stakes ; while upon the remaining side (the north-east), the river Ver over flowed a considerable area of the valley and formed a wide morass.

To confine the waters of the river an embankment was made across the stream from the eastern part of Verulamium, which also formed a causeway leading to the great cattle-enclosure. This embankment still exists, though cut through in one part long afterwards by a Saxon Abbot to release the pent-up water. There is probably in no part of England, except at Stonehenge, a work which carries back the history of our country to such a remote period as does this bank, laden with the weight of un numbered years. It may have been ancient when Nebuchadnezzar sacked Jerusalem, when Romulus founded Rome, or even when David danced before the ark ; but judged only from its authentic historical record of twenty centuries it is a truly venerable memorial of bygone ages. Within the rude defences of the city the Britons built their wattled huts, covered with skins, boughs, or turf ; worshipped in their oaken groves, and feasted with rudest revelry ; anon they sallied forth into the dense forests to hunt the bear, or chase the deer, or from their fragile coracles caught the glittering fish in the placid lake.

While the Britons thus lived contentedly in primeval barbarism, with but little indication of social progress for each of the passing centuries, a mighty nation had pushed its conquering arms into all the known territories of the earth, and held the world in bondage. The Roman general, Julius Cæsar, had subdued Gaul, and now turned his envious eyes across the narrow channel which separated Britain from the mainland. In B.C. 55, he landed with comparatively few followers, and retired again almost immediately ; the next year (b.c. 54) he returned 1 The fortified area is about two-miles-and-a-quarter long and a mile-and-three-quarters broad, enclosing the town of St. Albans within its limits. B with overwhelming forces, and, crushing all opposition, made his way into the country towards the Thames.

Cassivelaunus, prince of the Cassii, had hitherto waged almost incessant war with his neighbours, but now, in the face of the common danger, he was placed at the head of a coalition of British chiefs and their united forces. A determined opposition was made to Cæsar's approach at Coway Stakes, near Walton in Surrey,1 where the British army was drawn up on the northern bank of the Thames, and the ford rendered almost impassable by thick oaken stakes. The Romans valiantly forced the passage, and Cassivelaunus retreating, dismissed the greater portion of his army, reserving four thousand chariots with which he harassed the Romans in their advance to Verulamium ; he also destroyed the whole of the provisions and forage in ihe country on their line of march. The Trinobantes, however, submitted to Cæsar and furnished him with provisions ; several other states following their example, he at last found himself in a position to attack the stronghold of Cassivelaunus, to which a great number of the country people had retired with their flocks and herds.

Advancing upon it by way of the Watling Street, the Roman general at length reached Verulamium. He found it to be a large wood, defended by deep ditches and morasses, and, though the entrenchment appeared most formidable, he resolved to attempt its conquest. Dividing his forces, he assaulted the city defences at two different points. The opposition was determined and prolonged, and the loss on both sides considerable ; but one division eventually succeeded in overcoming all obstacles and forced its way into the stronghold ; a panic then seized the Britons, and they fled out of their city by one of the avenues cut in the dense forest around them. Great numbers were slain or captured, whilst the enormous herds of cattle proved welcome spoil for the victors. Cassivelaunus managed to escape, but, seeing that he had no hope of successfully resisting Cæsar, he sued for peace ; this was readily granted him upon condition of his furnishing hostages for his good behaviour, and paying a yearly tribute.

The Britons, resolute and fierce by nature, agreed to pay tribute and submit to Roman levies, but would bear no insult or injury ; they were willing to obey, but would not be slaves.2 Assuredly the great composite edifice of our British character has been reared upon very solid foundations. 1 Camden, p. 155. Bede, 1. i. c. 2. Tyrrel, p. 34. 2 Tacitus. VERULAMIUM. 5 The Romans now retired from Britain, and for nearly one hundred years the land was left in peace. Cassivelaunus appears to have paid tribute during the remainder of his life, but his successor, Tenuantius, refused to do so, until a threatened invasion so frightened him, that he not only submitted, but made rich presents to the Emperor Augustus, which were laid up in the Capitol. In the nineteenth year of the reign of Augustus Cæsar, Tasciovanus became prince of the Cassii.

