SESSION 1906-1907. Iv 



Some members of the party explored the Sandridge end of 

 the earthwork, while others went to the Parish Chiirch, where 

 they were received by the Vicar, the Eev. H. R. Anson, and by 

 Miss Anson. Here Mr. H. R. Wilton Hall gave an interesting- 

 address on the history and associations of the Church. 



" Dr. Jessop," Mr. Wilton Hall remarked, " says that ' monks 

 were rather robbers of churches than builders,' but in the case 

 of Sandridge it was evident that but for the monks the Church 

 could scarcely have existed, since there were never any great 

 landowners here to take the initiative in such matters. 



" The history of Sandridge is almost continuous with that of 

 St. Alban's Abbey, the ville of Sandridge having been given to 

 the Monastery within a few years of its foundation. There is 

 no record of the earliest Church, but parts of the present 

 building undoubtedly date back to Saxon times. The remains 

 of the round-headed arch in the east wall of the nave is 

 undoubtedly part of the Church which was consecrated in the 

 twelfth century, within a year or two of the consecration of 

 St. Alban's Abbey Church b}' Bishop Losinga, when it probably 

 consisted of a nave with apsidal chancel, the entrance to the 

 latter being by the narrow archway, in accordance with an 

 arrangement similar to that still to be seen at Bengeo and 

 AmweU. 



" The first alteration to the Church seems to have taken place 

 some time after 1150, when the present Norman arcades of the 

 nave were built and the aisles added, the north door of the Chiu'ch 

 then probably having been removed from the older building to 

 its present position. Some time in the Early English period 

 (in the reign of Edward I), the western wall was rebuilt and 

 the Early English archway into the tower inserted. 



" It has been suggested that the monastery of St. Albans, 

 from time to time, when there was no urgent need there for 

 skilled workers, set them to work on some of their Parish 

 Churches, and Sandridge has been noted as an example of this. 

 If so, we have a finer specimen of Norman architecture in 

 Sandridge Church than any of that period in the Abbey. 



" Towards the end of the fourteenth century, at quite the 

 beginning of the Pei'pendicular Period, the east wall of the nave 

 was pierced to receive the present screen. Its bai'e appearance 

 on the western side is owing to the fact that the rood-screen was 

 of wood. About the year 1399 Abbot John de la Moote took 

 down the chancel and rebuilt it in the style of the period, 

 and about the same time the windows were altered to their 

 present form. 



" Nothing more appears to have been done of any structural 

 importance whilst the Church was in the hands of St. Albans 

 Abbey, its architectural history remaining a blank until towards 

 the end of the seventeenth century. At that period, according 

 to Salmon, the tower fell down, leaving the Early English arch 

 exposed." 



