Place:Royston, Hertfordshire, England

Royston is a town and civil parish in northern Hertfordshire. The town grew around the crossroads of the Roman Ermine Street and prehistoric Icknield Way. A market was established here in medieval times. The parish was created in 1540 from parts of the parishes of Therfield, Reed and Barkway. The Priory Church of the then recently-dissolved priory became the town's parish church.

Historically the boundary between Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire ran along the Icknield Way, splitting the town between the two counties, although Market Hill, the parish church and the core parts of the town were always within Hertfordshire. The boundary between Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire was gradually moved northwards during the late 19th and 20th century, most recently in 1989 when the boundary became the town's northern bypass on the A505 road (the modern successor to the ancient Icknield Way).

Research Tips

• The hundred of Odsey: Introduction and map as provided by British History Online in the Victoria County History of Hertfordshire, volume 3, pp 192-193
• The parish of Royston ibid, volume 3, pp 253-265
• Ordnance Survey map of Hertfordshire 1900 provided by A Vision of Britain through Time
• Ordnance Survey map of Hertfordshire 1944 provided by A Vision of Britain through Time