Waltham Abbey Church
Waltham Abbey | ||
---|---|---|
Style Norman | | |
Administration | ||
Province | Canterbury | |
Diocese | Chelmsford | |
Deanery | Epping Forest | |
Parish | Waltham Holy Cross | |
Clergy | ||
Vicar(s) | The Revd Peter Smith | |
Laity | ||
Organist(s) | Jonathan Lilley |
The Abbey Church of Waltham Holy Cross and St Lawrence, also known as Waltham Abbey, is the parish church of the town of
The monastic buildings and those parts of the church east of the crossing were demolished at the Dissolution, and the Norman crossing tower and transepts collapsed in 1553. The present-day church consists of the nave of the Norman abbey church, the 14th-century lady chapel and west wall, and a 16th-century west tower, added after the dissolution.[3]
King Harold Godwinson, who died at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, is said to be buried in the present churchyard.
History
Archaeological investigations between 1984 and 1991 have revealed a much earlier origin of the site than had previously been believed. There is evidence for five distinct churches at Waltham.[4]
First church at Waltham (7th century)
Traces of the flint rubble foundations of a 7th-century wooden church have been found under the
Second church (8th century)
During the reign of King
Legend of the Holy Cross
At the beginning of the 11th century, the church and manor of Waltham were held by an Anglo-Danish thegn called Tovi the Proud. A legend, recorded in the 12th-century De Inventione Sanctœ Crucis Nostrœ ("The Discovery of our Holy Cross") or "Waltham Chronicle", relates that, in about 1016, the blacksmith at another estate belonging to Tovi, at Montacute near Glastonbury, found a large black flint (or marble) crucifix buried at the top of a hill, after a dream. Tovi had the cross loaded onto an ox-cart, but the oxen would only go in one direction and continued every day until they reached Waltham, a journey of some 150 miles.[9] This Holy Rood or Cross was installed at the church and soon became the subject of pilgrimage.[10] Tovi is said to have rebuilt the church, but modern evidence suggests that he probably retained the 8th-century fabric of the building.
Third church (King Harold's foundation)
After Tovi's death, his son fell into debt and the estate passed to King Edward the Confessor. He then gave it to Harold Godwinson (later King Harold II), who rebuilt, refounded and richly endowed the church, which was dedicated in 1060; a legend says that this was because in his childhood, he had been miraculously cured of paralysis by the Holy Cross.[11] The new church was placed under the control of a
Fourth church (Norman)
Starting in about 1090, Harold's building was demolished and a new church with crossing tower and transepts was begun in the
Fifth church (the Augustinian Abbey)
In 1177, the abbey was re-founded once more, this time as an
In 1184, Henry raised the status of the church to an abbey; he appointed an
The Dissolution
Waltham was the last abbey in England to be
Later architectural history
In 1553,[3] shortly after the demolition of the 12th-century choir, crossing and chancel, the 11th-century Norman tower at the east end of the nave collapsed. It was replaced by a new tower at the opposite end of the church, abutting the 14th-century west wall and straddling the main doorway. Work commenced in 1556 and was completed in the following year; it was the only church tower built in England during the reign of Queen Mary I.[26]
In 1859, the architect William Burges was appointed to undertake a restoration of the site and a refurbishment of the interior. The restoration was extensive; the removal of pews and galleries from the south and west sides, a new ceiling (painted with signs of the
The Abbey's stained glass includes early work by Edward Burne-Jones in the rose window and lancets of the east wall, and Archibald Keightley Nicholson in the Lady Chapel. The Lady Chapel has three windows by Nicholson, depicting the Annunciation, the Nativity and the Presentation of Christ in the Temple. Work on a fourth – intended to depict the Epiphany – was interrupted by the Second World War and never resumed.[citation needed] In April 1941, a 500 kg German parachute mine exploded in a field nearby at Romeland, destroying most of the windows on the north side of the church. In March 1945, a V-2 rocket landed in Highbridge Street, destroying the "Bellringers Window" in the tower; a detailed hand-tinted photograph of the window, discovered in 2007, may eventually allow the window to be recreated.[30]
In 2003 the church was attacked by a man armed with two small axes, resulting in an estimated £200,000 worth of damage.[31]
King Harold's tomb
Harold stopped to pray at Waltham on his way south from the
In 1177, the Waltham became an Augustinian foundation, and the new incumbents published Vita Haroldi ("The Life of Harold") soon afterwards, which records a legend that Harold survived the battle and retired as a hermit to either Chester or Canterbury; it is thought[by whom?] that the motive for this was to distract attention away from Harold's tomb in the church, as he was still a politically sensitive figure to the Norman ruling class.
