The name Waltham derives from weald or wald "forest" and ham "homestead" or "enclosure". The name of the ancient parish was usually given as "Waltham Holy Cross" in civil matters and "Waltham Abbey" in ecclesiastical matters.[7] The use of the name Waltham Abbey for the main settlement in the parish seems to have originated in the 16th century, although there has often been inconsistency in the use of the two names.[8] Despite the similar name, the parish never included Waltham Cross on the opposite side of the River Lea, which formed part of the parish of Cheshunt in Hertfordshire.[9] The civil parish of Waltham Holy Cross was formally renamed Waltham Abbey in 1974.[10]
History
Early history
There are traces of prehistoric and Roman settlement in the town. Ermine Street lies only 5 km west and the causeway across the River Lea from Waltham Cross in Hertfordshire may be a Roman construction. A local legend claims that Boudica's rebellion against the Romans ended in the neighbourhood, when she poisoned herself with hemlock gathered on the banks of Cobbins Brook.
There has been a church on the site of Waltham Abbey since the 7th century.[11] Traces of the flint rubble foundations of a 7th-century wooden church have been found under the choir of the present building; an associated burial has been radiocarbon dated to between 590 and 690. A proposed date of circa 610 would place its construction in the reign of Sæberht of Essex, who was noted for his church-building activities.[12][incomplete short citation] Other finds included a 7th-century Kentish jewellery book-clasp depicting eagles grasping a fish.[13][incomplete short citation]
The recorded history of the town began during the reign of Canute in the early 11th century when his standard-bearer Tovi or Tofig the Proud, founded (or rebuilt) a church here to house the miraculous cross discovered at Montacute in Somerset. It is this cross that gave Waltham the earliest suffix to its name. After Tovi's death around 1045, Waltham reverted to the King (Edward the Confessor), who gave it to the EarlHarold Godwinson (later king). Harold rebuilt Tovi's church in stone around 1060, in gratitude it is said for his cure from a paralysis, through praying before the miraculous cross. Waltham's people used the abbey as their parish church, and paid their tithes, worked the glebe as well any of their lord's land, and paid other dues to the canons.[14]
Legend has it that after his death at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, Harold's body was brought to Waltham for burial near to the High Altar. Today, the spot is marked by a stone slab in the churchyard (originally the site of the high altar before the Reformation).
In 1177, as part of his penance for his part in the murder of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, Henry II refounded Harold's church as a priory of Augustinian Canons Regular of sixteen canons and a prior or dean. In 1184, this was enlarged so that Waltham became an abbey with an abbot and twenty-four canons, which grew to be the richest monastery in Essex. The town grew to the west and south of the abbey.[14][15]
In 1189,[16] the town was chartered by Richard the Lionheart to host regular markets and fairs.[17] The market continues to run today, and is held at the town's market square on Tuesdays and Saturdays.[18]
In the medieval and early Tudor periods, there were two guilds in the parish, each with an endowment for a priest: the Brotherhood of Our Lady, and the Charnel Guild, whose priest was also the parish curate. The former, which existed from at least 1375, occupied the Lady Chapel in the parochial part of the church. The Charnel Guild, which occurs as 'the Sepulchre' in 1366, probably used its crypt.[14]
Henry VIII was a frequent visitor and is said to have had a house or lodge at Romeland, adjacent to the abbey.[19] During their summer progress of 1532, Henry and Queen Anne Boleyn stayed at Waltham Abbey for five days.[20]
The town's dependence on the Abbey is signalled by its decline after the Abbey was dissolved and partially demolished in 1540, the last working abbey or monastery to be dissolved. Waltham Abbey vicarage is a 17th-century timber framed and plastered building. It was given by Edward Denny, 1st Earl of Norwich to create the first curacy, but was much altered in the 18th century and later, and was more recently architecturally Grade II*listed.[21] In the early 19th century the church held three Sunday services, including one in the evening for the local factory workers. In 1862, Holy Communion was celebrated monthly and attended by about 100.[14]
Post-Reformation
In the 17th century there were four churchwardens (who fulfilled some roles of local government, collected and distributing poor relief): one each for the town, Holyfield, Upshire, and Sewardstone. Joseph Hall, curate from 1608, was later Bishop successively of Exeter and Norwich. A complete diocesan list of curates was printed to 1888 and Thomas Fuller, author of The Worthies of England and of the first History of Waltham Abbey, was curate 1649–58.[14]
In the 17th century, a gunpowder factory was opened in the town, no doubt due to good river communications and empty marshland by the River Lea and this now forms the museum below.[22]
Post-Industrial Revolution
