[MR] Wikipedia: Waltham Abbey

[Garth Groff and Sally Sanford]

Noble Friends,

On this date in 1540, Waltham Abbey was surrendered to Henry VIII's
commissioners. Waltham Abbey was the last religious house to surrender
during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. Much of the abbey precinct was
later destroyed, though the nave of the Norman-era abbey church continues
to be used today by the local Anglican parish. Other surviving ruins
include the abbey gate and a bridge.

During the middle ages, Waltham was a popular, though lesser, pilgrimage
site. According to legend, around 1016 a black flint or marble cross was
discovered at the top of a hill near Glastonbury. When loaded into a wagon,
the oxen refused to pull the cross in any direction but toward Waltham
where they eventually stopped (150 miles!). The cross, or "rood" as it was
called, was installed in the Abbey Church and became an object of
veneration. The cross disappeared during the Dissolution, probably broken
up and the pieces scattered by Henry's men.

Waltham is close to the Hastings battle site, and is the alleged location
of the unfortunate King Harold Godwinson's tomb. Originally inside near the
altar of the now-disappeared chancel, the tomb slab is today in the open
churchyard.

More about this interesting church is at
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waltham_Abbey_Church .

More can be found on the current Anglican church's web pages:
http://www.walthamabbeychurch.co.uk/welcome.htm?t=1648031680111 .

Yours Aye,


Lord Mungo Napier, Laird of Mallard Lodge  🦆