The sleepy, leafy town of Royston is located on the Hertfordshire-Cambridge border in the UK. Driving past it may appear pretty enough, but it boasts a mysterious cave ornate with carvings. Why the cave was made and who used is unknown, although there are plenty of ideas.
The cave is open to small groups of visitors and Digital Journal’s UK reporter paid a visit.
Royston Cave is an artificial cave located in Katherine’s Yard, Melbourn Street, located beneath the crossroads formed by Ermine Street and the Icknield Way. It is protected as a scheduled ancient monument.
Going down to the cave requires traversing a steep incline and several steps; it is worth the passage down, for it opens up to reveal a wonderous cham and arena of fascinating history.
The chamber is a circular, bell-shaped chamber cut into the chalk bedrock.
The various, amber-fused spotlights revel a series of carvings, some in differing styles suggesting more than one stone carver at work. This adds to the mystery of the caves. Were these the work of one person – such a devout hermit – or several people designing a collective place of worship?
The guide provides an overview of what is known about the history of the caves and speculates as to the view of historians about the greater number of unknowns.
It has been speculated that the cave was used by the Knights Templar, who founded nearby town of Baldock, although no one is certain. The Templars were a military order of the Catholic faith, and one of the wealthiest and most popular military orders in Western Christianity, until the fell foul of King Philip IV of France.
Another possibility is that the cave was used by Augustinian monks from the local priory.
Some of the tales reflect different religious events over the period that the Bible depicts as the time of Adam and Eve through to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and beyond.
The cave was rediscovered in 1742 by a workman who, keen to explore further, lowered a child down with a flashlight to explore the ‘new’ discovery.
Given a prominent place is St. Catherine. Catherine of Alexandria was, according to tradition, a Christian saint who was martyred in the early fourth century at the hands of the emperor Maxentius. The first attempt to take hr life was by breaking her body on a wheel. An apparent miracle broke the wheel although she was later beheaded.
Also represented is St. Christopher, a traveller who, legend has it, carried a child, who was unknown to him, across a river before the child revealed himself as Christ.
In November 2018, the Cave was added to Historic England’s Heritage at Risk Register and opened up to visitors to gaze at the strange and mysterious carvings and wonder as to the origins of this remarkable structure.
