Roydon is a village located in the

Epping Forest Epping Forest is a area of ancient woodland, and other established habitats, which straddles the border between Greater London and Essex. The main body of the forest stretches from Epping in the north, to Chingford on the edge of the London ...

district of the county of

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, England. It is located 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west of

Harlow Harlow is a large town and local government district located in the west of Essex, England. Founded as a new town, it is situated on the border with Hertfordshire and London, Harlow occupies a large area of land on the south bank of the upp ...

, 3.5 miles (5.7 km) east of

Hoddesdon Hoddesdon () is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, lying entirely within the London Metropolitan Area and Greater London Urban Area. The area is on the River Lea and the Lee Navigation along with the New River. Hoddesdon ...

and 4.6 miles (7.4 km) northwest of

Epping Epping may refer to: Places Australia * Epping, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Epping railway station, Sydney * Electoral district of Epping, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Epping Forest, Kearns, a he ...

, forming part of the border with

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

. The village lies on the

Stort Navigation The Stort Navigation is the canalised section of the River Stort running from the town of Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire, downstream to its confluence with the Lee Navigation at Feildes Weir near Rye House, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire. H ...

and

River Stort The River Stort is a river in Essex and Hertfordshire, England. It is 24 miles (38 km) long and flows from just south of the village of Langley to the River Lea at Hoddesdon. The river's name is a back-formation; the town of Bishop's Sto ...

. Roydon is recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 as ''Ruindune'', and appears later as ''Reidona'' in ''c.'' 1130, as ''Reindon'' in 1204, and as ''Roindon'' in 1208. The village has a village shop,

sub post office gd, Oifis a' Phuist kw, Sodhva an Post ga, An Post Ríoga , logo = Post Office Logo.svg , type = State-owned private company limited by shares , genre = , predecessor = General Post Office , foundation = 1987 , founder = , location_cit ...

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links heal ...

and church. The church, St Peter's, dates from the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

and was given Grade I

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

status on 20 February 1967. Briggens House dating back to the 18th century was used as a forgery centre for the

WW2 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

SOE.

Transport

Train

The village is served by

Roydon railway station Roydon railway station is on the West Anglia Main Line serving the village of Roydon in Essex, England. It is down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between and stations. Its three-letter station code is RYN. The station ...

on the

West Anglia Main Line The West Anglia Main Line is one of the two main lines that operate out of , the other being the Great Eastern Main Line, which operates services to Ipswich and Norwich via Colchester. It runs generally north through Cheshunt, Broxbourne, Har ...

, with trains operated by Greater Anglia linking the village to

London Liverpool Street Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the t ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

Bus

Education

The village has its own

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

Roydon Primary School Roydon may refer to: Places England *Roydon, Essex ** Roydon railway station ** Roydon Primary School ** Roydon United Reformed Church * Roydon, King's Lynn and West Norfolk *Roydon, South Norfolk Australia * Roydon Island, Tasmania, Australia ...

. The original school building was built in 1876.

Poplars

Roydon is known for its black poplar trees, particularly the World's End Poplar. The Roydon Countrycare Section of the Roydon Society received £3,467 from the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

for the Black Poplar Project.

Recreation

The village is the home of the Roydon Marina Village. The holiday complex comprises a 315 berth marina,

camp site A campsite, also known as a campground or camping pitch, is a place used for overnight stay in an outdoor area. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an area, usually divided into a number of pitches, where people can camp overnight using te ...

, holiday lodges, residential homes, hotel and restaurant called ''Pizza and Steak''. The area encompasses Roydon Mill, a three-storey, brick-built

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine early ...

, built in 1906.

Angling Angling is a fishing technique that uses a fish hook or "angle" (from Old English ''angol'') attached to a fishing line to tether individual fish in the mouth. The fishing line is usually manipulated via a fishing rod, although rodless techniqu ...

is available in the park includes a section of the River Stort, the

weir A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

pool and a mature

gravel pit A gravel pit is an open-pit mine for the extraction of gravel. Gravel pits often lie in river valleys where the water table is high, so they may naturally fill with water to form ponds or lakes. Old, abandoned gravel pits are normally used eithe ...

. Further to the west is the Glen Faba lake which is part of the Lee Valley Park. The name Glen Faba comes from a chalet park that was compulsorily purchased by

Epping Forest District Council Epping may refer to: Places Australia * Epping, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney ** Epping railway station, Sydney * Electoral district of Epping, the corresponding seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Epping Forest, Kearns, a ...

in the early 1970s. Roydon has one dedicated restaurant, Franco's, and three pubs - ''The New Inn'', ''The Crusader'' and ''The White Hart''. The village hall was built in 1920 and is used by local groups.

Sport

The village's cricket team, Roydon C.C. play at the southern end of Occupation Lane. Football team Roydon F.C. are members of the

Essex Olympian Football League The Essex Olympian Football League is a football competition based in England, founded in the 1966–67 season. It has a total of six senior divisions and one under 21 division. The Premier Division sits at step 7 (or level 11) of the National ...

Division One and play at Harlow Road. Formed in 1901, the club played in the Hertford & District League from soon after their formation until the 2000-01 season, when they won each of the Hertford & District League Premier Division championship and the Hertford & District League Jubilee Cup for the first time. They joined the Essex Intermediate League Division Three in 2001, and were runners-up in their first season, winning promotion to the Essex Intermediate League Division Two. They were runners-up of Division Two in 2004-05, and, because of the renaming of the league at this time, won promotion to the Essex Olympian Football League Division One. Following a successful fundraising campaign, tennis courts were built in the village in 1989.

Notable residents

* TV Entertainer,

Michael Barrymore Michael Ciaran Parker (born 4 May 1952), known by his stage name Michael Barrymore, is an English actor, comedian and television presenter of game shows and light entertainment programmes on British television in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s ...

*Musician,

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer, songwriter, and member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined as guitarist and co-lead vocalist in 1967, shortly before the departure of founding member Syd Barrett. P ...

* Actor,

Ray Winstone Raymond Andrew Winstone (; born 19 February 1957) is an English television, stage and film actor with a career spanning five decades. Having worked with many prominent directors, including Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, Winstone is perha ...

* Actress,

Jaime Winstone Jaime Margaret Winstone (born 6 May 1985) is an English actress, best known for her roles in '' Kidulthood'', '' Dead Set'', '' After Hours'' and her portrayal of Barbara Windsor in ''Babs''. Early life and education Winstone was born in Camd ...

* Physicist, Sir Ralph Howard Fowler * Politician, Lord Rushcliffe * Businessman, Lord Sheppard

References

External links

Epping Forest District CouncilEssex County Council
{{authority control Villages in Essex Civil parishes in Essex Epping Forest District