The Friends of St Albans Cathedral were delighted to host a book launch on 12 June 2024, for the important and much anticipated book on the excavation of the medieval chapter house of St Albans Abbey. Around 70 invited guests attended the event, including contributors and those who had taken part in the excavation. Some participants were teenagers at the time and described it as a formative experience. 

In his speech, Professor Biddle reminded guests that the excavation followed the decision of Dean Peter Moore and the Cathedral Chapter to build a new chapter house on the site of its medieval predecessor. Martin Biddle also said that the book forms a record of an excavation which achieved the still unequalled picture of a medieval chapter house with its fittings, its monuments and its burials. The book included contributions from 43 leading scholars covering subjects as varied as Romanesque sculpture to human bones, window glass to pewter, pottery, stoneware, and the magnificent relief-decorated tiled floor.

Professor Biddle thanked all who had been involved in the excavation and the publication of the report: participants in the excavation, editors, contributors, the publisher, successive Deans and Chapters and the Friends of the Cathedral.

The support of the Friends has enabled the book to be made available on Open Access. The e-Book may be downloaded from the Archaeopress website without charge.

The Exhibition

An exhibition about the Chapter House excavation can be seen in the Exhibition area of St Albans Cathedral until the end of September, 2024. You can see photographs of the excavation, and some of the finds uncovered during the dig, including relief-decorated tiles and  beautifully carved stonework fragments.

The Book

Make sure to get the book: ST ALBANS ABBEY: THE EXCAVATION OF THE CHAPTER HOUSE 1978

Further details

The eBook is available as a free download on Open Access.

Images 

Professor Biddle at the launch ©Alan Herbert 

The book launch ©Alan Herbert 

Souvenir of the 1978 excavation ©Alan Herbert

Book cover is on Archaeopress website (https://www.archaeopress.com/Archaeopress/Products/9781803277080)