Find a 1st Associated Chartered Surveyor in St Albans.

To find out some interesting facts about St Albans and places to visit in St Albans and the surrounding areas you can click on the boxes above.

To get a quote on a survey in St Albans, carried out by an Independent Building Surveyor, click on the 'Get a Survey Quote' box above.

We carry out residential structural surveys and commercial surveys in St Albans. St Albans is a suburban commuter town with a rich and varied history which located in south Hertfordshire and is about 22 miles from central London . Most of the houses in St Albans were built between the two world wars and more building took place soon after the second world war. The town is set in the middle of Green Belt land, making it an attractive town to live in.

There are many narrow streets around the centre of the city and the roads can get quite congested. Street markets are held in the centre on Wednesdays and Saturdays, a tradition that has been in place for centuries and there is also a regular farmers' market once a month and occasionally a French market.

The Catuvellauni tribe in the Iron Age originally called the town Verlamion, which is thought to mean 'the settlement above the marsh', but after the Roman occupation it became the first large town on Watling Street where travellers stopped when travelling north. It is here that the Romans built the town of Verulamium by the River Ver, which was only second in size to London . In AD 60/61 the town was ransacked in the Boudiccan rebellion.

The town was rebuilt over the years with fine buildings such as a theatre, temples, baths and private residences. At some point before AD324 the Christian martyr, St Alban, was beheaded for his beliefs on a hill where the imposing cathedral now stands. The town eventually fell into disrepair some time after AD400.

The Cathedral of St Albans was started in 1077 as a tribute to St Alban, but there is evidence that other abbeys to St Alban were on this site before the present Cathedral. At one point in time the Abbey was the main abbey in England and the first draft of the Magna Carta was produced here.

The old Roman town now lies under Verulamium Park and the old buildings of Verulamium were used to build St Albans . If you go to the Norman Abbey tower some of the well made Roman bricks can be seen.

St Albans grew up in the 12 th century around the Abbey and the medieval street pattern is still there in many parts of the town along with some of the buildings from that time.

In 1381 St Albans there was disquiet in the town when the townsfolk wanted more control of issues in the town as opposed to being lead by the Abbots. The Peasants' Revolt ensued and in 1403-1412 the Clock Tower was built symbolising the towns independence from the church.

The town catered for people travelling through and lots of inns were created around the Abbey to cater for those stopping for a break or for a bed for the night. Many of these are Tudor inns which are timber-framed buildings and are still in existence in George Street , St Michael's Street, Fishpool Street and Sopwell Lane . In Abbey Mill Lane the palaces of the Bishops of St Albans and Hertford can be seen and The Fighting Cocks public house, which it is claimed is the oldest public house in England , is also in this road. Some of the inns have changed use over the years and are now either offices or retail outlets or residential houses and some are hidden behind 18 th century and 19 th century frontages. At 1 st Associated we carry out commercial surveys on public houses and business premises as well as residential properties and we have a particular interest in Listed buildings.

With the arrival of the railway in 1868 the coaching trade declined, but the railway with its links to London lead to further development in St Albans . In 1877 the town received a Royal Charter making it a 'city' and the Abbey Church was made into a Cathedral.

The 20 th century has seen a big expansion of the city and following the second World War the town grew to accommodate people moving out of London to the suburbs. The town also attracts a number of tourists due to its long and rich history.

If you book a survey with 1st Associated for St Albans you will find that we take great pride in the quality of our surveys and produce a very detailed survey report. We use plain English to explain any problems with the property to ensure that you understand the problems and how to resolve them.

1st Associated Chartered Surveyors cover the whole of the UK including all areas of Hertfordshire for example in:

Abbots Langley Berkhamsted Bishop's Stortford Borehamwood Broxbourne Bushey Cheshunt Croxley Green Harpenden Hatfield Hertford Hitchin Hoddesdon Letchworth Potters Bar Rickmansworth Royston South Oxhey Stevenage St Albans Tring Ware Watford Welwyn Garden City

Below are some examples of surveys we have carried out in the Hertfordshire area: Commercial Survey - Property Report and Schedule of Condition on a 18th century pub and restaurant in Welwyn Garden City Residential Building Survey of an early 1900s Period Terraced Property in Letchworth Residential Building Survey of a 1960s/1970s Detached Property in Hemel Hempstead Residential Building Survey of a Modern 1990s Detached Property in Abbots Langley Residential Building Survey of a Modern Detatched 1980s Property in Tring Residential Building Survey on an Extended End of Terrace Property built in the 1960s in Welwyn Garden City Residential Building Survey of a Converted Leasehold flat, with a share of the Freehold, in a c.1900s terraced property in Hitchin Residential Building Survey of a 1960s detached property in St Albans Commercial Survey - Property Report and Schedule of Condition on a 17th / 18th Century Public House in Buntingford More examples of surveys from different eras are available to download from our downloadable surveys page.

1st Associated provide house surveys, commercial surveys, engineers reports, property training plus more all carried out by RICS surveyors in St Albans and the surrounding areas.

Contact us today for a free, no obligation quotation, including building surveys, structural surveys, homebuyers reports and pre sales reports, for St Albans and the surrounding towns and villages.

If you are planning to book a building survey on a property you are purchasing in St Albans or the surrounding towns and villages then we would like to assure you that we always send a suitably qualified and experienced surveyor to carry out the job. This ensures that you get expert advice on any issues that we may find with the property we are surveying. All our surveyors are members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors - RICS - and are Independent Chartered Surveyors. Being 'independent' means that they are working for you and you alone; they do not work for a mortgage company or an estate agents, so they have your best interests at heart.

Get a survey quote:

Residential Building Survey Quote

Commercial Building Survey Quote or Schedule of Condition Quote

We carry out Structural Surveys, Structural Building Surveys on Residential properties and Commercial properties throughout Hertfordshire.