In the 18th century, the historian
Organ
At the Dissolution in 1540, an inventory states that there was "a lyttel payre of organes" in the Lady Chapel and in the Choir, "a great large payre of organes" and also "a lesser payre". The parts of the Abbey that housed these instruments were demolished shortly afterwards.[36] The church currently contains a large 3 manual organ. A plaque on the organ case has the inscription, "Flight & Robson 1827, the gift of (Thomas) Leverton Esq.", although this instrument dates from 1819.[37] It was fully rebuilt in 1860 by J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd. In 1879, the organ was dismantled and rebuilt at the eastern end of the North Aisle, but was finally rebuilt in the West Gallery in 1954, with the console in the chancel.[38][39] The "Waltham Abbey Church Heritage Organ Appeal" was launched in July 2008 to replace the existing organ, which was deemed to have come to the end of its useful life.[40]
Following the success of the Organ Appeal, Mander Organs installed the new instrument in 2019. The organ includes a new principal chorus on the Great division, and a new 32-foot reed on the Pedal.[41][42]
The carol "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" was first heard sung to a melody from Felix Mendelssohn's Festgesang in the church on Christmas Day 1855 with William Hayman Cummings, who made the adaptation, at the organ.[43]
Organists
Its organists have included:[citation needed]
- Thomas Tallis
- Polly Thompson
- William Hayman Cummings, 1847–1853
- Mr. Gibbons
- Mr. Banks
- Joseph Chalk, from 1859
- Norman Rimmer
- Jamie Hitel
- Stuart Nicholson
- Stephen Bullamore, 2005–2013
- Jonathan Lilley, appointed 2013
Other burials
- Elizabeth of Rhuddlan (1282–1316)
- Hugh de Neville
- Honora Grey Denny, mother of Edward Denny, 1st Earl of Norwich
See also
Notes
- ^ a b Historic England. "Church of Holy Cross and St Lawrence ruins to east of Church of Holy Cross and St Lawrence (1124155)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
- ^ Joseph Clayton (1912). "Waltham Abbey". In Catholic Encyclopedia. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-300-11614-4.
- .
- ^ Huggins (p. 12)
- ^ Huggins (p. 17)
- ^ Huggins (pp. 10–12)
- ISBN 978-0950989303.
- ^ Watkiss, Leslie; Chibnall, Marjorie (1994). Waltham Chronicle. Oxford University Press.
- ^ "Waltham Abbey". britannia.com. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
- ^ "Programmes – History – Channel 4". channel4.com. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
- .
- ^ Huggins (p. 5)
- ^ Journal of the British Archaeological Association, Volume 138, Number 1, 1985, pp. 48–78(31) – Fernie, E. C., The Romanesque Church of Waltham Abbey
- ^ Hagger 2012, p. 174
- ^ Hagger (p. 177)
- ^ A History of the County of Essex: Volume 2 – Houses of Austin canons: Abbey of Waltham Holy Cross. Victoria County History. pp. 166–168.
- ISBN 978-1247495620.
- ISBN 978-0060005504.
- ^ Heale 2016, p. 323
- ^ Ogborne pp. 180–182
- ^ Here Of A Sunday Morning – Thomas Tallis (c. 1510–1585)
- ^ History of the County of Essex: Volume 2. pp. 170–180.
- ^ History of the County of Essex: Volume 2. pp. 151–162.
- ^ Epping Forest District Council – History of the District
- ISBN 0-09-463520-X(p. 405)
- ^ The Buildings of England: Essex (1965)
- ^ Tatton-Brown & Crook 2007, p. 69
- ^ New p. 405
- ^ Barden, Daniel (13 July 2007). "A window into the Abbey's past". Epping Forest Guardian – Local History.
- ^ "BBC NEWS | UK | England | Two hurt by Abbey axeman". news.bbc.co.uk. 3 January 2003. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
- ISBN 0-7524-3529-9(p. 254)
- ^ Rex p. 255
- ^ Brewer, J S, (Editor) The Student's Hume: A History of England, based on the History of David Hume John Murray, London 1884 (p. 92)
- ^ Defoe, Daniel. [1724–26]. A Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain, vol. 1, Everyman Edition, Dutton, New York 1962 (p. 89)
- ^ Edmund Horace Fellowes, English Cathedral Music from Edward VI to Edward VII, Methuen 1945, (p. 6)
- ISBN 978-0838718940(p. 318)
- ^ Waltham Abbey Church – Waltham Abbey Music – The Organ
- ^ A specification of the organ can be found on the National Pipe Organ Register.
- ^ Waltham Abbey Church – Waltham Abbey Music – Waltham Abbey Church Heritage Organ Appeal
- ^ "Rebuilt Organ at Waltham Abbey". 3 April 2019.
- ^ "Mander Organs: Waltham Abbey". 24 January 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
- ^ "Christmas Classics Person of the Day: William Hayman Cummings". Christmas Classics Ltd. 30 August 2013. Retrieved 19 December 2023 – via Waltham Abbey Archives.
References
- Crook, J. Mordaunt (1981). William Burges and the High Victorian Dream. John Murray.
- Hagger, Nicholas (2012). A View of Epping Forest. O Books. ISBN 978-1846945878.
- Heale, Martin (2016). The Abbots and Priors of Late Medieval and Reformation England. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0198702535.
- Pevsner, Nikolaus (1965). The Buildings of England: Essex. Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-071011-3.
- Bettley, James; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2007). The Buildings of England: Essex. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-11614-4.
- Tatton-Brown, Tim; Crook, John (2007). The Abbeys and Priories of England. New Holland Publishers Ltd. ISBN 978-1845371166.
External links
- Official website
- Abbey gatehouse and bridge page at English Heritage
- Adrian Fletcher's Paradoxplace – Waltham Abbey Page
- Waltham Abbey Reflections Of the Past
- Waltham Abbey Genealogy site Archived 21 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine
- Waltham Abbey Historical Society
- Map sources for Waltham Abbey Church.