Royston Cave

Summary

A man-made bell-shaped chamber, cut into the middle chalk bedrock which underlies the town. The walls are decorated with carvings, which on stylistic grounds are generally accepted to date from around the thirteenth century. The cave was discovered in 1742 and the present entrance tunnel from the side of No 8 Melbourn Street was excavated in 1790.

Reasons for Designation

Royston Cave is listed at Grade I for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:
* the bell-shaped chamber, cut into the bedrock of the town, is a remarkable man-made feature without parallel, in structural terms, either in England or in Western Europe;
* the figurative carvings which cover the lower part of the cave wall are similarly unique in Western Europe; an extensive study in the late C20 found comparable examples only in Czechia and Palestine;
* despite their age and the erosion caused both by early visitors and modern environmental conditions, the wall carvings and structure of the cave survive well, enabling detailed analysis of the artistic style and symbolic nature of the sculpture.

Historic interest:
* the wall carvings of the cave are generally accepted to date from around the C13, however the cave may have origins in the prehistoric or Roman period;
* for the documentation and interpretation of the cave and its carvings since it was discovered in 1742, including works by William Stukeley (1743 and 1746), Rev Charles Parkin (1744 and 1748) and Joseph Beldam (1877), and detailed analysis in the late C20.

Group value:
* the cave forms a group with nearby listed buildings on Melbourn Street including Nos. 2, 3, 5, 7, and 6 and 8 Melbourn Street (each listed Grade II), Royston Manor House (listed Grade II*), and the Church of St John the Baptist (listed Grade I).

History

Royston Cave is a remarkable man-made feature without parallel, in structural terms, either in England or in Western Europe. Despite intensive study, the reasons for the construction or elaboration of the chamber in the medieval period remain open to debate, although the choice of a subterranean location and the difficulty of access clearly point to a ritual rather than purely functional purpose. Structural evidence within the cave suggests an elaborate internal framework and flooring, adding to our knowledge of the manner in which the internal space was utilised. Further evidence relating to this structure will remain sealed beneath the unexcavated sections of the floor. It is to be hoped that artefactual evidence in these locations, or the scientific analysis of the material at the floor of the cave, may provide further clues to the date, duration and character of use, and possibly provide insights into the cave's origin.

The figurative carvings which cover the lower part of the cave wall are similarly unique in western Europe, an extensive study in the late C20 having found comparable examples only in Czechia and Palestine. Despite their age and the erosion caused both by early visitors and modern environmental conditions, the carvings and other features of the cave survive well, enabling detailed analysis of the artistic style and symbolic nature of the sculpture. The iconography represented in the carvings is undoubtedly medieval in date, but the source of inspiration - whether the Templar order or some lesser-known cult - will continue to generate debate. Nevertheless, the carvings allow a highly valuable insight into the workings of the medieval mind and provide the visiting public with a vivid impression of an expression of medieval faith outside the usual surroundings of the church.

Although used in the medieval period, the cave was evidently sealed up and its existence remained unknown until 1742 when workmen erecting a bench for the butter market in the Mercat House (since demolished) discovered a millstone closing the entrance to a narrow vertical shaft. This shaft, now sealed beneath the modern road surface, descended some 4.8m to enter the cave about half-way up the north-western side. Toe holds had originally been cut into the opposite sides of the shaft to ease access, but some of these were subsequently lost as the opening was enlarged to remove a large quantity of loose earth from the cavity beyond.

On stylistic grounds the wall carvings are generally accepted to date from around the C13, although whether this provides a date for the cave's construction is open to debate. Origins in the prehistoric or Roman period have been postulated but, if so, later use and elaboration has obscured any evidence. Artefacts discovered during the initial clearance included only a few sherds of pottery (probably medieval), a human skull and some bones, an indeterminate piece of brass and, perhaps, a small pipe-clay seal bearing the impression of a fleur-de-lys (found on Stukeley’s second visit); though recorded these items have since been lost. Finds from the 1976 excavation were limited to objects left since its discovery.

The function of the cave has also raised considerable speculation. It almost certainly lay beneath a building, but a purely prosaic use, such as a cellar or cold store, is unlikely given the nature of the carvings and the difficulty of access, and a conventional religious use is doubtful given the complete lack of documentary evidence for its existence. William Stukeley, who wrote two works on the cave between 1743 and 1746, suggested that it formed the private oratory for Lady Roisia de Vere, wife of Geoffrey de Mandeville. The Rev Charles Parkin refuted Stukeley's arguments in two successive books, claiming that the cave was a hermit's cell and oratory associated with the cross which stood at the crossroads nearby. Neither theory is susceptible to proof. Joseph Beldam, writing in 1877, introduced the idea that the carvings (perhaps applied within a cave of greater antiquity) dated from the period of the Crusades, and detailed analysis undertaken in the late C20 has led to suggestion that the cave had, at some time, a connection with the Knights Templar. Some of the more obscure symbols interspersed amongst the figurative sculpture have parallels on the walls of the Tour du Coudray in the Castle of Chinon where many Templars were confined after 1307, following the suppression of the order in France by King Philip the Fair. It may follow that a group from the order, which was quite prominent in the locality, used the cave as a place of worship and perhaps a refuge in which to avoid persecution during the widespread suppression which followed the edict of Pope Clement V in 1314.

Visitors to the cave in the C18 were lowered by winch through the original entrance shaft. The present entrance, a 22m long tunnel from 8 Melbourn Street, was excavated during the winter of 1790 by the then owner, Thomas Watson, and was sited to penetrate the base of the cave wall on the north-eastern side, the only part which was not covered with carvings. Royston Cave was scheduled in 1923, and listed at Grade I in 1976.

