12 Sep 2025
A St Albans and District Heritage Plaque is to be installed on The Grange, 16 St Peter’s Street, which is now the pub, The Saint & Sinner, telling the story of its long history.
Built around 1740, this grand Georgian dwelling, featuring ornate internal plasterwork and once extensive gardens, was home to prominent St Albans families, many of whom served as mayors. The house was named ‘The Grange’, possibly to commemorate its association with St Peter’s medieval grange.
According to St Albans Museums, besides the main house there were stables, a coach house, a walled pleasure ground planted with trees, a kitchen garden, an orchard, a brewhouse with a well and there was still space to keep dogs, pigs and chickens. They even grew melons in the gardens.
Barclays Bank, the Civic Centre, Alban Arena, Magistrates Court and Water End Barn fill what were the stables, out-offices and gardens of the house.
In later years, The Grange became council offices before being used by Nationwide building society. The property was extensively refurbished in 2023 and brought back into use as a pub and restaurant by McMullen & Sons Ltd, who have sponsored the plaque.
The installation will take place at 11am on Saturday September 20 and be carried out by St Peter’s ward district councillor Juliet Voisey.
