Royston Cave - Templar Heritage?

Royston Cave, in Essex, is one of the most mysterious ancient sites in England. It has long been said to have been used by the Kinghts Templar, but this remains speculation - hence our question mark!

Royston Cave is an artificial cave located in Katherine's Yard, Melbourn Street, Royston, England. It is located beneath the crossroads formed by the Roman road Ermine Street and the even older Icknield Way. It is protected as a scheduled ancient monument. It has been speculated that it was used by the Knights Templar, who founded nearby Baldock. There are numerous theories about the Cave covering Freemasons and Templars as well as possibilities that the Cave was a prison or an anchorite cell. However, none of these theories have enough hard evidence to warrant their being adopted by the Cave Trust. It is open to the public in the summer months on Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday afternoons between Easter and October.

Royston Cave is a circular, bell-shaped chamber cut into the chalk bedrock. It is 8 metres (26 feet) high and 5 metres (17 feet) in diameter with a circumferential octagonal podium. The origin of this chamber is unknown. This cave is unique in Britain for its numerous medieval carvings on the walls; comparable examples exist only in the former Czechoslovakia and Palestine. Some of the figures are thought to be those of St. Catherine of Alexandria, St. Lawrence and St. Christopher.

Royston Cave has been the source of much speculation, although it is hard to determine much about its origin and function.

• Knights Templar: It has been speculated that the cave may have been used by the Knights Templar before their dissolution by Pope Clement V in 1312. It has been speculated that the cave was divided into two floors by a wooden floor, the evidence consisting of a single posthole and what may be beam slots to secure the platform to the walls. Two figures close together near the damaged section may be all that remains of a known Templar symbol, two knights riding the same horse. However, as the image has been repaired in modern times, this cannot be confirmed.

Although the origin of the cave is unknown, its rediscovery is well documented. In August 1742 a workman dug a hole in the Butter Market to build footings for a new bench for the patrons and traders. He discovered a buried millstone and dug around it to remove it. He found a shaft leading down into the chalk. When discovered, the cavity was more than half-filled with earth. The rumour was that there must be a treasure buried beneath the soil inside the cave. Several cartloads of soil were removed until bedrock was reached. The soil was discarded as worthless, which denied us the opportunity to investigate it with modern archeological techniques which might have solved the mystery. So now, we may mever know!

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