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Royston in Cambridge County England History and GeographyROYSTON, a market town and parish, partly in the hundred of ARMINGFORD, county of CAMBRIDGE, but chiefly in the hundred of ODSEY, county of HERTFORD, 20 miles (N. by E.) from Hertford, and 38 (N.) from London, (parts of the town, exclusively of its own parish, extending into the parishes of Barkway and Therfield, county of Hertford, and into those of Melbourne, Bassingbourn, and Kneesworth, county of Cambridge,) containing 1474 inhabitants. This place is supposed to have had its origin in the reign of William the Conqueror, and to derive its name from a cross having been erected at that period in the highway here, by the Lady Roysia, Countess of Norfolk, which was called Royse's Cross; and a monastery having been established shortly afterwards, by Eustachius de Mere and others, which led to the erection of houses, it acquired the appellation of Royse's town, whence its present name. It had become a considerable town in the reign of Henry IV., when it was nearly consumed by fire; and again, in 1747, it was subjected to the same calamity. A house was built here by James I., who made it his occasional residence, for the enjoyment of hunting and hawking; and it was here that his favourite, the Earl of Somerset, was arrested in his presence, for the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury. At the commencement of the civil war, Charles I. removed to this house from Hampton Court, previously to setting up his standard at Nottingham; and here this unfortunate monarch passed two nights, in June 1647, when a prisoner to the army, which had its head-quarters at this place. The survey of this palace, made during the Commonwealth, describes it as in good repair, but it has since gone to ruin, and but few vestiges of it can be traced. Royston is situated at the intersection of the Iknield-way and the Ermin-street, in a very bleak open country, near a chain of high hills, and, though improved of late, is very irregularly built: it consists of one long and narrow street, crossed by two shorter ones, and neither lighted nor paved; there is a very scantly supply of water, which the inhabitants generally are obliged to purchase. A public walk, planted with trees, has been lately opened, at the expense of Lord Dacre. The malting business is carried on to a considerable extent, and there is a large corn trade. The market, which was granted by Richard I., who also granted a fair, is on Wednesday, for corn, sheep, and pigs, and also for straw-plat; and there are fairs on Whit-Wednesday, attached to which is a pie-powder court; on Shrove-Wednesday; the feast of St. Thomas ? Becket, and the Wednesday in Easter week, pleasure fairs; and one for hiring servants, on the first Wednesday after the 10th of October: a market-house was built in 1830, at the expense of Lord Dacre. A petty session is held every alternate Wednesday. The living is a vicarage, in the jurisdiction of the Commissary of Essex and Herts, concurrently with the Consistorial Court of the Bishop of London, rated in the king's books at £10, endowed with £200 private benefaction, and £700 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of Lord Dacre. The church was originally that of the priory, and dedicated to St. Thomas ? Becket, but was purchased by the inhabitants at the dissolution of the monastery, and, by an act passed in the 32nd of Henry VIII., is called the parish church of St. John the Baptist in Royston: it is a rude, though venerable, structure, with a low square massive tower at its western end, and contains some very ancient monnments; in the vestry-room is a library, comprising about one hundred and fifty volumes, chiefly theological. There is a place of worship for the Society of Friends, and two for Independents. A grammar school was erected by subscription in 1716, but it possesses no endowment, and a house has been recently erected for a free school. In 1769, Mrs. Glover bequeathed £3500 for building and endowing a charity school, but it was never received. An infant school is supported by subscription; and there are Sunday schools in connexion with the different places of worship, in which nearly three hundred children of both sexes are educated. The monastery, at the period of its dissolution, was valued at £89. 16. per annum, and, with the exception of the church, has been entirely demolished. Here was also an hospital, dedicated to St. John and St. James, but there are no vestiges. Many relics of antiquity have been discovered in and about Royston, among which is an ancient chapel, or cave, found near the site of the present market-house by some workmen, in 1742, which had been dug out of the chalk rock, and had an opening from the top: it has been conjectured to have been the oratory and burial-place of the Lady Roysia, although this opinion has been strongly controverted. Tumuli, or barrows, are found on the summits of the adjacent hills, and the discovery of a number of boues and corroded spear heads near the town, renders it probable that it was the scene of an engagement with the Danes. A species of crow, with a whitish head, denominated the 'Royston Crow,' is found on the neighbouring hills, and is peculiar to this part of the kingdom; it emigrates to Sweden in the spring, where it breeds, and returns to pass the winter here. Henry Andrews, many years a resident in this town, was employed by the Board of Admiralty in assisting to compute the celestial observations for the Nautical Almanac; and he was longer and more extensively engaged in making the calculations for Moore's Almanac: he died in 1820, and is buried here. From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale |
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