Home > Essex > Roydon > The Crusader The Crusader
Date of photo: 1960s	Picture source: Carol Springham
The Crusader was situated at 42 High Street. This pub closed in 2020 during Covid.
Local newspaper review by John Cutting, 1960s
The last man to stand in the stocks at Roydon died only five years ago but these relics of the past on the Green together with the ruined splendours of Nether Hall and the mellowness of the 13th Century church all conspire to give the town the dignified appearance of respectable antiquity. Situated by the River Stort on the Essex-Hertfordshire border, Roydon somehow manages, moreover, to retain its rural atmosphere in the face of the encroaching urbanisation of Harlow.
It was, therefore, more than a little unexpected to discover in Roydon High Street one of the most modern inns to be opened in the Country. The Crusader was built only two years ago on the site of an earlier Public House which was known as The Temple.
Outside the inn there is an old hitching rail - suitably annotated - although I am sure that no horse has yet been asked to make use of the facilities provided. An attractive modern door leads directly to the single bar with a well-designed counter and in the same room, on a raised dais and discretely separated by a low wooden balustrade, is the restaurant.
The decor is original and striking. On white wareite panels are reproductions of brass rubbings of knights and their ladies taken from various churches all over the country. The photographic process used has brought outclearly the details of the armour and the dresses of the ladies and the deep blacks stand out sharply against the white of the panels and contrast vividly with the light Swedish pine woodwork. The same pattern is extended to the essential offices where the doors are labelled 'Knights' and 'Damsels' with an appropriate picture for those unable to read.
Additional decoration is provided b a wonderful exhibition of armour and weapons used during the period when wars were considered an outlet for chivalry. The frightening appearance of a seven-flanged mace, specially designed to be used against armoured cavalry makes, however, this weapon, at least, appear horribly functional. Other exhibits include a gauntlet, daggers, swords, a helmet and a circular Saracen shield, described as having been used throughout the MIddle East, India and Persia from the 11th to the 19th Centuries.
The Manager of the Crusader Inn is Mr. Neville Jouan and both he and his delightful wife, Inge, are experts in the trade and are determined to raise even higher the standard of the meals. Business lunches are served every day and in the evening the wide choice of a la carte meals will be increased by the introduction of two or three Continental dishes. There is an excellent cellar below the inn where a wide range of good wines is kept and Neville Jouan intends gradually to add some more expensive and vintage wines.
To assist him he has a cosmopolitan staff which consists of a Spanish waiter and waitress and an Australian bar-tender. Neville, himself, comes from Jersey and Inge is German while, contrary to normal practice, the chef is English.
The striking figure which is the centre-piece of the decoration is presumably that of Richard, the Lion-hearted, who appears to be treating a lion cub (? a poodle) rather badly. The spirit of the Crusaders with their accent on chivalry must surely be one of the virtues and I am sure that Neville Jouan will approve the decoration in the Crusader where it has been 'set in imprint to the intent that noble men may see and learn the noble acts of chivalry, the gentle and virtuous deeds that some knights used in those days.
Brewers: McMullen & Sons Ltd
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