Waltham Abbey

Statistics
Population:	20,400
Ordnance Survey
OS grid reference:	TL385005
Administration
District:	Epping Forest
County:	Essex
Region:	East of England
Country:	England
Other
Ceremonial county:	Essex
Historic county:	Essex
Services
Police force:	Essex Police
Post office and telephone
Post town:	WALTHAM ABBEY
Postal district:	EN9
Dialling code:	01992
Politics
UK Parliament:
European Parliament:	East of England

Waltham Abbey is a market town of about 20,400 people in the south west of the county of Essex, in the East of England region. It is about 24km north of London on the Greenwich Meridian and lies between the River Lea in the west and Epping Forest in the east. It takes its name from Waltham Abbey, which was prominent in the early history of the town. It is also sometimes known as Waltham Holy Cross. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1802x2589, 189 KB) File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using latitude or longitude. ... The districts of England are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. ... Epping Forest is a local government district of the county of Essex, England. ... Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. ... Essex is a county in the East of England. ... The region, also known as Government Office Region, is currently the highest tier of local government subnational entity in England. ... East of England is one of the official regions of England. ... Constituent country is an official term used to describe three of the four principal component parts of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK): England; Scotland; Wales. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the United Kingdom (light green), with the Republic of Ireland (blue) to its west Languages English Capital London Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population –mid-2004... The Ceremonial counties of England are areas of England that are appointed a Lord-Lieutenant, and are defined by the government with reference to the metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England. ... Essex is a county in the East of England. ... The traditional counties of England are ancient subdivisions of England into around forty areas, which were used for both administrative and general geographical demarcation for several hundreds of years. ... Essex is a county in the East of England. ... There are a number of policing agencies in the United Kingdom. ... Essex Police is a Home Office (territorial) police force with responsibility for policing the county of Essex in south east England. ... A post town is a required part of all UK postal addresses. ... UK postal codes are known as postcodes. ... EN9 is the postcode for Waltham Abbey in the Epping Forest district of Essex. ... The UK telephone numbering plan, also known as the National Numbering Plan, is regulated by the Office of Communications (Ofcom), which replaced the Office of Telecommunications (Oftel) in 2003. ... To see the list in alphabetical order see the categories UK Parliamentary constituencies and UK Parliamentary constituencies (historic). ... The European Parliament building in Strasbourg The inside of the building The European Parliament (formerly European Parliamentary Assembly) is the parliamentary body of the European Union (EU), directly elected by EU citizens once every five years. ... East of England is a constituency of the European Parliament. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_England. ... A market is, as defined in economics, a social arrangement that allows buyers and sellers to discover information and carry out a voluntary exchange. ... Main street in Bastrop, Texas, a small town A town is a residential community of people ranging from a few hundred to several thousands, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas. ... The traditional counties as usually portrayed. ... Essex is a county in the East of England. ... East of England is one of the official regions of England. ... For other uses, see London (disambiguation). ... The Prime Meridian, Greenwich The Prime Meridian is the meridian (line of longitude) passing through the Royal Greenwich Observatory, Greenwich, England; it is the meridian at which longitude is 0 degrees. ... This article is not about the River Lee that flows through Cork, in the Republic of Ireland; see River Lee (Ireland). ... Epping Forest is an area of ancient woodland in south-east England, straddling the border between north-east Greater London and Essex. ... Waltham Abbey in the town of Waltham Abbey, Essex, England was founded in 1030 and a building was constructed on the site by Harold Godwinson thirty years later. ...

The nearest railway station is in the town of Waltham Cross, accessible from Liverpool Street Station in London. The nearest underground station is at Loughton on the Central Line, with which there are bus connections. Passengers bustle around the typical grand edifice of Londons Broad Street Station in 1865. ... Waltham Cross is the most south-easterly town in Hertfordshire, England. ... Liverpool Street station in 1896. ... For other uses, see London (disambiguation). ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Central Line is a line of the London Underground and coloured Red on the tube map. ...

The town is in the District of Epping Forest and has its own town council and is twinned with the German town of Hörstel. Epping Forest is a local government district of the county of Essex, England. ... This article is about partnerships between towns distant from each other; see Twin cities for the different concept of physically neighbouring cities. ... Hörstel is a town and a municipality in the district of Steinfurt, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. ...

