walthamabbey










		Your local Councils Waltham Abbey Town Council, Town Hall, Highbridge Street, Waltham Abbey EN9 1DE Telephone: 01992 714949 Epping Forest District Council, Civic Offices, Epping, Essex CM16 4BZ Telephone: 01992 564000 Essex County Council, County Hall, Chelmsford, Essex CM1 1LZ Telephone: 01245 492211 Emergency Services Police, Fire & Ambulance Telephone: 999 Police (non emergency) Telephone: 01992 652800 St. Margaret's Hospital, The Plain, Epping, Essex Telephone: 01992 561666 Princess Alexander Hospital, Hamstel Road, Harlow Essex Telephone: 01279 444455 Doctors Doctors Berry and Kandasamy, 17-18 Maynard Court, Waltham Abbey Telephone: 01992 761387 Doctors Garkal and Chandak, 61 Farm Hill Road, Waltham Abbey Telephone: 01992 713891 Dr. Lakha, 34 Sun Street, Waltham Abbey Telephone: 01992 718711 Doctors Llewelyn and David-John, Old Society HO, 5 Church Street, Waltham Abbey Telephone: 01992 719000 Doctors Misra and Sahni, Abbey Surgery, 36 Howard Business Park, Waltham Abbey Telephone: 01992 715755 Doctors Pymont, Dhawan and Engineer, The Health Centre, Greenyard, Waltham Abbey Telephone: 01992 714088 Dentists Denture Clinic Waltham Abbey Essex Telephone: 01992 716040 B.P. Nolan and Associates, 20 Farm Hill Road, Waltham Abbey Telephone: 01992 712700 D. Sackwild, 2 Market Square, Waltham Abbey Telephone: 01992 715111 B. Stephen, Cobbinsbrook Dental Practice, 28 Honey Lane, Waltham Abbey Telephone: 01992 711199 Electricity Emergency 24 hours a day 7 days a week Telephone: 0181 366 1122 Gas Emergency British Gas Transco Telephone: 0800 111999 General Services Citizens Advice Bureau - Telephone: 01992 710353 Waltham Abbey Library - Telephone: 01992 713717 Parish Office - Telephone: 01992 767897 Social Services - Telephone: 01992 701188 Tourist Information Centre - Telephone: 01992 652295 Museum - Telephone: 01992 716882 Clinic - Telephone: 01992 760400

	History Waltham Abbey is a town steeped in history. It is most famous nowadays for being the reputed resting place of King Harold who famously died at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, after suffering an arrow in his eye. King Harold's tomb is marked in the church grounds of Waltham Abbey Church in the position believed to be the high altar of the former splendid Abbey. King Harold's Standard Bearer Earl Tovi founded the Abbey. He formed a community and built a Church to serve it and it was believed the Church housed a fragment from the cross of Christ. After the Norman conquest the Norman's gave the manors in Waltham to supporters of William the Conqueror. In 1177 this was changed and the secular canons were dissolved and Henry II revested the tithes of the manors in the Abbey and re-established it as a house of Augustine Canons. It officially became an Abbey in 1184. Extensive buildings were erected at the Eastern end in contrast to the great Norman Naive and for many years the Abbey had a powerful influence on the area with many noble associations and was often visited by monarchs who hunted in the Royal forest. A most distinguished guest was Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, who later had much to do with events that led to the reformation. Throughout the Middle Ages the Abbey and surrounding areas thrived and rights to hold a market and fairs were granted during the reign of Richard I, and the fairs became great events. The Abbey has the distinction of being the last great Abbey to go under the reformation in 1540. After this the lands passed to Sir Anthony Denny and the great monastic buildings were destroyed leaving just the original naive. Waltham Abbey lies on the Greenwich Meridian 0 degrees longitude. The Town still retains character from long ago with timber framed buildings overlooking Market Square where the town has enjoyed a market for the past 700 years (now held Tuesdays and Saturdays). Other significant historical remains include Harold's Bridge, also known as Stoney Bridge, which was built in the 14th Century across the Cornmill stream and the 12th Century Abbey Gateway, which still stands to this day and is remarkably well preserved. Other places of interest in Waltham Abbey include the Museum which is situated in Sun Street in two timber framed houses dating from 1520 and there is the Lea Valley Parks Countryside Centre with it's beautiful rose gardens and dragon fly sanctuary. To the West side of the town is the Lea Navigational Canal, once used to transport gunpowder along the River Lea to London docks. The gunpowder was manufactured in the now closed former Royal Gunpowder Mills which spanned 184 acres. The Ministry of Defence who ran the Gunpowder Mills for 300 years have now given the site to a Trust with a sizeable endowment and the site will open as a Gunpowder Museum in the year 2000.