The factory was sold to the government in 1787 and was greatly expanded during the next century, becoming the Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills. In the 19th century, searches began for more powerful and reliant propellant explosives, and guncotton was developed here by Frederick Abel, starting in 1863. Cordite production began in 1891 and the site was enlarged several times. The site was an obvious target during World War II, and a GermanV-2 rocket landed near the factory in Highbridge Street on 7 March 1945, causing considerable damage to property and large loss of life. The factory eventually closed in 1943, and the site was developed into an explosives research establishment. There was also a fulling mill at Sewardstone around 1777 and a pin factory by 1805. Silk and calico printing were also important industries. The River Lee Navigation was also improved, a new canal cut across the marshes was opened in 1769, bringing more trade to the town. Outside the town, the parish is largely rural and agriculture has been an important occupation.[14]
In the first half of the 20th century, the area was extensively covered in glass-houses and market gardens. Gravel extraction has also long been a major industry in the Lea Valley, leaving a legacy of pits now used for recreation and an important wildlife habitat. In 1959–60 all of the church's houses and land were converted to stock or bank investments.[14] No rectory has existed – the benefice before becoming the present vicarage serving four churches in the wider area was a perpetual curacy — a relevant fact for the purposes of chancel repair liability that therefore cannot exist.[14] In the 1960s and 1970s, the population of the town increased, partly by an extensive programme of clearances and redevelopment in the town centre, and partly by the development of housing estates on the outskirts, such as Roundhills and Ninefields.
The ancient parish of Waltham Holy Cross was in the Waltham Hundred of Essex.[25] The parish was divided into the township of Waltham Abbey and the hamlets of Upshire, Holyfield, and Sewardstone.[8] The parish was included in the Metropolitan Police District in 1840.
Following the Local Government Act 1929, in 1932 it was proposed that it should be merged with Chingford to form a new urban district of 'Chingford and Waltham Abbey'.[28][29] The amalgamation was supported by Chingford Urban District Council but was not supported by the Waltham Holy Cross Urban District Council, who feared increased rates and the potential loss of the annual fair and market. The lack of a direct rail connection between the districts was also highlighted.[30][31] The review resulted in no amalgamation, and only a small transfer of territory from Waltham Holy Cross to Chingford following a county review order in 1934.[32]
As it formed part of the Registrar General's definition of the Greater London Conurbation, the urban district formed part of the review area for the Royal Commission on Local Government in Greater London. However, it did not subsequently become part of the Greater London administrative area created in 1965, because it was surrounded by the Metropolitan Green Belt and had limited connection to the London built-up area.[33]
The urban district was abolished in 1974 to become part of the new Epping Forest District.[34] A successor parish was created covering the former Waltham Holy Cross Urban District, but with the new parish being named Waltham Abbey rather than Waltham Holy Cross.[10] The new parish council created in 1974 resolved that the parish should have the status of a town under the Local Government Act 1972, allowing it to take the name Waltham Abbey Town Council.[35][23]
Geography
The River Lea, which forms the county boundary with Hertfordshire, is the town's western boundary, and the eastern boundary runs through Epping Forest. The land rises gradually from the marshes and meadows by the river to a small plateau of london clay in the east, 60–90 metres above sea level, capped in the highest parts by the sand and gravel of Epping Forest. On the river the elevations range from 22m in the northwest[n 1] to 13.5m in the southwest[n 2]. To the southwest, occupying a former course of the River Lea, is the King George VReservoir, opened in 1913. Cobbins Brook, a tributary of the River Lea, crosses the parish from east to west. Waltham Abbey parish includes in its 41 km2 the villages and hamlets of High Beach, Holyfield, Sewardstone and Upshire. The M25 motorway runs to the south of the town through the middle of the parish and can be accessed east of the town at Junction 26 via Honey Lane or the rural relief road, the A121 directly south of the motorway.[36]
The main settlement in the parish is the town of Waltham Abbey, and the other smaller settlements are the hamlets of Claverhambury, Fishers Green, Holyfield, High Beach, Sewardstone and Upshire.
Claverhambury consists of approximately 15 homes and farms by two woods, Deerpark Wood and Stockings Grove, to the north-east of the town centre. Its bounds are the eastern slopes of Galley Hill. The western side of this hilltop is wooded. It is directly south of Epping Long Green, a tall ridge topped by the Stort Valley Wayfootpath between the towns of Epping and Harlow.[37][36]
Fishers Green is a locality 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the town of Waltham Abbey on the B194 road on the section known as the Crooked Mile.
