The cathedral is built on what is believed to be the site of the martyrdom of St Alban. The hill upon which it stands overlooks the valley of the river Ver, beyond which lie the buried ruins of the Roman city of Verulamium. The shrine of St Alban is documented from early times, and it is recorded that St Germanus of Auxerre visited the site in 429. Early in the 8th century, Bede wrote of the 'beautiful Church worthy of all Alban's martyrdom where miracles of healing took place.' The monastic structure of this church was re-ordered by King Offa of Mercia in 793 and a new order and discipline introduced by St Oswald in the 960s. The availability of huge amounts of building material from the ruins of nearby Roman Verulamium was put to good use in the Norman era, from which time many of the features of the building date.
Restoration was completed in 1993 and the shrine was rededicated in the presence of HM The Queen Mother in that year. The shrine is a site of national pilgrimage and is used as a place of prayer and meditation by visitors every day. Like many of England's shrines, it was demolished at the dissolution of the monasteries. The Purbeck marble pedestal was relocated in various locations in the Abbey in more than 2000 fragments. The niches in the shrine may well be healing holes. The altar and iron-work around the shrine, designed by Mr George Pace, a former Cathedral Architect, were dedicated in 1967 as memorial gifts. Photograph used with the kind permission of The Fraternity of The Friends of St Albans Abbey.