The Abbey at Waltham Holy Cross The Abbey at Waltham was the last in the country to be dissolved by Henry VIII in 1540. There had been a church on the site for hundreds of years, although the building had been rebuilt several times. A settlement existed here in Saxon times, but the earliest recorded history of the town dates back to the reign of King Canute (d.1035) when a member of the royal court, Tovi the Proud, brought a miraculous stone crucifix from his estate in Somerset to Waltham. From this is derived the old name for the district, Waltham Holy Cross. The church containing the cross was rebuilt by Harold Godwinsson, later King Harold II, in the 1050's as a college of secular canons. After his demise at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, Harold's body was taken to Waltham Abbey and buried. Today, two stones mark the spot, just to the east of the present building, where his body is beleived to lie. The inscription on one reads: "THIS STONE MARKS THE POSITION OF THE HIGH ALTER BEHIND WHICH KING HAROLD IS SAID TO HAVE BEEN BURIED 1066" and on the other "HAROLD KING OF ENGLAND OBVT 1066" ----------------------------------------------------------- --------------------- It was the nave from the 12th century rebuilding of the Abbey which survived the dissolution and continued as the parish nave, still to this day being part of Waltham Abbey Church. The tower at the west end of the church, which now dominates Waltham Abbey, was built in 1556 using materials from the demolished Abbey. It was erected at the west end (instead of the east where the old tower, which had fallen down, had been) as the church was leaning in that direction and needed propping up! ----------------------------------------------------------- --------------------- Waltham Abbey itself owes much to Gunpowder. Powder Mills are thought to have existed on the River Lee at Waltham in the 1500's, and their output was taken down river by boat to magazines at Woolwich and Purfleet. The town itself continued during the 17th century as a market town and parts of some buildings still survive from this period or earlier, such as the Welsh Harp Inn. Although the improvements to the Lee Navigation in the late 1760's increased traffic to and from the town, the railway explosion of the 19th century by-passed Waltham Abbey, so suburban development around the town was minimal. Some parts of the town were damaged by bombing during the Second World War, in particular when a V2 rocket landed on Highbridge Street in March 1945 killing 5 people, and around the cattle market at Romelands in April 1941. The market was suspended during the war but restarted in the fifties, finally closing in 1977. This area in front of The Crown public house has recently been developed, but in the middle of it all stands a drinking fountain from 1878, which was built to provide water for public use from a well 168ft deep. After the war explosives were no longer produced at Waltham Abbey, but important research was still carried out, which provided employment for many residents of the town until 1991. The Royal Gunpowder Mills site is now a tourist attraction, opened in May 2001 (website: www.royalgunpowdermills.com). ----------------------------------------------------------- --------------------- Like most old market towns up and down the country, the increase in both car travel and housing development since the war has meant changes at Waltham Abbey. Many old buildings with timber frames dating back to the 16th and 17th centuries still survive though, such as the Sun Inn, which like many others received a new frontage during the 1700's. At the eastern end of Sun Street is the Epping Forest District Museum, housed in two timber framed buildings, where visitors can find out more about the town's history. Since 1981 the old town centre has been pedestrianised with traffic now going around the centre, not through it.