Legend of St Albans (Verulamium)

Today the Beaker Folk remember one of our local-ish saints, and first English Saint after Joseph of Arimathea, St Albans.

St Albans was originally a Roman called Verulamium. He swapped places with an amphibious priest whom he met in the Roman ruins. All Romans lived in ruins and stayed in the bath, which is why the priest was amphibious. It was left to the Anglo Saxons to invent roofs and upright walls, due to having greater experience with wet and cold weather. It was all right in Rome, having just ruins for buildings, due to it being sunnier.

After becoming a Christian and therefore Church of England, Verulamium had to choose a new name, and called himself St Albans after the town he lived in. After building the cathedral (with walls,  in the English style) he was murdered by the Romans.

To this day, on the weekend nearest his saint's day, the people of Snorbens diocese walk to the cathedral. People believe this tradition may have been invented by someone from Redbourn, and not from Husborne Crawley or Souldrop - who live so far away that, by the time they get home from one pilgrimage, it's time to turn round and walk back on the next one.