Kingsbury-The Town That Time Forgot

THE TOWN THAT TIME FORGOT

Kingsbury, an Old English Saxon town

As I am researching my family lines, I came across an 8th Great Grandmother with the maiden name of Kingsbury.
Well lo and behold, I then discovered that the ancient town of Kingsbury in Merry Old England was the home of her ancestral family line of that surname.

Come along as I take you on a trip to the town that time forgot and where my 8th Great Grandmother, Hannah Kingsbury Hyde's family line originated.....

Downtown Kingsbury, England 

You may have heard of the Roman city of Verulamium. And also of the medieval town up the hill near the Abbey named St. Albans. But what do we know about the Dark Ages town which stood between the two?

Kingsbury, the Saxon town near St Albans, almost certainly existed by 793 AD. It was probably built by King Offa. He excluded it from his endowment to the Abbey, causing a long lasting legal wrangle.

The town covered about 27 acres. The boundaries were roughly where today’s Fishpool Street, Branch Road and Verulam Road are, with a steep rampart on the south east overlooking the old clay pits behind Hill Street. At the southern corner stood the castle where Ver Road is now. Built on a natural hill, the top was levelled and the soil was thrown outwards to form a rampart. A timber fortification ran across the top.

Independent of the Abbey

It was a royal town as the name suggests, governed by the King’s officers and it was independent of the Abbey. The inhabitants mainly relied on the great fishpool for their livelihood. This was formed by a dam across the River Ver near the old silk mills. A map from 1636 shows a meadow to the west of the Ver labelled “A meadow sometymes the Kings Fishe Poole”.

There was constant friction between Kingsbury and the Abbey. In 948 Abbot Wulsin (Ulsinus) founded the St Albans market in an attempt to draw trade away from Kingsbury and to establish a settlement within the confines of the Abbey. Wulsin’s successor, Alfric, bought the great fishpool from King Edgar and drained it by cutting through the dam.

This act effectively deprived the inhabitants of Kingsbury of their livelihood. Alfric destroyed as much of the town as he could but the King’s officers retained a tower as officers headquarters. By the middle of the 12th century this had become derelict and King Stephen allowed it to be pulled down.

So the once thriving town of Kingsbury was finally razed to the ground after standing for nearly 400 years.

Few signs remain

Very few signs of Mideavel Kingsbury are visible today. The ramparts have gradually been lowered as the area has been built over. The long stretch of raised pavement, up to a metre high in parts, on the north side of Fishpool Street is built on the remains on the rampart on that side.

The steeply sloping back gardens of the houses are further evidence of it. The ground behind Branch Road and Verulam Road also slopes up steeply. It is thought that remnants of the timber palisade were found when these roads were cut through. There are further raised pavements in Hill Street which rises rapidly from Verulam Road.

During an excavation in Hill Street in 1976, post holes, pits and a hearth were found. In 1983, again in Hill Street, signs of a defensive ditch were also discovered.

Road Names

The names of Fishpool Street, Kingsbury Avenue, King’s Road, Ver Road, and Offa Road all bear witness to the existence of Kingsbury. The Kingsbury Water Mill is from a later date and the site would have been under water at the time of the fishponds.

There are also many house names in the area which remember those times such as Kingsbury Knoll, Kingsbury Lodge and Little Kingsbury.

                                                             The Castle/Great Hall

Kingsbury Castle Remains (one of the curtain walls)

Kingsbury Castle Remains (one of the curtain walls)

Sadly no trace of the ancient castle remains but the hill has archeological remains that show the castle once stood there including depressions in the earth where some of the castle walls once stood.

Legend has it that the Saxon Kings of Mercia built the original castle and that the  Great King Offa called Kingsbury Castle his home in the 10th Century.
In 1086 the castle at Kingsbury was held by Countess Godiva and later was in the hands of the king of England.
The castle and its property was eventually bought by Alfric, afterwards abbot of St. Albans, from King Ethelred.
The castle proper was destroyed in 1152.

