Guest Article by Emma Shaw, Cave Manager Royston Cave was discovered by accident in August 1742 by workmen erecting a bench in the market house above. The bench was to be used by traders selling their produce at the cheese and butter market held there. On digging foundations for the bench, a millstone was found in the ground at a depth of approx. 30 cm. When lifted, the millstone uncovered a vertical, well-like shaft approx. 60 cm in diameter. Toeholds had been cut into the chalk at equal...

Warrens Printers In January 1855, Royston printer John Warren published the first edition of ‘The Royston Crow’. It started as monthly publication containing articles of interest, local news and adverts. In September 1876 it moved to weekly editions.   John Warren grew up in his father’s printing business. As a young man he moved to London to work as a reader for several publishers. After his father’s death in 1847, Warren returned to Royston and took over the printing business.   In addition...

Guest article by Rosemarie Gant, Chrishall Archive My Grandmother, Irene Cranwell’s collection of Chrishall village information was huge. And very much paper based. She was definitely “pre-digital”. Photographs were evocative, and reams of writing outlined some of the fascinating finds she had made. But for some reason one of the things I found really intriguing were the bits of paper with diagrams and words. What were they? They were field names. Whenever anyone mentioned the name of a field...