View source for Waltham Abbey Church

{{short description|Parish church in Waltham Abbey, Essex, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2025}}
{{Infobox  church
| denomination       = [[Church of England]]
| name               = Waltham Abbey
| full_name          = 
| image              = Waltham Abbey Church from southeast 2022-02-26.jpg
| image_size         = 300
| caption            = Waltham Abbey
| imagelink          = 
| alt                = Waltham Abbey
| pushpin_map        = United Kingdom Essex
| pushpin_label_position = 
| pushpin_map_alt    = 
| pushpin_mapsize    = 
| map_caption        = Location of Waltham Abbey
| coordinates        = 
{{coord|51.6875|-0.0035|type:landmark_region:GB-ESS|display=title}}
| country            = [[England]]
| osgraw             = 
| location           = [[Waltham Abbey]], [[Essex]]
| churchmanship      = 
| website            = [http://www.walthamabbeychurch.co.uk/ www.walthamabbeychurch.co.uk]
| founded            = 1030
| founder            = 
| dedication         = The [[Christian cross|Holy Cross]] and [[Lawrence of Rome]]
| dedicated          = 
| consecrated        = 1060 (present church)
| events             = 
| status             = 
| functional_status  = 
| heritage_designation = Grade I [[listed building]]<ref name=nhle />
| designated         = 
| architect          = 
| architectural_type = [[Abbey]]
| style              = [[Norman architecture|Norman]]
| completed          = 
| construction_cost  = 
| closed             = 
| demolished         = 
| capacity           = 
| length             = 
| width              = 
| height             = 
| materials          = 
| parish             = Waltham Holy Cross
| deanery            = Epping Forest
| diocese            = [[Diocese of Chelmsford|Chelmsford]]
| province           = [[Province of Canterbury|Canterbury]]
| vicar              = The Revd Peter Smith
}}

'''The Abbey Church of Waltham Holy Cross and St Lawrence''', also known as '''Waltham Abbey''' or '''Waltham Abbey Church''', is the parish church of the town of [[Waltham Abbey]], [[Essex]], England. It has been a place of worship since the 7th century. The present building dates mainly from the early 12th century and is an example of [[Norman architecture]]. To the east of the existing church are traces of an enormous eastward enlargement of the building, begun following the re-foundation of the abbey in 1177. In the [[Late Middle Ages]], Waltham was one  of the largest church buildings in England and a major site of  [[pilgrimage]]; in 1540 it was the last religious community to be closed during the [[Dissolution of the Monasteries]]. It is still the [[parish church]] for the town,<ref>Joseph Clayton (1912). "[[wikisource:Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)/Waltham Abbey|Waltham Abbey]]". In ''Catholic Encyclopedia''. '''15.''' New York: Robert Appleton Company.</ref> and is a grade I [[listed building]].<ref name=nhle>{{NHLE | num=1124155 |desc= Church of Holy Cross and St Lawrence ruins to east of Church of Holy Cross and St Lawrence | access-date=21 March 2024}}</ref>

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.<ref name=bettley/>

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.<ref>{{cite journal|journal=[[The Archaeological Journal]]|year=1992|volume =149|pages=282–343|author1=Huggins, P.J. |author2=Bascombe, K.N. |name-list-style=amp |title=Excavations at Waltham Abbey, Essex, 1985–1991: Three Pre-Conquest Churches and Norman Evidence'|doi=10.1080/00665983.1992.11078010}}</ref>

===First church at Waltham (7th century)===
Traces of the flint rubble foundations of a 7th-century wooden church have been found under the [[Choir (architecture)|choir]] of the present  building; an associated burial has been [[radiocarbon dating|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.<ref>Huggins (p. 12)</ref><!--Huggins 1989 or 1992? Page 12 is outside the stated page ranges for both.--> Other finds included a 7th-century [[Kingdom of Kent|Kent]]ish jewellery book-clasp depicting eagles grasping a fish.<ref>Huggins (p. 17)</ref><!--Huggins 1989 or 1992? Page 17 is outside the stated page ranges for both.-->

===Second church (8th century)===
During the reign of King [[Offa of Mercia]], whose rule extended to the [[Kingdom of Essex]] in the late 8th century, a building of [[Barnack stone]] was constructed around the earlier wooden church. It was half the length of the present building, and was a [[porticus]]-type church with chambers along each side of the [[nave]].<ref>Huggins (pp. 10–12)</ref>{{incomplete short citation|date=March 2019}}<!--Huggins 1989 or 1992? Pages 10–12 are outside the stated page ranges for both.--> It was intended as a [[Minster (church)|minster]]  serving several communities in the area.<ref>{{cite book|first=Dinah |last=Dean|title=''The Five Churches of Waltham''|publisher=Bookends|year=1984|isbn= 978-0950989303|pages=1–2}}</ref>