Physical geography

The River Lea, which forms the county boundary with Hertfordshire forms 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 the plateau of London clay in the east, 60-90 metres, above sea level, capped by sand and gravel of Epping Forest. In the south covering the former course of the River Lea is the King George V Reservoir, opened in 1913. Cobbins Brook a tributary of the River Lea, crosses the parish from east to west. In addition to the town the parish includes in its 41 sq. km the villages and hamlets of High Beach, Holyfield, Sewardstone and Upshire. The M25 motorway runs to the south of the town, to which it has access by means of Junction 26 on the A121. This article is not about the River Lee that flows through Cork, in the Republic of Ireland; see River Lee (Ireland). ... The traditional counties as usually portrayed. ... Hertfordshire, pronounced Hartfordshire, abbreviated as Herts, is an inland county in the United Kingdom and part of the East of England Government Office region. ... Epping Forest is an area of ancient woodland in south-east England, straddling the border between north-east Greater London and Essex. ... Freshwater marsh in Florida In geography, a marsh is a type of wetland, featuring grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, cat tails, and other herbaceous plants (possibly with low-growing woody plants) in a context of shallow water. ... A meadow is a tract of grassland, either in its natural state or used as pasture or for growing hay. ... The London Clay is a marine deposit which is well known for the fossils it contains. ... Epping Forest is an area of ancient woodland in south-east England, straddling the border between north-east Greater London and Essex. ... This article is not about the River Lee that flows through Cork, in the Republic of Ireland; see River Lee (Ireland). ... George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert) (3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was the first British monarch belonging to the House of Windsor (formerly known as the House of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha). ... Gelmersee is a reservoir in Switzerland. ... 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... A tributary (or affluent or confluent) is a contributory stream, a river that does not reach the sea, but joins another major river (a parent river), to which it contributes its waters, swelling its discharge. ... This article is not about the River Lee that flows through Cork, in the Republic of Ireland; see River Lee (Ireland). ... A parish is a type of administrative subdivision. ... Evander Holyfield (born October 19, 1962 in Atmore, Alabama) is a professional boxer from The United States. ... Sewardstone is a place in the Epping Forest district of Essex, England. ... The M25 motorway looking south between junctions 14 and 15, near Heathrow Airport. ...

Early history

The name Waltham derives from weald or wald "forest" and ham "homestead" or "enclosure". The name of the ancient parish as a whole is Waltham Holy Cross, but the use of the name Waltham Abbey for the town only seems to have originated in the 16th century, but there has often been inconsistency in the use of the two names. Indeed the former urban district was named Waltham Holy Cross, rather than Waltham Abbey. 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. 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 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 Earl Harold 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. Legend has it that after his death at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, his body was brought to Waltham for burial near to the High Altar. Today the spot is marked by a stone slab in the churchyard. 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. In 1184, this was altered and Waltham became an abbey with an abbot and twenty-four canons, which grew to be the richest monastery in Essex. To the west and south the town grew up and appears to have been very dependent on the Abbey. The Abbey was the last monastic house to be dissolved in 1540, and for a time afterwards the town went into decline. A parish is a type of administrative subdivision. ... Waltham Holy Cross Urban District was an urban district in the county of Essex, England. ... In the British Isles an urban district was a type of local government district which covered an urbanised area. ... Principal sites in Roman Britain Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between 43 and 410. ... Ermine Street should not be confused with Ermin Street, the road from Silchester to Gloucester. ... This article is not about the River Lee that flows through Cork, in the Republic of Ireland; see River Lee (Ireland). ... Waltham Cross is the most south-easterly town in Hertfordshire, England. ... Hertfordshire, pronounced Hartfordshire, abbreviated as Herts, is an inland county in the United Kingdom and part of the East of England Government Office region. ... Statue of Boudica near Westminster Pier Boudica (also Boudicca, Boadicea, Buduica, Bonduca) (d. ... For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ... The word Hemlock can refer to a number of things: Several poisonous plants in the Parsley family, Apiaceae (formerly Umbelliferae) are called hemlock: Poison hemlock is a common European plant, Conium maculatum; it contains the alkaloid Coniine. ... Canute (or Cnut) I, or Canute the Great (Old Norse: Knútr inn ríki, Danish: Knud II den Store, Norwegian: Knut den mektige) (994/995 – November 12, 1035) was king of England, Denmark and Norway and governor or overlord of Schleswig and Pomerania. ... A church building (or simply church) is a building used in Christian worship. ... Montacute is a small village in Somerset, England, two miles south of Yeovil. ... Somerset is a county in the south-west of England. ... Events Emperor Go-Reizei ascends the throne of Japan. ... Edward the Confessor or Eadweard III (c. ... An Earl or Jarl was an Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian title, meaning chieftain and it referred especially to chieftains set to rule a territory in a kings stead. ... Harold Godwinson, or Harold II of England (c. ... Events May - The Norman leader Robert Guiscard conquers Taranto. ... Combatants Normans, supported by Bretons,Flemings&French Anglo-Saxons and Danish mercenaries Commanders William of Normandy, Odo of Bayeux Harold Godwinson† Strength 7,000-8,000 7,000-8,000 Casualties Unknown, thought to be around 2,000 killed and wounded Unknown, but significantly more than the Normans The Battle... Events January 6 - Harold II is crowned September 20 - Battle of Fulford September 25 - Battle of Stamford Bridge September 29 - William of Normandy lands in England at Pevensey. ... Events November 25 - Baldwin IV of Jerusalem and Raynald of Chatillon defeat Saladin at the Battle of Montgisard. ... St Thomas Becket (December 21, 1118 – December 29, 1170) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 to 1170. ... Arms of the see of Canterbury The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior clergyman of the established Church of England and symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. ... Henry II of England (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189) ruled as Count of Anjou, Duke of Normandy, and as King of England (1154–1189) and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland, eastern Ireland, and western France. ... The Augustinians, named after Saint Augustine of Hippo (died AD 430), are several Roman Catholic monastic orders and congregations of both men and women living according to a guide to religious life known as the Rule of Saint Augustine. ... A canon (from the Latin canonicus and Greek κανωνικωσ relating to a rule) is a priest who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to a rule (canon). ... Prior is a Latin adjective, meaning coming before, as earlier (as in a priori, regardless what comes next). ... // Events Abbeville receives its commercial charter. ... An abbey (from the Latin abbatia, which is derived from the Syriac abba, father), is a Christian monastery or convent, under the government of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serve as the spiritual father or mother of the community. ... Abbots coat of arms The word abbot, meaning father, has been used as a Christian clerical title in various, mainly monastic, meanings. ... Essex is a county in the East of England. ...

