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<< Our Photo Pages >> St Albans Puddingstones - Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature in England in Hertfordshire

Submitted by willowman1 on Thursday, 05 January 2017  Page Views: 10657

Natural PlacesSite Name: St Albans Puddingstones
Country: England County: Hertfordshire Type: Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature
Nearest Town: St Albans
Map Ref: TL139075
Latitude: 51.754619N  Longitude: 0.351276W
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
 4 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
 3 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
 5 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
 3

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willowman1 visited on 22nd Sep 2017 - their rating: Cond: 5 Amb: 3 Access: 4

St Albans Puddingstones
St Albans Puddingstones submitted by willowman1 : Puddingstone which used to stand outside the gate to Cunningham Hill Farm, St. Albans. Photo by T.P.C. Mulholland in 'Hertfordshire Countryside' magazine, June 1963. (Vote or comment on this photo)
There are Puddingstones throughout St Albans. No. 68 is the Ver Ford stone which stands a few yards from the ford next to an inn.

Numbers refer to the Puddingstone Trail. OS map refs of sites No. 61 to 67 are TL158069; TL154071; TL151070; TL149071; TL143074; TL 141074.

Page originally by Thorgrim

Note: Archive photos of the St Albans Puddingstones which Mike Burgess (Willowman1) has been researching.
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St Albans Puddingstones
St Albans Puddingstones submitted by willowman1 : The puddingstone currently near West Lodge in Highfield Park, that used to be in the garden of the old Cell Barnes Hospital. Measuring 1.35m x 1.12m x 55cm high, it once stood outside a unit of the hospital called Monkstone House. According to a hospital press release from 1985, "local legend has it that many years ago, when a certain Sister Bernia had a cell in the vicinity, the stone was used by... (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Albans Puddingstones
St Albans Puddingstones submitted by willowman1 : The puddingstone beside St. Michael's Court, near Kingsbury Mill, St. Albans. It measures 66cm x 45cm x 60cm high. A picture from c1900-1910 shows two more such stones against the frontage of the Mill, but they're not there today. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Albans Puddingstones
St Albans Puddingstones submitted by willowman1 : Dr. Rudge's own photo of the puddingstone which still stands against the wall of No.2 St. Michael's Court, near Kingsbury Mill, St. Albans. From 'Discovery' magazine, July 1952. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Albans Puddingstones
St Albans Puddingstones submitted by willowman1 : Dr. Rudge's own photo of the puddingstone once built into the wall of 27 New Kent Road, St. Albans. From 'Discovery' magazine, July 1952. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Albans Puddingstones
St Albans Puddingstones submitted by willowman1 : Puddingstone which used to stand in the flowerbed, just to the right of the door, at 51 Lattimore Street, St. Albans. Photo by T.P.C. Mulholland, in 'Hertfordshire Countryside' magazine, June 1963. (Vote or comment on this photo)

St Albans Puddingstones
St Albans Puddingstones submitted by tombraider : The most upright and impressive of the puddingstones on the conjectured trail, marking the ford over the River Ver.

St Albans Puddingstones
St Albans Puddingstones submitted by Thorgrim : This large puddingstone marks the ford across the River Ver.

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Nearby sites listing. In the following links * = Image available
 508m W 260° Verulamium Puddingstone Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature (TL134074)
 1.1km SE 139° Holy Well (St. Albans)* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (TL14640670)
 1.8km WNW 301° Devil's Ditch (Hertfordshire) Ancient Village or Settlement (TL123084)
 2.4km NE 43° Beech Bottom Dyke* Ancient Village or Settlement (TL155093)
 3.2km SW 226° Potterscrouch Puddingstones Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature (TL116052)
 5.2km ESE 108° Tyttenhanger Puddingstones Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature (TL189060)
 5.8km NW 312° The Aubreys* Hillfort (TL095113)
 6.0km WSW 241° Bedmond Puddingstone Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature (TL087045)
 7.5km NE 40° Devil's Dyke (Hertfordshire)* Ancient Village or Settlement (TL186133)
 9.1km WSW 251° Kings Langley Cursus Cursus (TL0535804425)
 10.3km E 79° Mill Green Museum Museum (TL240097)
 11.2km WSW 237° Chipperfield Common Round Barrows* Round Barrow(s) (TL04620126)
 11.3km SSW 205° Cassiobury Park barrow* Round Barrow(s) (TQ094971)
 11.4km WSW 245° Towerhill (Herts) Puddingstone* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature (TL0363802375)
 11.6km WNW 290° Great Gaddesden Puddingstone* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature (TL029112)
 11.6km WNW 290° Great Gaddesden church puddingstones* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature (TL02871127)
 12.4km E 95° Wildhill Puddingstone Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature (TL263067)
 12.6km NE 48° Welwyn Puddingstone* Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature (TL231162)
 12.7km ESE 121° Potters Bar Museum Museum (TL2494101262)
 12.8km NE 49° Welwyn Roman Baths* Ancient Village or Settlement (TL23451602)
 13.5km SW 229° Church Hill puddingstones Natural Stone / Erratic / Other Natural Feature (TQ03899840)
 13.8km S 173° Stanmore common barrows Misc. Earthwork (TQ15869381)
 13.9km ESE 109° Griffin's Hole* Holy Well or Sacred Spring (TL2720403249)
 14.6km WSW 257° Whelpley Hill* Hillfort (SP99680397)
 15.2km S 183° Grim's Ditch (Greater London) Ancient Village or Settlement (TQ134923)
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"St Albans Puddingstones" | Login/Create an Account | 5 News and Comments
  
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Re: St Albans Puddingstones by Anonymous on Friday, 19 July 2019
Does anyone know what happened to the puddingstone at the top of Cunningham Hill Road?
I used to walk past it on the way to school...
[ Reply to This ]

Re: St Albans Puddingstones by willowman1 on Tuesday, 26 September 2017
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A small update on some of the St. Albans puddingstones: I've now submitted pictures and some text on the St. Michael's Court and former Cell Barnes Hospital puddingstones. I've also added a photo of the stone at the Triumphal Arch ruins to the 'Verulamium Puddingstones' page.

