Engraving by F. G. Kitton

Situated about four miles west of Wheathampstead is Redbourn, on the old Roman road from London to Dunstable, etc., which takes its name from a small stream that rises near Church End, on the outskirts of the village. The patron-saint of the parish church (St. Mary's) is considered by some to be St. Amphibalus, thus raising the question whether it was originally dedicated to the latter saint; for it was at Redbourn that Amphibalus was killed by the Roman soldiers when escaping into Wales, and there, too, the relics of the martyr were alleged to have been discovered nearly nine centuries later. The church is historically associated with St. Albans Abbey, for not only do we find in the massive tower and nave undoubted vestiges of the structure known to have been built here during the abbacy of Richard de Albini (1097-II:;:9), but we know that the Abbots of St. Albans were its medieval rectors, while its great tithes appear to have been devoted to the clothing of their monks. The present tower has stood for nearly eight hundred years, and much of the original Norman church is still extant; unfortunately, the structure suffered grievously during the Wars of the Roses, when it was converted into a stable and otherwise desecrated. The ornate moulding of brickwork in the parapet of the south aisle of the nave should be noticed. Until quite recently the High Street of Redbourn possessed a distinctive feature in a highly-ornamental iron sign bracket which projected from the front of the Bull Inn, but owing to insecurity it had to be removed. This bracket was probably the most elaborate in the County, and bore at its extremity the hook from which it was customary in olden times to suspend a lantern.

Picturesque Hertfordshire, 1904