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 Lond ...

district of the county of

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, England. It is located west of

Harlow Harlow is a town and local government district located in the west of Essex, England. Founded as a Planned community, new town in 1947, it is situated on the border with Hertfordshire, and occupies a large area of land on the south bank of the ...

, 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 northwest of Epping, forming part of the border with

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

. 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, Hertfordshire, Rye House, Hoddesd ...

and

River Stort The River Stort is a river in Essex and Hertfordshire, England. It is long and flows from near the village of Langley to the River Lea at Hoddesdon. The river's name is a back-formation from the name of the town of Bishop's Stortford. The 1 ...

. 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

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 A general merchant store (also known as general merchandise store, general dealer, village shop, or country store) is a rural or small-town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, someti ...

, sub post office,

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 medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

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 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

and was given Grade I listed status on 20 February 1967.

Briggens House Briggens House is a Grade II listed 18th-century house and parklands near the village of Roydon, Essex, England. It has a number of features from the garden designer Charles Bridgeman from 1720. There are also some remains of the pleasure garden ...

, dating back to the 18th century, was used as a forgery centre for the

WW2 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising ...

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 stati ...

on the

West Anglia Main Line The West Anglia Main Line is one of the two main line railways that operate out of (the other being the Great Eastern Main Line to Ipswich and Norwich). It runs generally north through Cheshunt, Broxbourne, Harlow, Bishop's Stortford and ...

, with trains operated by

Greater Anglia Greater Anglia (legal name Transport UK East Anglia Limited) is a British train operating company owned as a joint venture by Transport UK Group and Mitsui & Co. It operates the East Anglia franchise, providing the commuter and inter-city se ...

linking the village to

London Liverpool Street Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a major 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 ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Bus

Education

The village has its own

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

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 N ...

. The original school building was built in 1876.

Poplars

Roydon is known for its

black poplar ''Populus nigra'', the black poplar, is a species of cottonwood poplar, the type species of section ''Aigeiros'' of the genus ''Populus'', native to Europe, southwest and central Asia, and northwest Africa.Flora Europaea''Populus nigra''/ref> ...

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 Campsite, campground, and camping pitch are all related terms regarding a place used for camping (an overnight stay in an outdoor area). The usage differs between British English and American English. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an ...

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

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

, built in 1906.

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

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 water 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. Gravel pit lakes are typically nutrient rich and ...

. Further to the west is the Glen Faba lake which is part of the

Lee Valley Park Lee Valley Regional Park is a long linear park, much of it green spaces, running through the northeast of Greater London, Essex and Hertfordshire. The park follows the course of the River Lea (Lee) along the Lea Valley from Ware in Hertfords ...

. 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 h ...

in the early 1970s. Roydon has one dedicated restaurant, Franco's, and three pubs - The New Inn, The Crusader (now closed) 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 December 13 of this year is the beginning of signed 32-bit Unix time, and is scheduled to end in January 19, 2038. Summary Political and military 1901 started with the unification of multiple British colonies in Australia on January ...

, 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 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, 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 comedian, influencer and television presenter of game shows and light entertainment programmes on British television in the 1980s, 1990s and 200 ...

; it was at a March 2001 party at his Roydon home that the

death of Stuart Lubbock Stuart Lubbock (1 October 196931 March 2001) was an English meat-factory worker who died under suspicious circumstances at the home of television personality Michael Barrymore on 31 March 2001. Barrymore and two others presentJames Futers and Sim ...

occurred. Lubbock, 31, was found floating in Barrymore's swimming pool. *Musician

David Gilmour David Jon Gilmour ( ; born 6 March 1946) is an English guitarist, singer and songwriter who is a member of the rock band Pink Floyd. He joined in 1967, shortly before the departure of the founder member Syd Barrett. By the early 1980s, Pink F ...

* 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 known ...

* Actress

Jaime Winstone Jaime Margaret Winstone (born 6 May 1985) is an English actress, best known for her roles in ''Kidulthood'' (2006), ''Goldplated'' (2006), ''Dead Set (TV series), Dead Set'' (2008), ''Donkey Punch (2008 film), Donkey Punch'' (2008), ''Boogie ...

* Physicist Sir Ralph Howard Fowler * Politician

Lord Rushcliffe Henry Bucknall Betterton, 1st Baron Rushcliffe, (15 August 1872 – 18 November 1949), known as Sir Henry Betterton, Bt, between 1929 and 1935, was a British barrister and Conservative politician. He served as Minister of Labour under Ramsay MacD ...

* Businessman Lord Sheppard

References

External links

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