Royston, Hertfordshire

Looking north along High Street, Royston

The town grew at the crossing of two ancient thoroughfares, Ermine Street and the Icknield Way (cum Ashwell Street); the former was created after the Roman conquest, while the Icknield Way has long been accepted as a prehistoric routeway. The roads are sometimes called military roads as they were prepared or improved by Roman soldiers to facilitate access to the hinterland of Roman Britain. The path of Icknield Way is occupied by the present day A505, which bypasses the town to the north. The A10 follows the alignment of Ermine Street south of the town, but diverts before it reaches the crossroads. The A1198, known as the Old North Road follows the alignment of Ermine Street northwards. Barrows on Goffers Knoll and Therfield Heath are evidence of prehistoric settlement.

A cross, variously known as Royse's, Rohesia's, or Roisia's Cross, was erected by the crossroads at an unknown date. It gave the settlement its earliest name of Crux Roesia or Roisia's Cross. By the 14th century this had become Roisia's Town, Roiston or Royston.[3][4] A large boulder of red millstone grit, bearing a square socket, supposed to be the base of the cross, has been placed by the cross roads at the northern end of High Street.[4]

Until 1540 Royston was divided between five parishes: Barkway, Reed and Therfield in Hertfordshire and Melbourn and Kneesworth in Cambridgeshire. In that year it became a separate ecclesiastical parish, partly in each county.[3]

Ralph de Rochester founded the Augustinian priory which originated as a chapel for three canons and was later expanded to seven or more regular canons. Royston had two hospitals or free chapels, as well as the monastery.

The hospital of St John and St Thomas was founded for lepers in 1224 by Richard Argentine, Sheriff of Cambridgeshire on the south side of Baldock Street.[3]

The hospital of St Nicholas was situated in the Cambridgeshire side of Royston. It was founded in about 1200 probably by Amphelise, a daughter of Richard the Chamberlain. In 1213 King John granted a fair to celebrate the feast of St Nicholas (8–9 May). The patronage of the hospital descended to Sir Giles Argentine, lord of the manor of Melbourn, who also held the patronage of the other hospital. In the 14th century, St Nicholas' Hospital was put under the same jurisdiction as that of St John and St Thomas, which were subsequently suppressed in 1547.[3][5]

The town having lost its monastic charter, the priory site was obtained by Robert Chester, a gentleman of the bedchamber to Henry VIII, who set up a market. Much of the town was given over to inns catering for travellers mainly travelling between London and York.

King James' Palace, Royston

On 29 April 1603 James VI and I, travelling to Westminster to be crowned as King of England, stayed overnight at the Chester residence. His grandmother Mary of Guise had stayed there in 1551.[6] Attracted by the suitability of the area for hunting, James hired the house for a year. In 1604 he decided to create a royal hunting lodge in the town by demolishing the "Cock" and "Greyhound" inns. The king's lodgings were completed in 1607 and were described in 1652 as "all of brick well-tiled double-built, in length 78 ft., breadth 43 ft., height from eaves to ground 24 ft., thickness of walls 24 inches."[3] The buildings were never big enough to cater for a full court, but provided a suitable spot for hunting, near enough to London for convenience and far enough away to deter intrusion. King James ordered a strict prohibition on anyone taking game from within 16 miles (26 km) of Royston, and an elaborate infrastructure was established to support him in the pursuit of his sport. He returned almost every year to hunt and shoot.[3]

Queen Anne and Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, visited the town once, in 1611–1612. The next year, the queen opposed the marriage of her daughter Princess Elizabeth to Frederick V, Elector Palatine, but the king came to Royston with the Earl of Rochester to negotiate the dowry, and a marriage contract was signed there. Following the marriage, celebrated on St Valentine's Day 1613, the king, Prince Charles, and Frederick came to stay at Royston.[3]

James's successor, King Charles I, visited Royston less often than his father. In June 1647, during the English Civil Wars, Charles was brought through the town as a prisoner of the Parliamentary army. After Charles's execution, the royal buildings fell into disrepair. The Crown sold its last interests in the town in 1866.[3]

William Cobbett mentions the town (somewhat gloomily) in his Rural Rides:

After you quit Ware...the land grows by degrees poorer; the chalk lies nearer and nearer to the surface, till you come to the open common-fields within a few miles of Royston [which] is at the foot of this high poor land; or, rather in a dell, the open side of which looks towards the North. It is a common market town. Not mean, but having nothing of beauty about it...

Royston had a local bank, called the Royston Bank, from about 1806 to 1896, when it merged into the grouping that became Barclays. It was founded by Edward King Fordham and others, and the business was run by the influential local Fordham family.[7][8]

A covered Corn Exchange was established on Market Hill 1829.[9]

The Church of England parish Church of St John the Baptist, Royston, Hertfordshire was severely damaged by a fire that broke out in the early morning of 9 December 2018, with the blaze destroying part of the roof and bell tower.[10] Initially thought to be arson, a police investigation later concluded this not to be the case.[11] The church was reopened in November of 2022, almost 4 years after the fire. An open day was held on the 26th of November.[12]

Royston has three tiers of local government at parish (town), district and county level.