===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 [[Bullock cart|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.<ref>{{cite book |title=Waltham Chronicle |last= Watkiss |first=Leslie |first2=Marjorie |last2=Chibnall |year=1994 |publisher=Oxford University Press }}</ref> This [[Holyrood (cross)|Holy Rood]] or Cross was
installed at the church and soon became the subject of pilgrimage.<ref name="britannia">{{cite web|url=http://www.britannia.com/church/waltham.html|title=Waltham Abbey|publisher=britannia.com|access-date=2014-06-06|archive-date=13 January 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100113213211/http://www.britannia.com/church/waltham.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>  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.<ref
name="channel4.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/e-h/harold04.html|title=Programmes – History – Channel 4|publisher=channel4.com|access-date=2014-06-06}}</ref>
The new church was placed under the control of a [[Dean (Christianity)|dean]] and a [[College (canon law)|college]] of twelve married [[priest]]s. Evidence suggests that stone and some of the
foundations of the previous church were re-used for the new building, which had a nave the same length as the present one, [[aisle]]s, a large [[transept]] and a small eastern [[apse]].<ref>{{cite journal|journal=The Archaeological Journal|year=1989| volume=146|pages=476–537|author= Huggins, P.J.|title=Excavations of the Colligiate and Augustinian Churches, Waltham Abbey, Essex, 1984–1987|doi=10.1080/00665983.1989.11021300}}</ref>

===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 [[Norman architecture|Norman]] style. It reused the Saxon foundations and some of  the stonework, with additional stone from [[Reigate]], [[Kentish Ragstone|Kent]] and [[Caen stone|Caen]] in [[Normandy]]. The church was cruciform, with a tower at the [[Crossing (architecture)|crossing]] and two smaller towers at the west end. The nave had typically massive Norman pillars with incised decoration and semi-circular arches supporting a [[triforium]] and [[clerestory]] above. A long eastern chapel may have housed the Holy Cross.<ref>Huggins (p. 5)</ref> The rebuilding, which had started at the eastern end, was completed by about 1150. Although there is a marked stylistic
resemblance to [[Durham Cathedral]], a recent study of the features of the church and comparison with other sites has concluded that the [[Architect|master mason]] at Waltham was trained in [[East Anglia]].<ref>[http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/maney/jba/1985/00000138/00000001/art00003?crawler=true Journal of the British Archaeological Association, Volume 138, Number 1, 1985, pp. 48–78(31) – Fernie, E. C., ''The Romanesque Church of Waltham Abbey'']</ref> This construction is mainly the fabric that has survived to the present.<ref>Hagger 2012, p. 174</ref>

===Fifth church (the Augustinian Abbey)===
[[File:Waltham Abbey Gateway - geograph.org.uk - 1030421.jpg|thumb|The surviving bridge and gatehouse of the abbey]]
In 1177, the abbey was re-founded once more, this time as an [[Augustinians|Augustinian]] priory with 16 canons, by [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] as part of his penance for the murder of [[Thomas Becket]]. The rebuilding, in the [[Early English Period|Early English]] style, made the abbey far more extensive than the original Norman establishment, as can be seen today from traces in the abbey grounds. Those parts of the Norman church east of the Norman crossing were demolished, and a new church, with its own nave, a second pair of transepts and a further tower at the new crossing, were constructed. The Norman nave was retained as a parish church, divided from the new work by a screen. The whole building was now longer than [[Winchester Cathedral]].<ref>Hagger (p. 177)</ref> A [[cloister]] was built to the north of the new nave. A short passage that led into the cloister still exists; this, and a fourteenth-century gatehouse, are the only surviving monastic buildings.<ref
name=bettley>{{cite book |title=The Buildings of England: Essex |last=Bettley |first=James |first2=Nikolaus |last2=Pevsner |year=2007 |publisher= Yale University Press|isbn= 978-0-300-11614-4 |pages=807–809 }}</ref>

