Royston Cave and the Templar Obsession

In Royston 40 miles north of London, where the ancient Icknield Way once crossed the Roman road known as Ermine Street, is a strange feature known as the Royston Cave. This is a human-made, bell-shaped cavern, about 18 feet in diameter and 30 feet high (5m x 9m), the walls of which are covered with rather crude carvings. It was discovered in the 18th century:

In August 1742, the Cheese & Butter Market of Royston was renovated. One of the workmen dug a hole to erect a bank and discovered a buried millstone. Removing the object by digging around the stone, they stumbled upon a shaft, leading downwards into the chalk. A boy was lowered into the cavity by rope, followed by a small man. They reported there was no subterranean network of tunnels; “just” a bell-shaped cavity.

Still, the locals became excited and fuelled by stories of buried treasure, the cavity was dug out (it had been partially filled with earth), until bedrock was reached. Unfortunately, the soil was not analysed or preserved, but is known to have contained human bones and fragments of pottery and a small piece of brass. The only thing they had to show for their efforts were wall carvings – strange carvings.

The carvings are rather rudimentary scratching, without colour; they depict mostly Christian scenes, several depicting the crucifixion. One carving is more sexual in nature, namely that of a female exposing her genitals to the passer-by. Nevertheless, it has been argued it could potentially have a Christian context, namely that it revolved around St Paul on his road to Damascus. Nevertheless, despite their Christian denomination, there are several pagan images, such as sun wheels and detached human heads.

Two dates are carved on the wall, often interpreted as 1347 and 1350. However, they are in Arabic numerals, which were not in common use in 14th century England, and some think the numbers should be read 1547 and 1550. (Despite the confident assertion of Baring-Gould, Arabic numerals were known in medieval England. They were sometimes used to mark off sections of royal court rolls from the early 1300s; I've seen them, and Michael Clanchy told me what they were. But they were not common.) Others think they were carved much later anyway.

In 1852, archaeologist Joseph Beldam investigated the cave, and he produced these drawings of the carvings. As you see by comparison with the photographs, Beldam's drawings are much simplified, but they help you get an idea of what is present. In the central drawing above, on the left, is one of the most famous figures:

One of the most prominent carvings is that of a crowned woman, holding an eight-spoked wheel, which has been interpreted as St Catherine. It would follow the custom that Christian saints are depicted with the instrument of their martyrdom, in her case the wheel. But others have interpreted her as the Queen of the Underworld, Persephone, or the Roman goddess Fortuna, who is known to have held the Wheel of Fortune. The so-called “sun wheels” could therefore be Wheels of Fortune, or could remain linked with the cult of the sun.

The obvious interpretation of the cave is that it is a storage cellar later used as a hermitage or spiritual retreat. But then why was it placed by this famous crossroads? And why was it intentionally closed off by putting a millstone over the entrance? A crossroads is a place of special magical potency in many magical systems, including those of pagan Europe, and a stone cross had been placed at this one by the 11th century. Millstones also had magical and spiritual associations. All sorts of rumors have grown up around the cave, some associated with the Protestant Reformation (monks in hiding from Henry VIII's henchmen), other with the Masons. Most prominent, though, are rumors about the Knights Templar. St. Catherine and St. Christopher, who figure prominently in the carvings, were important to the Templars, and the Templars owned property in Royston. It is said that the Templar symbol of two knights on a single horse is present in the cave, although I have not found a picture of this. It has been said that the carvings at Royston resemble those carved by Templars who were imprisoned in the Chateaux de Chinon, in the Loire Valley, of which I also can't find a picture.

Of course the Templar connection is being played up now, by all that sort of people. One thing the bothers me is the connection made between the possibly pagan imagery in the cave and the Templars. To the extent that we know anything about the spirituality of the Knights Templar (and we know very little), they were completely conventional Christians for their time. They were neither more nor less likely to use symbols derived from pagan antecedents than other Christians, and like other Christians they probably did not even know that some symbols they thought of as Christian had pagan sources. I can see no reason to associate this cave with the Templars, and a half-mad hermit who spent too much time underground seems to me like a better explanation for these carvings.

It is an intriguing mystery, though.