His capital was Verulamium, and he reigned for thirty-five years over the Sagontiaci, Catyeuchlani, and perhaps the Trinobantes.1 Many of his coins struck at Verulamium are in existence in gold, silver, and copper. In the latter part of his reign that great event occurred in the far-distant Jewish capital which was destined to exert such a powerful influence upon the nations ot the globe, and shatter the foundations of all existing theologies. But whilst the wise men of the East so diligently sought the Light, the barbarians of the West lived on contentedly in their primeval darkness. In a.d. 5, Tasciovanus died, and was succeeded by his celebrated son, Cunobeline, the Cymbeline of Shakespeare. Educated in Rome, and a favourite of Cæsar Augustus, Cunobeline had imbibed much of the civilised manners of Roman life, and introduced reforms and improvements in the arts and manufactures of his British subjects.

During the reign of GOLD AND SILVER COINS OF BRITISH PRINCES. FOUND IN VERULAM. this King the foolish expedition of the Emperor Caligula occurred. One of the sons of Cunobeline, named Adminius, was exiled by his father and fled to Rome ; he hoped to be restored by Roman aid, and prevailed upon the Emperor to march with an army for the conquest of Britain. Before crossing the Channel, Caligula's ardour cooled ; he ordered his soldiers to fill their helmets with sea-shells as spoils of the ocean, and then returned to Rome. Other sons of Cunobeline were Epaticcus and Togodumnus, but the most renowned of that family was he whose name will never fade from history, the heroic Caractacus ; this prince 1 Sir John Evans, Ancient British Coins. ruled over a portion of his father's territories upon the death of Cunobeline in a.d. 41, the other portion falling to Togodumnus.

In a.d. 43, the Emperor Claudius determined to subjugate Britain; an army was sent from Rome under the command of Aulus Plautius, with whom Vespasian served ; the landing was unopposed, and the general marched inland. The policy of the Britons on this occasion was to hide in inaccessible places, and to weary the Roman troops with fruitless searches and pursuits, but Plautius managed to first defeat Togodumnus and subsequently Caractacus. The inhabitants of Verulamium submitted without a blow, and the Romans, finding the site in all respects suitable, at once made it their headquarters and a military colony. It is worthy of note that Verulamium was the first Roman city built in Britain ; it was at once fortified by means of an encircling wall, and by towers at intervals, to defend the weaker parts and the entrances to the town.

The wall, of which so many interesting parts remain, was twelve feet in thickness ; its height probably varied considerably according to the locality, but judging from the present altitude a minimum of about twenty feet was probably attained. VERULAMIUM. 7 The gates were massive, square, castellated structures, judging from the thickness of the existing foundations. The South Gate stood at the entrance to the double fosse, at the upper portion of the Verulam woods; another, whose remains were visible until 1700, occupied the entrance of the Camlet Way ; a similar stronghold defended the exit of this road and the bridge or ferry on the other side ot the city. The Watling Street was also protected by gates, one being situated near the wicket at the lower end of the walk in Verulam woods, and the other near Gorham Block.

Modern Verulamium K.NCSBUBV MILLS rlSHF,OOL street. The method of building the walls and gates was somewhat peculiar ; large boxes or caissons were filled with alternate layers of coarse gravel and flints, concrete was poured in, and double or treble layers of Roman tiles in mortar were superposed, the remaining space being filled up with concrete. The tiles measure about sixteen inches by thirteen inches, by an inch-and-a-half in thickness. Both bricks and mortar are remarkably good, being intensely strong and hard ; the vestiges now existing excite our admiration by the wonderful manner in which thev have resisted the influences of time and climate for nearly two thousand years. This massive wall encircled the whole city. The Romans deepened and enlarged the fosse which the Britons had commenced, and thereby added to the defences of three sides ; the remaining side was protected by the broad and deep waters of the lake which no doubt lapped the walls The general shape of the city was an irregular oval, the major axis being formed by the Watling Street, and the minor axis by the Camlet Way, the two intersecting (as may be seen by the plan) near the church of St. Michael.

