About

Promoting our heritage, shaping our future

  • We campaign for the retention and enhancement of everything that gives St Albans its special character
  • We work collaboratively with partners to keep our iconic Clock Tower open and make other improvements
  • We encourage the highest standard of design in new developments and contest inappropriate development proposals
  • We champion sustainability and positive environmental impact
  • We stimulate interest and informed debate amongst residents, developers and the Council

The Society scrutinises the weekly planning lists, commenting on proposed developments, big and small, across the City centre, its suburbs and Green Belt, that may either enhance or adversely affect the appearance or environment of St Albans. We are an organisation that wants to preserve our heritage, but at the same time encourage quality modern building – and we do mean quality, not anything-will-do pastiche. Our  Awards Evening is St Albans’ answer to the BAFTAs!

Liaison with St Albans District Council, particularly its Planning Department, is an important activity, as is direct dialogue with Councillors. If necessary we are prepared to confront and campaign to make our point. A notable example was our effort to bring back a cinema to St Albans, another was to help stop a large supermarket being built along London Road that would not only undermine our city centre shops and markets, which are so much part of St Albans life, but seriously impact upon the local neighbourhood adding to the traffic congestion and pollution.

Founded in 1961 and part of the nation wide civic society movement, we are a registered charity, number 200330, and a non party-political and non religious organisation, ready to welcome everyone who cares about the future of St Albans. Sometimes referred to as the ‘City’s Watchdogs’, the Civic Society is the conservation and amenity movement for St Albans. We are a member of the national organisation ‘Civic Voice’.

Put simply, that means we keep an eye on the City’s heritage, its buildings and the characteristics that make St Albans that special place in which to live, and perhaps work, and the reason why people come and visit.

So, do join us, maybe to offer to help, or maybe just to show you support our aims. We offer, above all, a chance to be involved and have a say in what our city looks like and how it functions.

Celebrating St Albans Civic Society’s 60th Anniversary

To help celebrate our 60th Anniversary we made available some funds – up to £6000 – for local schools, Residents’ Associations and community groups to bid for. Projects that will look after and enhance the St Albans environment- its appearance and/or provides an amenity for local people to enjoy, were eligible to apply. We made available £100 for each year of the Society’s life, a total of £6000 to be shared among those whose applications are successful.

We were delighted with the response to our invitation to apply for grants to celebrate our 60th Anniversary, both the number of applications but also the diversity of projects. We had a total of 12 applications, one of which sadly didn’t meet our Objectives and two were at very early stages so we have invited them to come back to us when their plans are more developed. We are very pleased that we have awarded grants to the following nine organisations:

  • Three Primary Schools – Aboyne Lodge School, Margaret Wix Primary School and St Peter’s School, each of whom is developing a sensory garden
  • Friends of Victoria Playing Field, who are planting trees to help solve flooding problems
  • Ford Garden Group to contribute towards the maintenance of the garden in Fishpool Street
  • Friends of Batchwood for new benches for use by the public
  • Cottonmill and Nunnery Allotment Association to contribute towards the cost of a wildlife survey and to construct a pond
  • Kings Road Memorial Committee who are arranging for the erection of a memorial to the 15 men from the street who died in the Great War. They have already raised most of the funds and our grant should complete their fund raising
  • Cottonmill and Sopwell Hub Campaign Group who are involved in a major project to provide a new Cottonmill Community Hall and Cycling Centre. Our small grant will help towards their target.

 

Upcoming Events

Our 2025 programme details will be added here as dates are confirmed

All events

Join us

Membership is open to everyone who shares our aim to make our City attractive for residents and visitors.

The membership / financial year runs from 1st April through to 31st March but you may of course join at any time so don’t delay, join today!

Become a member

Awards

Do you know of a project that might deserve recognition in the Society’s Awards? These can be for new developments, large or small, but could be for a small extension, restored windows on a period property, or a rebuilt wall. Its not just about buildings either. Remember the Society’s Awards cover things that enhance the quality of St Albans environment or amenities and the Trevelyan Award is presented for a conservation project.

Get looking about now. Send your nominations to us stalbanscivicsociety@gmail.com Please provide a brief description and thoughts on why it should be considered.