Page "History of St Albans" Paragraph 4

Another abbey was founded by King Offa of Mercia in 793.

The settlement grew up around the precincts of another Benedictine monastery, founded in AD 900-950 by Abbot Ulsinus ( also known as Wulsin ).

According to Matthew Paris, the 13th century chronicler of St Albans Abbey, Abbot Ulsinus ( Wulsin ) founded three churches in 948, reputedly to tend to the physical and spiritual needs of the growing number of pilgrims to Alban's shrine: St Peter's, St Stephen's and St Michael's.

Each church was equidistant from the Abbey and on one of the main approaches to the town.