Waltham Abbey Church

Waltham Abbey Church stands in the town of Waltham Abbey in Essex, on ground that has held a place of worship since the 7th century. The present building is mainly Norman, dating from the early 12th century, with traces of an earlier eastward enlargement begun in 1177. Once one of England’s largest churches, it was a major pilgrimage site in the Late Middle Ages. The Dissolution of the Monasteries closed the abbey in 1540, making it the last such community to go. Today it remains the town’s parish church and a Grade I listed building. The church’s long history is visible in its fabric. Archaeologists found five earlier churches beneath the choir, the earliest a wooden building from the 7th century. In the 8th century King Offa of Mercia built a stone church half the length of today’s. A legend from the 11th century tells how a black flint crucifix was carried by oxen from Montacute to Waltham, becoming the Holy Cross that drew pilgrims. King Harold Godwinson rebuilt the church in 1060 and is said to be buried in the churchyard. Visitors enter a nave that is the surviving Norman structure, its massive pillars and round arches still standing. To the east lie the remains of the 12th-century Augustinian abbey, including a short passage to the cloister and a 14th-century gatehouse. The west tower was added in the 16th century after the Dissolution. The lady chapel at the east end dates from the 14th century, while the crossing tower and transepts collapsed in 1553. The churchyard holds the reputed grave of King Harold.