In 1184, Henry raised the status of the church to an abbey; he appointed an [[abbot]] and the number of canons was increased to 24. The completed abbey was finally re-dedicated on 30 September 1242, by [[William de Raley]], [[Bishop of Norwich]].<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=39852|series= Victoria County History|title=A History of the County of Essex: Volume 2 – Houses of Austin canons: Abbey of Waltham Holy Cross |pages=166–168}}</ref> The Holy Cross attracted many pilgrims and the Abbey became a popular place for overnight stays for kings and other notables hunting in [[Epping Forest|Waltham Forest]]. [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] was a frequent visitor and is said to have had a house or lodge at Romeland, adjacent to the abbey.<ref>{{cite book|first=Elizabeth|last=Ogborne|orig-year=Originally published in 1814|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=IeVSAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA178 |title=The History of Essex: From the Earliest Period to the Present Time|publisher=Nabu Press|isbn= 978-1247495620|page=179|year=1814|author-link=Elizabeth Ogborne}}</ref> During their summer progress of 1532, Henry and Queen [[Anne Boleyn]] stayed at Waltham Abbey for five days.<ref>{{cite book|author=Starkey, David|year=2004|title=Six Wives: The Queens of Henry VIII|publisher=Harper Perennial|isbn=978-0060005504|page=[https://archive.org/details/sixwivesqueensof00davi/page/454 454]|url=https://archive.org/details/sixwivesqueensof00davi/page/454}}</ref>

===The Dissolution===
Waltham was the last abbey in England to be [[Dissolution of the Monasteries|dissolved]].<ref>Heale 2016, p. 323</ref> On 23 March 1540, the last abbot, Robert Fuller, surrendered the abbey and its estates to Henry's commissioners, the annual income from which was valued at £1,079, 12 shillings and one penny. In return, the abbot received a generous pension in the form of estates with an annual income of £200; the [[Prior (ecclesiastical)|prior]] received an annuity of £20 and sixteen canons each received between £5 and £10 depending on seniority.<ref>Ogborne pp. 180–182</ref> [[Thomas Tallis]], who had taken up a post as a senior "singing-man" (often interpreted as [[Organist and Master of the Choristers|choir master]]) in the autumn of 1538, was awarded 20 shillings in outstanding wages and 20 shillings "reward". Tallis went on from Waltham to a post in the choir at [[Canterbury Cathedral]].<ref>[http://www.hoasm.org/IVM/Tallis.html Here Of A Sunday Morning – Thomas Tallis (c. 1510–1585)]</ref>  The Holy Cross disappeared without trace at this time. King Henry suggested Waltham as one of the new cathedrals for the [[Church of England]], but this proposal was not implemented.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42720|title= History of the County of Essex: Volume 2|pages=170–180}}</ref>  In 1541, the king leased the manor of Waltham to Sir [[Anthony Denny]], a prominent member of the [[Privy chamber]] and a confidant of the king. When Denny died in 1549, his estates passed to his widow Joan and in 1553 she bought the manor of Waltham outright; she died in the same year. The manor then passed to her son Henry, who died in 1574 leaving two sons; the elder Robert, died in 1576 and was succeeded by [[Edward Denny, 1st Earl of Norwich|Edward Denny]], who became Baron Denny of Waltham in 1604 and [[Earl of Norwich]] in 1626.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42718|title=History of the County of Essex: Volume 2|pages=151–162}}</ref> Edward reused the stones from the demolished Gothic choir and chancel (the fifth church) for the sumptuous Abbey House which he built to the north of the churchyard; the Norman remnant of the nave continued in use as the town's [[parish church]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://forms.eppingforestdc.gov.uk/community/history/history_of_the_area.asp |title=Epping Forest District Council – History of the District |access-date=16 September 2012 |archive-date=3 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120903055147/http://forms.eppingforestdc.gov.uk/community/history/history_of_the_area.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Later architectural history===
In 1553,<ref name=bettley/> 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 [[Mary I of England|Queen Mary I]].<ref>New, Anthony (1985), ''A Guide to the Abbeys of England and Wales'', Constable and Company Ltd, {{ISBN|0-09-463520-X}} (p. 405)</ref>

