Exactly what Royston Cave was or the purpose it has served has left historians scratching their heads and an eager sleuthing public to come up with some truly fascinating conspiracies. The cave itself is located in a small town by the name of Royston in Hertfordshire. The cave is a man made monument, 17 feet in diameter and 25 feet in height. Chiseled from chalk bedrock, the circular cave is rather benign until one observes a multitude of carvings. An odd dichotomy of figures, such as Catholic saints, the Virgin Mary and the Pope of the time are mixed with pagan fertility deities and sigils. Since a speculative theory was proposed in the 1970s, the Knights Templar have been named as the originators of this odd dwellling, serving as a shrine and key to one of the most popular and persistent theories of modern times: the Knights Templar were aware of and protected the bloodline of Jesus Christ.
This theory supposes Jesus had a child with Mary Magdalene, the devout female follower sharing many important Biblical stories with her male apostolic counterparts. With the persecution and death of Jesus, came an outright determination from Jewish rulers to destroy all traces of Jesus and his bloodline. Thus, the Knights Templar took responsibility of relocating Jesus’s child and Mary Magdalene to an undisclosed location, and the knowledge of their whereabouts was passed down generation after generation to other honored members of the Knight’s Templar. The Holy Grail was not the chalice Jesus Christ had sipped from during his famed last supper, rather the Holy Grail was a child with blessed blood running through it’s veins.
Perhaps one of the more pressing questions about the specific origin and purpose of the cave is its inception. However, even answering this question seems to cause contradictory and frustrating arguments among historians and archaeologists. The cave was rediscovered in 1742, and the initial clearance of the cave was not done in a fashion that resembles any of the careful procedure archaeologists are known for today. Shovels were used to clear and dig soil, and the soil was then shoveled into buckets that were pulled along rope, similar to an assembly line. The soil was said to contain a human skull and various artifacts, but none of these items were kept.
Unfortunately, the carelessness of the 18th century archaeologists may have cost future historians a great deal, as these artifacts may have helped date the origin of the cave and its original occupants. The one piece of reliable information we do have regarding the cave’s initial contents comes from antiquary William Stukeley, who upon exploration in the same year, discovered a pipeclay cup. Due to a fleur-de-lys design located on the cup, Stukeley mistook the cup for medieval origins. Despite his speculation, modern inspection of the slipware cup dates it to have been created around the 16th or 17th century.