Spotlight
Our latest round-up of what’s topical or important right now
LAST CALL FOR AWARDS NOMINATIONS
The St Albans Civic Society Awards 2026 programme will close for nominations on 31 July. This is to give us time to chase in any further details our judging panel will need to pick the winners to be announced at our Awards ceremony on 13 October 2026. This means that now is the time to get in touch with information about anything that enhances the quality of our city’s amenities, environment or public realm – whether domestic or commercial, be it a striking new build or a skilled restoration project. We accept nominations from individuals and firms for any project completed during 2024 or 2025. For more information and details of past projects and see our Awards page.
PARISH COUNCIL UPDATE
In July, a full council meeting of St Albans City and District Council (SADC) is expected to approve the creation of a town/parish council for central St Albans and to set up a Shadow Parish Council to oversee the work needed to prepare for formal elections in May 2027. There has been significant local criticism of the proposed make-up of the Shadow Parish Council, limiting it to district councillors only, with no resident, business or community representation. You can read more about this here.
LADY CHAPEL RESTORATION – A COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP
The late 19th century refurbishment of the then-dilapidated Lady Chapel included recreating decorative capitals, bosses and corbels on the arches. The sculptor, John Baker, asked the ladies of the parish to bring in plants as models. The result was a riot of flowers, ferns, fruit, foliage and exotic plants, including orchids from Frederick Sander, royal orchid grower to Queen Victoria, all collected by local women and captured in stone. Read more on the Lady Chapel here.