The town lies on the northern slopes of the Hertfordshire Chalk Downs.[3] The Greenwich Meridian, which passes through the town, is identified by a signpost on the north side of Newmarket Road.[38]

Royston sits at the junction of the A10 and A505 roads, both of which are important road links through Hertfordshire and beyond. The town is also convenient for fast links to London and the north, as it is only a short distance from both the A1(M) and M11 motorways.

Nearby air transport links include Luton and Stansted airports, both of which are major air hubs in the South of England.

Royston railway station provides direct commuter links to both London and Cambridge. It is on the Cambridge Line and is a stopping point for regular services operated by Govia Thameslink Railway.

Royston railway crossing

Royston railway crossing

Royston rail crossing
Location	Hertfordshire
Proposer	Hertfordshire County Council
Cost estimate	£3.25m
Geometry	KML

A new rail crossing for pedestrians and cyclists was opened in 2012. The crossing links the northern part of the town with the leisure centre and the main complex of schools. Two options were proposed, a bridge with an estimated cost of £1.5m and the eventually successful subway option estimated at £3.25m. Two locations were also under consideration; one at the 'Coombes Hole' allotment gardens area and a second connecting Green Street and Morton Street. Sustrans elected to build a subway at Coombes Hole allotment gardens.[39]

In 2007 the scheme became one of 79 Sustrans Connect2 projects to receive Big Lottery funding. The Connect2 project makes reference only to the subway option.[40]

Royston's schools are arranged as follows:

• First Schools (Years Reception–4) : Icknield Walk First School; Roman Way Academy; Studlands Rise First School; Tannery Drift First School.
• Middle and Upper schools (Years 5–11): King James Academy Royston
• Colleges (Years 12–13): there aren't any currently
• Additionally there is St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School (Years N-6)

One of the carvings from the Royston Cave

The public open space and nature reserve of Therfield Heath (also known as Royston Heath) overlooks the town from a hill to the south-west. The Icknield Way Path passes through the village on its journey of 110 miles (180 km) from Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire to Knettishall Heath in Suffolk.

In 1742 a strange cave carved out of the chalk was discovered in the centre of Royston. Royston Cave is located underneath the central crossroads of the town. The carvings in the cave have led to much speculation about the origin and function of the cave.[41]

Royston Arts Festival was revived in 2007 and now runs annually around the last week of September or the first week of October.[42] Royston Town Band is a brass band that was founded in the mid-19th century as the Royston Volunteer Band. The band celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2014.[43]

The Battle of Royston was a fictional battle in William Le Queux' The Invasion of 1910. The book describes how a German Army invades England through East Anglia and marches on London. Royston is where a battle takes place which fails to halt their advance.

In the 1965 fictional children's television series, Thunderbirds, one eccentric puppet character who was involved in a rescue mission was called Deborah the Duchess of Royston. The episode was called "The Duchess Assignment".

Royston is a named location toward the end of the novel About a Boy, but is not named in the film adaptation.

Royston is the hometown of Dr. Sharon on Ted Lasso.

Royston and District Twinning Association coordinates twinning relationships with the following partner towns:[44]

• Großalmerode, Hessen, Germany
• La Loupe, Eure-et-Loir, France
• Villanueva de la Cañada, Comunidad de Madrid, Spain

Royston Golf Club is situated on the Therfield Heath and was established in 1892. Has 18 holes, a range of practice facilities, pro shop and welcoming clubhouse.

Royston has a Non-League football club, Royston Town F.C., which plays at Garden Walk. The football club currently plays in the Southern League Premier Division Central league.

Royston Sports Club, situated on the heath, is the home to the town's tennis, squash, hockey and rugby clubs, as well as youth football. Royston Rugby Club's 1st XV play in the Herts/Middlesex 1st division[45] – its Girls' U15 side won the Herts Shield in 2011 and 2012.

Several notable people originate from Royston, including:

• Trumpeter Alison Balsom,[46]
• Blues singer/guitarist Danny Bryant,
• Singing coach Carrie Grant,[47]
• Husband and wife William Barrington-Coupe and Joyce Hatto, perpetrators of "the greatest hoax in classical music", moved to the town.[48][49][50][51] A film was made by Victoria Wood about their life together in 2012 called Loving Miss Hatto.
• Theologian, and founder of Presbyterianism in England, Thomas Cartwright, is reported to have been born in Royston,[52] and fellow theologian Edward Stallybrass.[53]
• William Morton, theatre manager, born in 1838, grew up in Royston. Morton Street was named after his father, George, a leading light in the Royston Tradesmens' Benefit Society.
• Theatre director Robin Belfield,[54] and meteorologist Simon King grew up in Royston.[55]
• Poet Thomas Peyton,[56] and anatomical modeller Joseph Towne were both born in the town.[57] Astronomer and astrologer
• Henry Andrews moved to Royston in 1766 and is buried in the graveyard of St John's Church.[4][58]
• British author Helen Bailey was a resident of the town at the time of her murder in April 2016.[59]
• Thomas Kefford (fl. 1710–1750), a noted English clockmaker, ran his business at The Dial, Fore Street, in Royston.[60]

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Royston.

• Royston town council