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St Albans is a small and historic village on the Macdonald River, New South Wales, Australia, about 94 kilometres (65 mi) north west of Sydney. At the , St Albans and the surrounding area had a population of 305 people. It was first settled by Europeans in 1794 in a bid to acquire arable land to feed the increasing population of the penal colony at Sydney. In April 1794, Lieutenant Governor Francis Grose submitted plans for the first 22 farms on the Hawkesbury River in the present Pitt Town Bottoms area. In June 1795 a camp of Aboriginal peoples opposing the landtakings was harassed by a British regiment commanded by Paterson (who later regretted the necessary injustice). The "Village of Macdonald" was surveyed in 1837 but renamed St Albans on 26 January 1841 after the City of St Albans in Hertfordshire, England, north of London. In the early part of the colonial settlement of New South Wales, the Macdonald Valley was an important agricultural area because of its accessibility by water. However, with the development of railways and extensive agricultural development west of the Great Dividing Range, the Macdonald Valley less important and declined into a remote backwater. The valley is often referred to by the locals as the "Forgotten Valley". St Albans is on the banks of the Macdonald River, a tributary of the Hawkesbury River which is about 15 kilometres (9.5 mi) to the south. The village was opened for settlement in 1842 largely because it had become an important stopping point for farmers and others in the area wanting to ship their goods down the Hawkesbury River to Sydney. St Albans was at the navigational upper limit of the Macdonald River. This upper portion of the river has since been drastically reduced to navigation with sand and silt.

Two (free) 24 hour car ferries provide access to St Albans from the Sydney region along roads following the old goat and horse tracks on either side of the Macdonald. Both roads meander (one partly unsealed) through rich country and farms of cattle, melons, orchards and corn. On either side of the river are historic homes and spectacular sandstone towering hills. A route is through Wisemans Ferry township and north across the Hawkesbury via Wisemans ferry, then follows the eastern side of the Macdonald. The first bridge to cross the river links the two roads at St Albans. Another route to St Albans is to turn left just before entering Wisemans Ferry township, cross the Hawkesbury via the Webbs Creek Ferry, then follow up the western side of the Macdonald to the village.

The St Albans Anglican Church (Saint Alban The Martyr), near the top of Wharf Road is the only church still in use. A timber chapel, opened in 1843, was replaced by the current stone building in 1897. Another interesting stone church remaining in the village is the old Wesleyan Methodist church in Espie Street. This was built in 1902 and is now in private hands, a reminder of almost 150 years of Wesleyan influence in the Macdonald valley. The funerals of those close to town usually progressed by boat to the old St Albans Burial Ground, a few kilometres south of the village beside the river, founded in 1826. This site had in the past suffered much by neglect, floods and vandalism but is now preserved.

There were devastating floods in 1867, 1889, 1913, and particularly 1949. The town lies fifty feet above the riverbed and the floor of the bridge is forty feet from the sand. In the 1889 flood the bridge was covered, the Court House was not washed away but the Police quarters were. The water rose to the eaves of Jurds Hotel (Settlers Arms Inn) and left a hole seven feet deep in front of it. The old house was of stone, but some of it washed away. The floodwaters rose to the veranda eaves and washed away five houses, and another newly built on the other side of the river.