{{Short description|Area in Hertfordshire, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} The '''Liberty of St Albans''' (also known as the ''Hundred of Albanestou'' or ''Cashio'') was a [[liberty (division)|liberty]] situated within [[Hertfordshire]], but enjoying the powers of an independent [[county]]. At the time of the [[Domesday Book]] the liberty was known as ''Albanestou'' and originally had the powers of a [[Hundred (county division)|hundred]]. It was originally associated with the [[St Albans Cathedral|Abbey of St Albans]], and later with the [[borough]] corporation. It was absorbed by [[Hertfordshire]] in 1874.
The origins of the liberty are unclear, but the abbots of St Albans claimed that the privileges had first been granted by King [[Offa of Mercia]], who founded the abbey in 793.<ref>[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=43286 The hundred of Cashio, from the Victoria County History of Hertfordshire]</ref> The Liberty appears to have contained parts of the Dioceses of [[Diocese of London|London]] and [[Diocese of Lincoln|Lincoln]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rippon|first1=Stephen|title=Kingdom, Civitas and County|date=2018 |orig-year=2018|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-875937-9|pages=320–321}}</ref>
Haslam proposes that Cashio and [[Danais (hundred)|Danais]] hundreds were originally a larger "proto-hundred" which was originally created to support the [[burh]] at [[St Albans]] by [[Edward the Elder|King Edward the Elder]] in the 900s to defend against the Danes. The interlocking nature of the two hundreds, together with the unique status of Cashio as a Liberty of the church, is taken as evidence that they were originally part of a single unit that was later subdivided into hundreds.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Haslam |first=Jeremy |date=2024-01-01 |title=Burhs burghal territories and hundreds in the English central Midlands in the early tenth century Part II - paginated version |url=https://www.academia.edu/126278058/Burhs_burghal_territories_and_hundreds_in_the_English_central_Midlands_in_the_early_tenth_century_Part_II_paginated_version?email_work_card=reading-history |journal=Landscape History}}</ref>
The boundaries of the area expanded over time, including at times parts of [[Buckinghamshire]]. Several parishes across Hertfordshire, often where the abbey also held the manor, were transferred to the Liberty of St Albans from their original hundred, including:
* [[Hexton]] and [[St Paul's Walden]] from [[Hitchin (hundred)|Hitchin hundred]] * [[Shephall]], [[Norton, Hertfordshire|Norton]] and [[Codicote]] from [[Broadwater (hundred)|Broadwater hundred]] * [[Bramfield, Hertfordshire|Bramfield]] from [[Hertford (hundred)|Hertford hundred]] * [[Newnham, Hertfordshire|Newnham]] from [[Odsey (hundred)|Odsey hundred]]
Exactly what powers the liberty possessed previous to the twelfth century are not known. [[Edward I of England|Edward I]] gave the abbot of St Albans [[county palatine|palatine]] powers equal to those enjoyed by the bishops of [[Bishop of Durham|Durham]] and [[Isle of Ely|Ely]].
With the dissolution of the abbey the [[Municipal Borough of St Albans|Borough of St Albans]] was granted a charter of incorporation as a free borough, having previously been under the control of the abbot. The liberty was henceforth placed under the corporation of the borough. Palatine status was discontinued, although the borough and liberty retained its own [[quarter sessions]]. The administration was headed by a high steward chosen by the corporation.
The liberty was merged with the county of [[Hertfordshire]] in 1874 by Act of Parliament,<ref>Liberty of St Albans Act (37 & 38 Vict. c.45)</ref> which divided the county into two divisions, the eastern part of the county to be the [[Hertford]] division and the western part to be known as the Liberty of St Albans Division, each maintaining separate quarter sessions, but being a single commission of the peace. The Act made clear that, despite its name, the St Albans division was not to be deemed a liberty in any future legislation.
In 1889 the [[Local Government Act 1888]] created an elected Hertfordshire [[county council]] which covered both divisions. For some time after its creation, the county administration was divided between Hertford and St Albans. [[File:Hertfordshire Administrative Map 1832.png|alt=Hertfordshire Hundreds in 1832|thumb|Hertfordshire Hundreds in 1832]] By the nineteenth century the liberty contained all or part of the following [[civil parish|parishes]]:<ref>Youngs, F.A., ''Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England'', Vol. I, London, 1979</ref> *[[Abbots Langley]] *[[Aldenham]] *[[Bramfield, Hertfordshire|Bramfield]] *[[Chipping Barnet]] *[[Codicote]] *[[East Barnet]] *[[Elstree]] *[[Hexton]] *[[Newnham, Hertfordshire|Newnham]] *[[Northaw (parish)|Northaw]] *[[Norton, Hertfordshire|Norton]] *[[Redbourn]] *[[Rickmansworth]] *[[Ridge, Hertfordshire|Ridge]] *[[St Albans]] (within the borough of St Albans) *[[St Michael, Hertfordshire|St Michael]] (partly within the borough of St Albans) *[[St Paul's Walden]] *[[St Peter, Hertfordshire|St Peter]] (partly within the borough of St Albans) *[[St Stephen, Hertfordshire|St Stephen]] (partly within the borough of St Albans from 1835) *[[Sandridge]] (partly within the borough of St Albans from 1887) *[[Sarratt]] *[[Shephall]] *[[South Mimms]] *[[Watford]]
==References== {{Hertfordshire Hundreds}}{{reflist}}
[[Category:Liberties of England|St Albans]] [[Category:Hundreds of Hertfordshire]] [[Category:History of local government in London (pre-1855)]] [[Category:History of St Albans]]