It is a remarkable coincidence that Verulam and Pompeii resemble each other in a marvellous degree as regards shape, dimensions, arrangement of streets, and position of buildings. The length of Pompeii is 4,300 feet, of Verulam 4,488 feet ; the width of Pompeii is 2,460 feet, of Verulam 2,541 feet ; the area of the former is 167 acres, and of the latter, 190 acres. If the plan of one city be applied to that of the other they nearly coincide, and it would almost appear as though the authorities deputed to lay out Verulam had taken the Campanian city as their model. In the streets, also, a similar resemblance seems to exist both as to position and width, for in either case they run at similar angles along the axes of the ellipses, and are from 24 feet to 27 feet in width. Verulam, however, has the advantage of the greatest regularity, having been evidently built on one formal plan, as the new American cities are now arranged ; the streets were composed of gravel concrete, with an occasional upper facing of stone slabs, but in most places loose metal only was used.

Buildings, both public and private, were erected, and an uninterrupted course of prosperity apparently lay before the town, but in the year a.d. 61, a general feeling of uneasiness and apprehension pervaded the Roman world in Britain. Although the inhabitants had been subdued and were living in apparent contentment under the Roman rule, yet the conquerors, in spite of their number (which was considerable by reason of the immigration of numerous colonists), believed the auguries of their priests, which foretold calamity. Many portentous signs occurred to excite the wildest fears of the credulous Romans. " The statue of Victory in the temple built and dedicated to the deified Claudius at Camalodunum (Colchester) fell down without any visible violence ; the affrighted Romans saw terrible omens in the appearance of the tidal lakes ; women chanted prophetic denunciations in the streets, and strangers howled and murmured in the public places." -1 1 Xiphilini Epitomes Dionis Cassi, lib.

VERULAMIUM. 9 Such were the apprehensions which preceded the terrible and sanguinary outbreak of the Britons under the leadership of the infuriated Boadicea, the much-injured Queen of the Iceni. Profiting by the absence of the Roman general, Suetonius Paulinus, who was engaged in subduing Anglesey, Boadicea placed herself at the head of a numerous army of Britons and successfully attacked several Roman settlements. Suetonius hurriedly hastened southwards, but was too late to save either Verulamium or the rising colony of London, for tumultuous hordes of half-savage Britons had swept over the district, leaving death and desolation in their track. In vain did the Roman inhabitants of Verulamium try to repel them ; they swarmed into the fated city, putting to death every man, woman, and child in whose veins ran the blood of the hated invader ; after they had exterminated the inhabitants and taken all the portable plunder, fire completed the work of destruction, and the great town lay a dreary expanse of blackened ruins.

Tacitus states that the Britons passed by other minor places in order to obtain the riches of Verulamium, — a circumstance which indicates the importance of the settlement even at that early period. In the city and the immediate neighbourhood over 70,000 Romans were put to death, the cruelties practised by the victors being of the most inhuman and barbaric description. But the Roman general was now at hand ; he met the Britons, and, though considerably outnumbered, completely defeated them, 80,000 being (it is said) left on the field. With the suicide of Boadicea this memorable insurrection ended, and the inhabitants accepted as inevitable the yoke of the conquerors of the world. From its ashes Verulamium rose like a phœnix, but in greater magnificence than before. Upon this great metropolis of the south was now conferred by the Emperor Nero the dignity of being a « Municipiuml or Free City, York being the only other town in England sharing the same honour.

The rights of Roman citizenship (a privilege dearly prized in those days) could be claimed unquestioned by all born within its walls ; they could proudly say with St. Paul, " I was free born." Under the favour of successive Emperors, Verulamium enjoyed many long years of uninterrupted prosperity ; the spacious streets were now lined with luxurious villas in which the inmates revelled in the delights of the bath and the table, and thus recalled to mind their sunny Italian homes. The great Forum spread its columned space in the heart of the city, where gaily-dressed groups of citizens passed their time in discoursing upon serious or trivial affairs, c where markets were held, and at times noisy municipal or religious meetings assembled ; and in close proximity rose the massive walls of the Basilica, with its law-courts and attendant halls of council, where justice was administered.