Later history

In the 17th century a gunpowder factory was opened in the town, no doubt due to the good river communications and the empty marshland by the River Lea. The factory was sold to the government in 1787 and was greatly expanded during the next century. 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 German V2 rocket landed near the factory in Highbridge Street on 7th March 1945, causing considerable damage to property and large loss of life. The factory eventually closed in 1983, 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 Lea 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, 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 the early 1970's the population of the town increased by the development of housing estates and has developed into a dormitory town with pockets of light industry. Smokeless powder Gunpowder, whether black powder or smokeless powder, is a substance that burns very rapidly, releasing gases that act as a propellant in firearms. ... This article is not about the River Lee that flows through Cork, in the Republic of Ireland; see River Lee (Ireland). ... 1787 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... This article is concerned solely with chemical explosives. ... Nitrocellulose (Cellulose nitrate, guncotton) is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose (e. ... Sir Frederick Augustus Abel, Bart. ... 1863 (MDCCCLXIII) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar). ... Cordite is a particular family of smokeless propellants made by combining two high explosives: nitrocellulose and nitroglycerin, i. ... 1891 (MDCCCXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... V2 V2 Records V2 word order, the verb-second word order of Germanic languages Velocity 2, the speed where an aircraft accelerating on a runway must lift-off Visual cortex#V2 area V-2 V-2 rocket, an early ballistic missile diesel model V-2, a twelve-cylinder Soviet tank... 1983 (MCMLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Fulling is a step in clothmaking which involves the cleansing of cloth (particularly wool) to get rid of oils, dirt, and other impurities. ... Sewardstone is a place in the Epping Forest district of Essex, England. ... 1777 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1805 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Silk weaver Silk is a natural protein fiber that can be woven into textiles. ... A Calico can refer to: Calico (fabric) A cheap fabric Calico (fish) A domesticated Goldfish A domestic cat. ... Old Ford Lock, Lee Navigation The River Lee Navigation is a canalised river incorporating - as the name suggests - the River Lee (also known as the River Lea). ... 1769 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ...

Notable buildings

The Welsh Harp, in the Market Square, is a half-timbered inn mostly of the 15th century. The Lychgate passage beside the inn leads to the churchyard. A lychgate or lichgate is a covered open structure found at the entrance to a churchyard. ...

A former inn, at the corner of Sun Street and the Market Square, is now a shop. A carved wooden bracket in the form of a hermaphrodite holding a jug supports the projecting upper storey. The 1st-century BC sculpture The Reclining Hermaphrodite, in the Museo Palazzo Massimo Alle Terme in Rome In zoology, a hermaphrodite is an organism of a species whose members possess both male and female sexual organs during their lives. ...

The Town Hall in Highbridge Street, dating from 1904, is a fine and rare example of an Art Nouveau public building. Art nouveau /É‘Ê€ nuvo/ (French for new art) is a style in art, architecture and design that peaked in popularity at the beginning of the 20th century. ...

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.

Places of interest

Waltham Abbey Church, the only substantial part of the Abbey left intact and now used as the parish church. In addition there are a few other remains - the former Gatehouse, a vaulted passage and Harold’s Bridge all in the care of English Heritage. English Heritage is a United Kingdom government body with a broad remit of managing the historic environment of England. ...

Waltham Abbey contains 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 inhabitants to the present. Housed in a building dating back to 1520. The National Gallery in London, a famous museum. ... Essex is a county in the East of England. ... mary elline m. ...

On the site of the former gunpowder factory the museum illustrates the evolution of explosives and the development of the Royal Gunpowder Mills through interactive and traditional exhibitions and displays.

The former gravel pits in the Lea Valley and parts of the former Abbey Gardens and gunpowder factory site are now in the care of the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority for recreation use and nature conservation.

The Epping Forest Conservation Centre in High Beach provides information, maps, books, cards, displays and advice on the area.

External links

• Epping Forest District Council
• Waltham Abbey Town Council
• Royal Gunpowder Mills
• Lee Valley Regional Park Authority
• Waltham Abbey - White's Directory of Essex, 1848