Excavations were carried out in 1976 at 19 Hill Street and found evidence of occupation and structures of probable post-Roman date. Several types of features were identified, namely postholes and stakeholes, timber slots, gullies, pits, shallow depressions and a hearth, and several phases of occupation were noted. The only finds associated with these features were of Roman date and were all in a very worn or residual condition, and consisted almost entirely of potsherds and fragments of tile and brick. A few Medieval sherds were also found. The paucity of finds suggests a post-Roman date for the structures

In 1208 it passed to John de Bracebridge, and the manor subsequently descended via the de Bracebridge family.
In the mid-16th century the manor house was leased to Sir Ambrose Cave, passing to the Willoughby family in the late 16th century and subsequently to the Astons. In the 19th century it became part of Sir Robert Peel's estate.
All of the above people are descendants of King Offa of Kingsbury and a branch of the Bracebridge family took the surname of Kingsbury, after the town from which they came.
I am descended from that branch.

Kingsbury Hall Today

Kingsbury Hall and the Chapel 

Kingsbury Hall Today

The Chapel at Kingsbury Hall

Alterations and additions were made to the Hall during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, and the house remained in occupation until the 20th century.

The house was formerly part of a larger complex of buildings enclosed by the curtain wall. The curtain wall includes standing remains to the south and east thought to date from the 14th century. The walls are constructed of coursed sandstone, and measure about 1.5m in width, standing up to 5.5m high with a semi- octagonal tower located at the south east angle. The east curtain wall measures approximately 28m in length with an arched gateway, about 3m in width, located about halfway along the length of the wall, which is thought to have provided the principal access to the complex.
Repairs to the fabric on the external face of the wall around the gateway suggest the former presence of a gatehouse. It is believed that the east wall extended further to the north and will survive as a buried feature.
The tower at the south east angle measures about 4.5m in width with a quarter octagonal turret on the west side accommodating a garderobe. The south curtain wall measures approximately 21m in length and includes, at the west end, the remains of a second tower, also accommodating a garderobe. The south curtain wall is believed to have originally extended to the west, as far as the bluff overlooking the river, and will survive as a buried feature.
The curtain wall and gateway are Listed Grade II.

The three-storey house is built chiefly in sandstone and includes a block of three adjoining ranges, two aligned east-west and one north-south dating from the late 15th or early 16th century, with a post-medieval wing extending at right angles to the north. It is a Listed Building Grade II*.



Notes about the historic site where the castle stood and the Manor house and Chapel are.:

Kingsbury Hall consists of the remains of a house of c1500, built mainly of grey stone rubble with many later alterations in stone and brick. A further range of buildings probably adjoined the remaining buildings to the SE. The S range of the building measures 14m by 8.2m, the W gable end being 18th century and the E gable end having an original second floor window, much altered, other windows and a central entrance. The S wall has the remains of two original windows. Adjoining the N side are two wings 12 by 8m and 9 by 5.5m, the smaller wing having an ancient oak staircase. The larger wing was rebuilt in the 16th century. Several fireplaces survive within the buildings.

Post Medieval House situated on the site of a Medieval Castle.

The house may have been a hunting lodge rather than a hall; this is based on evidence of multiple occupancy.

It is suggested that this was a seat of the kings of Mercia in Saxon times and that Bertulphus held a council here in AD851.

Tree-Ring Analysis of timbers in Kingsbury Hall can give support to a timeline of AD 1391-1564. Additionally it has be shown that rather than occuring in the 17th century, this work was undertaken early in the second half of the 16th century, making Kingsbury Hall an early example of a double pile building in England.


From what I can tell, the home and property are privately owned but it seems thet Historical Britain is trying to commence a project to renovate the property for historic purposes. It seems to be in very bad condition on the inside and is currently vacant.
How I wish I had the funds to purchase this magnificent piece of my history.

The best I can dream of is to visit this ancient family site someday....

Warm Regards,

John