Details

A man-made bell-shaped chamber, cut into the middle chalk bedrock which underlies the town. The walls are decorated with carvings, which on stylistic grounds are generally accepted to date from around the C13. The cave was discovered in 1742 and the present entrance tunnel from the side of No 8 Melbourn Street was excavated in 1790.

EXTERIOR: Royston Cave is a man-made bell-shaped chamber centred at TL3562040702, located under 1 Melbourn Street and the pavement and road north of 1 Melbourn Street. The cave is cut into the middle chalk bedrock which underlies the town and was originally accessed via a vertical shaft. This shaft, now sealed beneath the modern road surface, descended some 4.8m to enter the cave about half-way up the north-western side. The cave is now accessed on the north side of Melbourn Street, via a doorway on the west side of 8 Melbourn Street.

INTERIOR: From the doorway on the west side of 8 Melbourn Street, steps and a 22m tunnel (excavated in 1790) descend southwest to the north-east wall of the cave (the only part which was not covered with carvings). The cave is a man-made bell-shaped chamber cut into the middle chalk bedrock which underlies the town. It measures around 5.2m in diameter at the base and 8.2m in height (7.3m from the floor of the cave to the roof of the cave plus 0.9m from the top of the cave to the grille outside No 1 Melbourn Street). The roof of the cave is a narrow dome, supported or strengthened by a tile work crown at the time of its discovery, but since bricked over leaving a narrow shaft which leads to a grille in the modern pavement north of 1 Melbourn Street. Visitors to the cave in the C18 were lowered by winch through the original entrance shaft. Toe holds had originally been cut into the opposite sides of the shaft to ease access, but some of these were subsequently lost as the opening was enlarged to remove a large quantity of loose earth from the cavity beyond.

A step or podium, some 0.9m wide and 0.2m high, extends from the base of the wall, leaving an octagonal depression in the centre of the floor. This step is interrupted by an irregular hollow against the north-east wall, which was cleaned out at the time of the cave's discovery and referred to as a ‘grave' by William Stukeley, who visited shortly after. It is now thought to have served as a sump, cut to collect and drain water which permeates through the walls of the cave. A narrow cornice, decorated with reticulated markings, runs around the walls approximately 2.4m above the podium, separating the cylindrical lower section of the cave from the tapering profile above.

Almost the entire area between the podium and cornice is decorated with an elaborate series of medieval carvings in low relief, which on stylistic grounds are generally accepted to date from around the C13. These include representations of The Crucifixion and possibly of the Holy Sepulchre and Holy Family; unequivocal depictions of St Christopher, St Lawrence and St Katherine, and figures which have been identified as St George, Thomas Becket, Richard I and his queen Berengaria, and the biblical King David. Christ and the disciples are thought to be represented in a crowded panel of figures above ‘St George', and other groups of figures have tentatively been identified as saints and martyrs from the crosses and hearts which adorn their dress. The main carvings, which may have been illuminated by lamps placed in small niches or attached to brackets inserted in small holes in the walls, are interspersed with other symbols including disembodied heads, hands with superimposed hearts, and circular devices. Larger niches, not unlike aumbries, occupy several places within the frieze. Many of the sculptures were originally coloured. Traces of the pigments were still visible in the C19 and, although this is no longer visible, late-C20 scientific analysis confirmed the presence of residue.

The cave was almost certainly divided into two levels by a floor above the line of the cornice which would have placed the carvings in a lower chamber. Two quadrants of the compacted earth covering the floor of the cave (within the podium) were excavated in 1976 revealing indications of footings for a timber structure. This evidence, together with a number of shallow niches in the wall above the cornice, suggests a frame or trestle on perhaps four legs supporting a platform which was stabilised by beams pressed into the wall. Such a floor would explain the position of the original entrance (half-way up the cave wall) and the existence of several larger niches which would only have been accessible from this level. A second shaft, too narrow for access, leads upwards from higher in the dome on the north-east side of the cave. This may have served for ventilation but has also been proposed as a chimney allowing fumes to escape from a cresset (a large oil lamp) set at the level of this floor. An area of the wall beneath this opening (which is blocked below street level) is of carved clunch and tinctured to resemble brickwork.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

161823

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Beamon, S P, Royston Cave - Used by Saints or Sinners, (1992)
Beamon, S P, Donel, L G, An Investigation of Royston Cave, (1993)
Beldam, J, The Royston Cave, (1877)
Farmer, D H, The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, (1990)
Houldcroft, P T, The Medieval Structure within Royston Cave, (1995)
Parkin, C, An answer to, or remarks upon Dr Stukeley's, Origines Roystonianae, (1744)
Parkin, C, A reply, to the peevish, weak, and malevolent objections in Origines Roystonianae No.2, (1748)
Stevenson, M, Guide to the Royston Cave, (1995)
Stevenson, M, Bronze Age Funerary Deposits in the Royston Area in Hertfordshire Archaeology, Vol. 9, (1986), 8-14
Stukeley, W, Discourse on the Antiquities in Britain in Palaeographia Britannica, Vol. I, (1743), 5
Stukeley, W, Discourse on the Antiquities in Britain in Palaeographia Britannica, Vol. II, (1746), 57

Websites
Royston Cave, accessed 03 March 2026 from https://www.roystoncave.co.uk/

Other
Conversation with curator & historian, Beamon, S and Vincent, J, (1996)
Discussion of iconography, Went, C, (1996)

End of official list entry

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