The History of Waltham Abbey
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 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 in the 1050's by Harold Godwinsson, later King Harold II, as a college of secular canons. After his death 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 believed to lie. The inscription on one
reads: "THIS STONE MARKS THE POSITION OF THE HIGH ALTAR BEHIND WHICH KING HAROLD IS SAID TO
HAVE BEEN BURIED 1066" and on the other "HAROLD KING OF ENGLAND OBIIT 1066"
The present building is the fourth on this site, and was erected in the first quarter of the 12th century to replace the church founded by King Harold. In 1177, Henry II re-founded the church as an Augustinian abbey, as part of his penance for the murder of Thomas Becket. When the abbey was dissolved, the buildings erected for the canons were then pulled down – only the nave survived, because it had always belonged to the parish.
Most of the present building dates from c1120, though the Lady
Chapel and the undercroft beneath it were built in the 14th century. The east
end, the stained glass and the painted ceiling were installed in the 1860s. The tower
at the west end of the church, which now dominates Waltham Abbey, was built in 1556
(during the reign of Mary I) 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!