Holyfield consists of approximately 11 homes and farms and is mostly on the western slopes of Monkham's Hill, near the top of which is situated Monkham's Hall.[38] Seven buildings in the hamlet are architecturally listed.[39] In the west are plant nurseries above lakes of the River Lea, and an arboretum and tree nursery separate the hamlet from the town to the south. It is located at grid reference grid referenceTL385035.
Over the centuries many channels have been dug to divide the River Lea and drain the westernmost land. These channels flow southward across Cheshunt Marsh and part of Waltham Abbey parish;[42][43]
Cobbins Brook flows through the town from the east and northeast.
Demography
As of the 2021 census, the population of Waltham Abbey was 22,859, an increase from 21,149 in 2011.[44] The majority of the population (82%) resides in the main built-up area, which had a 2021 population of 18,647.[45] The 2021 census showed that 74.6% of the civil parish population identified as White British. 63.8% of the civil parish population was Christian at the 2011 census, with 25.3% declaring themselves irreligious. Minority religious groups include the Muslim and Jewish populations, forming 1.7 and 1.1 percent of the population respectively.[46]
The medieval Waltham Abbey Church was kept as it was close to a town and is still used as a parish church. In addition there are other remains of the former abbey – the Grade II*listed Midnight Chapel,[50] the gatehouse, a vaulted passage and Harold's Bridge – all in the care of English Heritage.
[51] These grounds are notable for the reputed grave of Harold II or "Harold Godwinson", the last Anglo-Saxon King of England.
Local museum
Housed in a building dating back to 1520 is the Epping Forest District Museum, which tells the story of the people who have lived and worked in this part of south Essex from the earliest times to the present.[52]
Royal Gunpowder Mills
On the site of a former gunpowder factory another museum illustrates the evolution of explosives and the development of the Royal Gunpowder Mills (an Anchor Point of ERIH, The European Route of Industrial Heritage) through interactive and traditional exhibitions and displays. The site hosts living history and battle re-enactment events most summer weekends and also offers a self-guided nature walk that shows visitors the ecology that has reclaimed much of the remaining 175 acres (0.71 km2).
Architecturally notable buildings
The Welsh Harp Inn
The Welsh Harp in the Market Square is a half-timbered inn, mostly dating from the 15th century. The Lychgate passage beside the inn leads to the churchyard.[53]
A former inn, at the corner of Sun Street and the Market Square, is now a barbers. A carved wooden bracket in the form of a hermaphrodite holding a jug supports the projecting upper storey.
Two notable 18th-century buildings are Essex House in Sewardstone Street and St. Kilda's in Highbridge Street.
At Upshire is a group of cottages known as the Blue Row. They are weatherboarded and with bark still visible on the roof.[54]
Regional park
The former gravel pits in the Lea Valley and parts of the former Abbey Gardens are now in the care of the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority for recreational use and nature conservation.
Tourism Centre
The Epping Forest Conservation Centre in High Beach provides information, maps, books, cards, displays and advice for visitors to the area.
Transport
Rail and tube
There are no mainline or tube stations in Waltham Abbey itself, although there are several located nearby.
The nearest mainline station is Waltham Cross, on the Lea Valley lines, around 25 minutes from London Liverpool Street and 30 minutes from Stratford.[55][56] It is in London fare zone 7 and a mile from the town centre at neighbouring Waltham Cross. It opened in 1840 as "Waltham" and was named "Waltham Cross and Abbey" in 1894, but reverted to "Waltham Cross" in 1969. The station is planned for inclusion on Crossrail 2.[57]
Local bus services were historically operated by London Buses, but are now run by various commercial operators. In 2024, the London Assembly agreed a motion calling on Transport for London to restore service between Waltham Abbey and neighbouring Chingford.[58]
Several local routes provide services to Cheshunt, Epping, Harlow, Loughton, and Waltham Cross, with operators including Arriva Herts & Essex and Central Connect.[59]
Road
The M25 motorway runs through the town, with the interchange for Junction 26 at Waltham Abbey. The main roads running through the town are the A112 and A121.