Hither thronged crowds of grave curiœ, anxious clients, slaves of all colours and degrees, and a long array of Imperial officials and tax gatherers. Here were the great public baths, whilst the summits of temples, dedicated to the well-known deities of Roman mythology, reared their column-supported facades in many of the principal streets. Shops of bakers, leathersellers, oil-dealers, money-changers, and armourers stood on either side of the stone-paved causeways, whilst noisy groups of boisterous citizens and brawny foreign legionaries crowded round the open stalls of the wine-vendors. The regular clank of metal ringing on metal was heard, as glittering bodies of mail-clad warriors, with the sun glinting on many a burnished helm and sharpened spear-point, tramped through the streets, under the stern command of the grim centurions.

The iron grasp of the mighty Roman Empire had closed upon the city ; the multitudinous blessings and curses of the highest civilisation which the world had ever seen awed and astonished the simple islanders. Upon the calm bosom of the great lake which stretched from the ancient British dam far up the valley of the Ver, the miniature Roman galleys, propelled by the muscular arms of their rowers or by gaily-painted sails, conveyed crowds of gorgeously-dressed citizens of all classes, on pleasure bent ; while on the landing-stages in the massive masonry of the fortifica tions, or on the opposite verdure-clad slopes of the valley, stood many a group awaiting the ferry to carry them over the water. To the sumptuous Greek theatre with its frescoed walls and marble-girdled spaces walked or drove an intermittent audience of sightseers, whilst ever and anon the distant roar of a multitude of voices was heard from the vast amphitheatre without the city walls, where poor wretches butchered each other to make a Roman holiday, and satiated that lust for bloodshed which so strongly characterised the people.

And so the years passed on and grew into centuries ; Jerusalem fell before Titus, and the Jews were scattered ; the last of the Apostles closed his eyes at Patmos ; successive Emperors were elected and died, were deposed or assassinated ; the Christians were periodically massacred in various parts of the Continent ; the Emperor Severus died at York ; and through THE ABBEY AND CONVENTUAL BUILDINGS. From a Drawing by De Lievens, a pupil of Rembrandt VERULAMIUM. 11 all the varying changes Verulamium flourished as the capital of southern Britain. The country also increased in wealth and importance, for we find that a few years after the usurpa tion of Carausius, a.d. 285, Eumenius writes : — " Britannia, fortunate and happier than all other lands, enriched with the choicest blessings of heaven and earth."

To the Romans in the days of Constantine it was proclaimed by another orator to be matchless, as a land " so stored with corn, so flourishing in pasture, so rich in variety of mines, so profitable in its tributes, on all its coasts so furnished with convenient harbours, and so immense in its circuit and extent." Christianity was introduced and numbered many converts, but Britain was so far distant from the heart of the Roman empire that no wave of persecution reached her remote shores for nearly three centuries after the great tragedy at Calvary. In a.d. 2S4, the son of a Dalmatian peasant became Emperor by the power of the soldiers, and under this monarch, Diocletian, the last and worst persecution occurred. Ex press orders were sent forth that the edicts against Christianity were to be enforced with the utmost rigour, and provinces which had hitherto escaped began to suffer.

The general in command in Britain at that time was Maximianus Herculius, who in all probability resided in Verulamium, as we find that the machinery of the law was first set in motion against the Christians at this place. The first to suffer was Albanus. "Alban, our proto-martyr called." (Dravton, Polyolbion, xxiv.) He was executed in a.d. 303, and the persecution spread with frightful results throughout Britain, one thousand Christians suffering death at Lichfield alone. The citizens of Verulamium, as a disgrace to St. Alban's memory and a terror to other Christians, had the story of his murder inscribed upon marble and inserted in the city walls. In 305, Constantine succeeded Diocletian as Emperor of the West, and he instantly put an end to the persecution ; and in 313 a church was erected by the Christians of Verulamium upon Holmhurst Hill, where the martyr had suffered.1 This Romano-British church was standing in Bede's time (a.d. 673—735), and in that of Offa, King of Mercia, the founder of the Abbey.