[[File:ECR(1851) p22b - Waltham Abbey.jpg|thumb|left|Waltham Abbey depicted in 1851, before the rebuilding works]]
[[File:Waltham Abbey - East Wall.jpg|thumb|right|Burges's East Wall and Zodiac Ceiling]]
[[File:Waltham Abbey, Doom 01.jpg|thumb|right|The 15th-century doom painting in the Lady Chapel]]
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 [[zodiac]] as at [[Peterborough Cathedral]]), a new chancel and significant re-building. The designs were exhibited at the [[Royal Academy]]. Work  was completed by 1876. In the view of Burges's biographer, [[J. Mordaunt Crook]], "(Burges's interior) meets the [[Middle Ages]] as an equal." The architectural historian [[Nikolaus Pevsner]] said that Burges's remodelling was carried out "with all the robust ugliness which that architect liked".<ref>The Buildings of England: Essex (1965)</ref>  The revised 2007, edition of his book takes a more sympathetic view, describing Burges' work as "pioneering (and) powerful".<ref name="bettley"/> In the last year of the restoration, a 15th-century [[Doom (painting)|doom painting]] was discovered under whitewash on the east wall of the Lady Chapel.<ref>Tatton-Brown & Crook 2007, p.  69</ref> Further, more sensitive, restoration was undertaken in 1964.<ref>New p.  405</ref>

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 of Jesus in art|Nativity]] and the [[Presentation|Presentation of Christ in the Temple]]. Work on a fourth – intended to depict the [[Epiphany (holiday)|Epiphany]] – was interrupted by the Second World War and never resumed.{{citation needed|date=May   2013}} In April 1941, a 500&nbsp;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.<ref>{{cite web|work=Epping Forest Guardian – Local History |date=13 July 2007|url=http://www.guardian-series.co.uk/localhistory/1542792.a_window_into_the_abbeys_past/ |title=A window into the Abbey's past|author=Barden, Daniel}}</ref>

In 2003 the church was attacked by a man armed with two small axes, resulting in an estimated £200,000 worth of damage.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2003-01-03 |title=BBC NEWS {{!}} UK {{!}} England {{!}} Two hurt by Abbey axeman |website=news.bbc.co.uk |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/2625687.stm |access-date=2017-03-13}}</ref>

== King Harold's tomb ==
Harold stopped to pray at Waltham on his way south from the [[Battle of Stamford Bridge]] to fight [[William the Conqueror|William of Normandy]]; the battle-cry of the English troops at [[Battle of Hastings|Hastings]] was "Holy Cross". According to ''Gesta Guillelmi'', an account of the battle written by [[William of Poitiers]] in the 1070s, Harold's body was handed over to [[William Malet (Norman conquest)|William Malet]], a [[companion of William the Conqueror]] for burial; Duke William refused an offer by Harold's mother, [[Gytha Thorkelsdóttir|Gytha]], to exchange Harold's corpse for its weight in gold. The account also relates that some Normans remarked "in jest" that "he who guarded the coast with such insensate zeal should be buried by the sea shore", but does not say that this was  actually done. Another account, the ''[[Carmen de Hastingae Proelio]]'', thought to have been written only months after the battle, says that he was buried under a cliff top [[cairn]], but this version does not appear in any other account.<ref>Rex, Peter, 2009 ''Harold II: The Doomed Saxon King'', Tempus Publishing Limited, {{ISBN|0-7524-3529-9}} (p. 254)</ref>
[[Image:Tombe d'Harold II.jpg|thumb|left|Reputed tomb of King [[Harold Godwinson|Harold II]] under the site of the High Altar]]
[[William of Malmesbury]] wrote in the ''Gesta regum Anglorum'' in 1125, that the refusal to accept Gytha's gold simply meant that Harold's body  was handed over without payment, and that it was taken from the battlefield to Waltham for burial. This version is supported by the ''[[Roman de Rou]]'', written by [[Wace]] in the 1160s. The final and most detailed medieval account comes from the ''Waltham Chronicle''. The  author describes how two canons from Waltham, Osgod Cnoppe and  Aethelric Childemaister, accompanied Harold from Waltham to Hastings. After the battle, they asked permission to recover Harold's body, which could only be identified by his [[concubine]], [[Edith Swanneck]], who recognised "secret marks". From Hastings the body was brought to Waltham and buried under the floor of the church. This story was related to the author of the Chronicle when he was a boy, by the elderly [[Sacristan]] Turketil, who claimed to have himself been a boy at Waltham when Harold
arrived en route from Stamford Bridge, and later witnessed the interment  of the king. The author himself claims to have seen Harold's body being  disinterred and moved twice during the rebuilding work which started in  1090.<ref>Rex p. 255</ref>

