Continuing our republished series, “A Question of Royston”, covering the little-known history of Royston, as written by the late Councillor F John Smith (1932-2021).
This article, originally written in 2009, looks back at the closure of Woolworths on Royston High Street – a much-loved store that served the community for generations.
Following the chain’s nationwide closure in 2008, the Royston store shut its doors and the building has since undergone a complete transformation. What was once Woolworths is now home to three businesses – Kooky Nohmad coffee shop and co-working space, Scrivens Opticians & Hearing Care and the EACH charity shop – while the upper floors have been converted into smart, modern flats. A familiar landmark, refreshed for a new chapter in the town’s story.
“At the risk of sounding ancient I can truthfully recall the buildings that stood on the Woolworth Site. There were two. On the corner of George Lane was the dilapidated shop of the late “Barmy” Matthews-one of the town’s real characters, who had allowed his place to go to rack and ruin over many years. When he died (he was found in his Barkway Road orchard, having fallen while picking apples), his
High Street home was the first half of Woolworth’s to be built. The northern half of the new store was built later and replaced what had been the Job Centre (or Labour Exchange to give it its earlier title).
“When the Matthews shop was demolished two deep wells were found. Popular talk was that one was 300 feet deep and the other 150 feet deep; how true these figures were I cannot say. Suffice it to record that both were not filled in but were merely capped, so presumably somewhere beneath the aisles of Woolworth’s we have been liable to take a long drop!!
“Why the wells? Well, of course (forgive the pun), Royston has no water course and the town has always been dependent for its water supply on deep wells in the chalk. Indeed, no settlement here was possible until the Normans brought the technology for well-digging into England after 1066 and all that.”
You can find out more about Royston’s history in the book “A Royston Miscellany” by F John Smith, available to borrow or reference in Royston Library