At the time of the Pelagian heresy, which prevailed a.d. 401, Germanus, Bishop of Auxerre, 1 Bede. C ST. ALBANS: HISTORICAL AND PICTURESQUE. 12 and Lupus, Bishop of Troyes, came to Britain for the purpose of suppressing the heresy, and assisted at a synod held in Verulamium. Germanus exhumed the bones of St. Alban and placed them, together with a number of holy relics, in a wooden coffin which was again buried.1 A chapel was erected in honour of Germanus, the ruins of which were in existence at the beginning of the last century and gave the name to St. German's Farm, which includes a large part of the site of Verulam. SILVER COIN OF KING OFFA. By the end of the fourth century the great Roman empire was tottering to its fall, though convulsive efforts were made by a few energetic spirits to avert the catastrophe; Rome itself being threatened by savage tribes from northern Europe, the troops stationed in Britain and other colonies were withdrawn to defend the very heart of the empire.

The four legions usually stationed in Britain were ordered home one by one, and in a.d. 420 the Roman occupation ceased, the Britons being advised that henceforth they would be left to govern themselves. But four hundred years of dependence on others had rendered them totally incapable of combining for their own defence, and had destroyed their spirit of self-reliance. The Picts and Scots came down from their moun tain fastnesses and overran the northern part of Britain ; the Irish pirates descended upon the western coasts, and marauding bodies of Saxons and Danes on the east and south. Against these swarms of plundering and merciless barbarians the Britons waged a hopeless struggle for years, but were gradually driven from their fastnesses and towns to the inaccessible mountains of the west.

In the year 465, a large force of Northmen, fresh from the spoliation of the eastern counties, appeared before the walls of Verulam. With what wondering eyes they must have looked upon those massive walls, and the great city lying within them ; perhaps some recollections of those enchanted towns which figure prominently in Norse legends flashed before their minds as they saw the vast palaces, temples, triumphal arches, and columns outspread before their astonished gaze. But the clustered crowds of armed Britons behind the defences soon aroused them, and a fierce attack was made upon the city. In vain did the Britons line those walls which the Romans 1 Camden. VERULAMIUM. 13 would have held with far less numbers, — they were driven from them by the Saxons through the long straight streets, and fled affrighted into the forests.

The invaders, gratified, and, perhaps, awestruck by the prize which had fallen into their hands, made Verulam their head-quarters and stronghold ; for over thirty years they lived in or adjacent to it, and doubtless defended it from many a sharp attack of the Britons. The British prince, Uther Pendragon (a.d. 498 to 516) defeated the Saxons in a number of encounters, and forced his way from the west of England, where lay his dominions, to the vicinity of Verulam, and here, in a pitched battle, he defeated the invaders, but received a wound in the contest. The healing powers of the water of the Holy Well l soon cured him of his hurt, when, at the head of his forces, he made a determined attempt to capture Verulam, and after a long-sustained siege succeeded in retaking the city and driving the Saxons from the neighbourhood ; it remained in his possession until his death.

Soon afterwards, however, a vast force of Angles landed on the eastern coast of England, exterminating the British inhabitants of what is now Norfolk and Suffolk, and, after establishing the district of East Anglia, sweeping in over powering numbers into the southern midlands of England. Once more, and for the last time, an enemy appeared before the walls of Verulam ; once more the Britons were driven out of the city by overwhelming numbers. The conquerors, who are credited with being the most savage and vindictive of Northmen, turned in their wild lust for plunder and destruction upon the devoted city ; down came fluted column and carved capital, down crashed the roofs of stately piles of buildings, grinding the statues and priceless works of art to worthless fragments. Fire completed the dire destruction, and amidst the hoarse cries of triumphant barbarians, the roar of writhing flames, the crash of masses of Cyclopean masonry and rolling clouds of densest smoke, Verulamium, the great mistress of Southern Britain, the favoured representative of Imperial Rome for four long and glorious centuries of wealth and power, glided from the living annals of the world, and was no more. 1 Prompton.