Religion
The Grade II-listed Edwardian former Catholic church
The Anglican abbey church is dedicated to St Lawrence.[60] The town has long had a Catholic church. For some decades this was in a former Methodist chapel, an irregularly shaped Edwardian building of stone-dressed red brick with a roof of Welshslate tiles in free late gothic style with a belfry. In 2008 the congregation moved to a more modern building, and sold the former building to an EvangelicalFree church.[61]
Waltham Abbey is also home to the Essex Arrows Baseball Club, founded by local resident, Louis Courtney in 1981 and later affiliated to the British Baseball Federation in 1984 by Phil Chesterton.[citation needed]
Harriadnie Beau (born 1993), fashion model and brand ambassador
Queen Anne Boleyn (c.1501/07–1536), second wife of King Henry VIII, stayed at Waltham Abbey with Henry during their summer progress of 1532, and is believed to have visited Henry's house or lodge at Romeland whilst he was still married to Catherine of Aragon[62]
Charles Booth Brackenbury (1831–1890), British major general and military correspondent, superintendent of the Royal Gunpowder Mills
Lieutenant-ColonelJohn By (1779–1836), military engineer, founder of the Canadian capital Bytown (now Ottawa), served as Commanding Royal Engineer of the Royal Gunpowder Mills
Mel Calman (1931–1994), cartoonist, buried in Waltham Abbey
Dick Darby (1919–1993), bishop, served as vicar of Waltham Abbey
Edward Denny, 1st Earl of Norwich (1569–1637), courtier, Member of Parliament for Essex, and peer, built Abbey House on the site of Waltham Abbey, the lands of which had been in the family for several generations
Sir Edward Denny (1547–1600), soldier, privateer and adventurer during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, buried at the churchyard of Waltham Abbey, in which church survives his monument with the recumbent effigies of himself and his wife
Honora Denny (died 1614), courtier, daughter of Edward, Lord Denny, buried at Waltham Abbey
John Foxe (1516/17–1587), author of Foxe's Book of Martyrs, lived in a street now called Foxes Parade. The book was hung in chains on a pillar in Waltham Abbey Church
Samuel Foxe (1560–1630), diarist and politician, son of John Foxe, lived at Warlies and was buried at Waltham Abbey
King Henry VIII (1491–1547), King of England from 1509 to 1547, was a frequent visitor, and had a house or lodge at Romeland, to which he would travel from his palace at Greenwich in his barge up the River Lea, paying to maintain the bridges he would pass beneath[62]
Adam Jackson (1929–1989), greyhound trainer, trained out of the Claverhambury Kennels in Waltham Abbey
Charles Frewen Jenkin CBE (1865–1940), engineer and academic, was a mechanical assistant superintendent at the Royal Gunpowder Factory
Christopher Hollis Johnson CBE (1904–1978), chemist and physicist, served as Director of the Explosives Research and Development Establishment at Waltham Abbey
Colonel Sir Frederic Nathan (1861–1933), chemical engineer, served as Superintendent of the Royal Gunpowder Factory
Hugh de Neville (died 1234), Chief Forester under kings Richard I, John and Henry III and sheriff of several counties (including Essex), buried at Waltham Abbey
Stuart Nicholson (born 1975), organist, formerly organist and director of music for Waltham Abbey Church
Major-generalWilliam Henry Noble (1834–1892), superintendent of Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Factory, died at Thrift Hall, Waltham Abbey
Connor Ogilvie (born 1996), footballer, was born in Waltham Abbey, currently playing for Portsmouth in League One, England's 3rd tier of football
Sir Robert Robertson (1869–1949), served as the Government Chemist, first person to establish that two types of natural diamond existed, served as an analyst at the Royal Gunpowder Factory
Thomas Willingale (1799–1870), instrumental in the preservation of Epping Forest, was prosecuted at Waltham Abbey
Leonard Albert Wiseman OBE (1915–2006), organic chemist, scientific intelligence analyst and scientific administrator, served as Deputy Director of the Explosives Research and Development Establishment at Waltham Abbey
Francesco Zambeccari (1752–1812), aviation pioneer, launched the first unmanned balloon in Britain in 1783 from Cheapside, which landed in Waltham Abbey
Coat of arms
Coat of arms of Waltham Abbey
Notes
Granted 9 November 1956, to the Waltham Holy Cross Urban District Council. Transferred to Waltham Abbey Town Council in 1974.[65]
Crest
Out of a Coronet composed of six Fleurs-de-Lys set upon a Rim Or a demi-Stag at gaze proper charged on the shoulder with a Fountain and holding in the mouth a Seaxe the blade Argent the hilt and pommel Or mantled Gules doubled Argent.
Escutcheon
Argent on a Cross engrailed Sable a Lion's Face between four Crosses bottonnée Or.
^Youngs, Frederic (1979). Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England: Volume 1, Southern England. London: Royal Historical Society. p. 154. ISBN0-901050-67-9.
^ ab"Contact us". Waltham Abbey Town Council. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
^pixelstorm (14 October 2008). "Churchill's Elections". International Churchill Society. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
^ ab'Waltham Holy Cross: Economic history and local government', in A History of the County of Essex: Volume 5, ed. W R Powell (London, 1966), pp. 162-170. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/essex/vol5/pp162-170 [accessed 29 June 2023].
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