St Albans is a town in southern Hertfordshire, England, around north of central London, which forms the main urban area of the City and District of St Albans. St Albans has two official demonyms: Verulamian and Old Albanian. St Albans was a settlement of pre-Roman origin named ''Verlamion'' (or Verulam) by the Belgae, Catuvellauni tribe. It became the first major town on the old Roman Britain road of Watling Street for travellers heading north and became the Roman town of Verulamium.
Saint Alban, the first British Christian martyr, was beheaded in AD 308 by Maximian at the orders of Emperor Diocletian, who denounced the Christian faith and had ordered the deaths of all subjects and allies of the Roman Empire who refused to give up the faith.Legendary Tales of the Ancient Britons, 1864, L. Menzies, adapted from the Latin Chronicles of Geoffrey of Monmouth. Saint Alban consequently gave the town its modern name. It is a historic market town, and is now a sought-after dormitory town within the London commuter belt. Property prices are notoriously high within the district, which is one of the most expensive in the UK.