I don't know what will happen to the sarsen outside the former Museum of St. Albans, as when I visited last week the building was being demolished to make way for housing. The whole site was screened off with boards and scaffolding, so I couldn't get near it.

The stone once in the graveyard of the Spicer Street chapel is definitely gone, as the Church Office whom I contacted could find nothing about it, or where it is now.
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    Re: St Albans Puddingstones by willowman1 on Thursday, 28 September 2017
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    And another slight update: apparently the big sarsen with a few pebbles in it (which Dr. Rudge called a puddingstone), once in the Market Place and latterly at the museum in Hatfield Road, was moved earlier this year to a spot next to the Verulamium Museum just off St. Michael's Street. Which is damned annoying, as I went right past it last week without knowing, and I'll probably never get to St. Albans again......
    [ Reply to This ]

Re: St Albans Puddingstones by willowman1 on Thursday, 24 March 2016
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Dr Rudge actually noted 11 puddingstones on his Track through the environs of St Albans. Running from east to west, these were:

1. In the kitchen garden of Cell Barnes Hospital. The hospital closed in 1998 and was later demolished, but the puddingstone was saved, and can now be seen at TL1719306119, near West Lodge in Highfield Park. Pictures can be seen here: http://www.highfieldparktrust1.co.uk/index.php/puddingstone-mainmenu-102

2. At roadside, by the gate of Cunningham Hill Farm. Part of the farmhouse still stands, but the whole area has been redeveloped, and the main gate to the farm is under what is now Barncroft Way. It would have stood at approx. TL16380662. Two short tracks which converged on the gate still exist as a 'cut-through' from Cell Barnes Lane.

3. On rockery at 36 Breakspear Avenue. Slight problem here - there is not, and has never been, a No.36 Breakspear Avenue. Rudge's map reference roughly coincides with No.32, which is and always has been the last house in the Avenue. There is no rockery at this address nowadays.

4. Outside shop at 142 Victoria Street, removed about 1945. Nos.140-144 are now occupied by an Iceland store, at TL15340708.

5. In front garden of 51 Lattimore Road. Rudge's map references were way off, but the house is actually at TL15170706. The garden is tiny and now concreted over, with no puddingstone present.

6. By front door of 27 New Kent Road. Most of the road is now gone, replaced by a shopping centre and a multi-storey car park. The house used to stand at TL1492607106, which is in the middle of the car park. A picture of the stone can be found in 'Discovery' magazine, Vol.13, No.7 (July 1952), p.210.

7. Outside the Moot House, corner of Upper Dagnall Street and Market Place, removed about 1900. This spot is at TL1471907236, but the stone itself is currently outside the Museum of St Albans in Hatfield Road (recently closed.) This is however NOT a puddingstone, but a sarsen with a single 'stringer' of pebbles in it.

8. On rockery at 19 Welclose Street. Once again Rudge's map references were completely incorrect, as the house actually stands at TL14380729. The property has no rockery today.

9. Unearthed in 1962 in graveyard of chapel in Spicer Street. The graveyard is at TL14530725, nowhere near Rudge's grid reference.

10. In Jones' Yard, near Kingsbury Mill. As per my post of 2012, this is against the back wall of No.2 St. Michael's Court, at TL1387307467. A new Street View image here: https://goo.gl/maps/voRdXgpceqF2

11. On site of the Triumphal Arch, at Verulamium Roman Theatre. The ruins of the Arch are at TL13440744, where at least one block of conglomerate can still be seen. Rudge actually said "It is significant that one, and only one, puddingstone boulder was found in the ruins of the Theatre", but that simply isn't true. In his early writings he even mentioned another in the Theatre himself, plus an excavation report of 1933 notes many such blocks among the ruins, with others still visible in remaining sections of the Roman town wall. The author of the report thought it quite natural that the Romans would use puddingstone in their structures, as Verulamium is only four miles from a well-known outcropping of the stone at Radlett.

The city itself, and Bernard's Heath in particular, was always known for this type of stone, as was declared in John Pinkerton's 'Petralogy: A Treatise on Rocks' of 1811: "From personal inquiries and observations, it appears that the fairest pudding-stone is chiefly found at the ancient and venerable town of St. Albans, where masses often occur in the pavement..."

The thing is, Rudge knew perfectly well that the river Ver through the city is also a significant source of puddingstone. He already knew that the boulder still o

Read the rest of this post...
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Re: St Albans Puddingstones by willowman1 on Wednesday, 21 November 2012
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The puddingstone in the picture above is NOT one of Dr. Rudge's 'Puddingstone Track' stones. That one was dredged from the river and placed there at Queen Victoria's Jubilee.

Rudge knew this, and stated that the stone originally marking the Ver crossing was 20 yards away, against the wall of the end cottage in Jones Yard, next to an inn. This stone is still there, at TL138074, against the back wall of St. Michael's Court, opposite the Blue Anchor pub, which is where Jones Yard used to be. You can see it on Street View here: http://goo.gl/maps/HzNSG
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