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|date=June 2022}} 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 [[David Hume]] wrote that Harold had been buried by the high altar in the Norman church and moved to the choir of the later Augustinian abbey. Visitors were shown a stone slab bearing the inscription ''"Hic iacet Haroldus infelix"'' ("Here lies Harold the unfortunate"), although it had been destroyed when that part of the abbey was demolished at the Dissolution.<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/studentshumeahi01unkngoog#page/n91/mode/2up  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)]</ref> An earlier 18th-century reference comes from [[Daniel Defoe]]'s ''[[A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain]].'' In his description of Essex, Defoe mentions Waltham Abbey where "the ruins of the abbey remain; and tho’ antiquity is not my proper business, I cou’d not but observe, that King Harold, slain in the great battle in Sussex against William the Conqueror, lies buried here; his body being begg’d by his mother, the Conqueror allow’d it to be carried hither; but no monument was, as I can find, built for him, only a flat grave-stone, on which was engraven, ''Harold Infoelix''."<ref>Defoe, Daniel. [1724–26]. ''A Tour Through the Whole Island of Great Britain'', vol. 1, Everyman Edition, Dutton, New York 1962 (p. 89)</ref>

==Organ==
[[File:Waltham Abbey Church organ.jpg|thumb|right|The organ in 2022]]
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.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=oL8NAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA6&lpg=PA6&dq  Edmund Horace Fellowes, English Cathedral Music from Edward VI to Edward VII, Methuen 1945, (p. 6)]</ref> The church currently contains a large 3 manual organ. A plaque on the organ case has the inscription, "[[Benjamin Flight|Flight & Robson]] 1827, the gift of [[Thomas Leverton|(Thomas) Leverton]] Esq.", although this instrument dates from 1819.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Xcra-oJfCYgC&pg=PA318&lpg=PA318&dq  James Boeringer, Andrew Freeman, ''Organa Britannica: Organs in Great Britain 1660–1860'': Volume 1, Bucknell University Press 1983] {{ISBN|978-0838718940}} (p. 318)</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www.walthamabbeychurch.co.uk/Music/organ.htm Waltham Abbey Church – Waltham Abbey Music – The Organ]</ref><ref>A specification of the organ can be found on the
[http://www.npor.org.uk/cgi-bin/Rsearch.cgi?Fn=Rsearch&rec_index=D03510 National Pipe Organ Register].</ref> 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.<ref>[http://www.walthamabbeychurch.co.uk/Music/organAppeal.htm  Waltham Abbey Church – Waltham Abbey Music – Waltham Abbey Church Heritage Organ Appeal]{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mander-organs.com/rebuilt-organ-at-waltham-abbey/|title = Rebuilt Organ at Waltham Abbey|date = 3 April 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://mander-organs.com/waltham-abbey-essex/#:~:text=The%20organ%20in%20Waltham%20Abbey%20has%20a%20long,Robson%2C%20who%20specialised%20in%20this%20type%20of%20instrument.|title=Mander Organs: Waltham Abbey|date=24 January 2020 |access-date=10 January 2021}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://christmasclassics.com/christmasmusic/tag/waltham-abbey|title=Christmas Classics Person of the Day: William Hayman Cummings|date=2013-08-30|publisher=Christmas Classics Ltd|via=Waltham Abbey Archives|accessdate=2023-12-19}}</ref>

===Organists===
Its organists have included:{{Citation needed|date=March 2019}}
*[[Thomas Tallis]]
*Polly Thompson
*[[William Hayman Cummings]], 1847–1853
*Mr. Gibbons
*Mr. Banks
*Joseph Chalk, from 1859
*Norman Rimmer
*Jamie Hitel
*[[Stuart Nicholson (organist)|Stuart Nicholson]]
*Stephen Bullamore, 2005–2013
*Jonathan Lilley, appointed 2013

==Notable clergy==
* [[Patrick Hobson]]; rector, 1988 to 1998

==Notable burials==
*[[Harold Godwinson|King Harold]] (c. 1022 – 14 October 1066),
*[[Elizabeth of Rhuddlan]] (1282–1316), daughter of [[Edward I]]
*[[Hugh de Neville]]
*Honora Grey Denny, mother of [[Edward Denny, 1st Earl of Norwich]]

==See also==
*[[List of English abbeys, priories and friaries serving as parish churches]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|2}}

==References==
* {{cite book |title=William Burges and the High Victorian Dream |last=Crook |first =J. Mordaunt |year= 1981|publisher=John Murray }}
* {{cite book|author=Hagger, Nicholas|title=A View of Epping Forest|publisher=O Books|year= 2012|isbn=978-1846945878}}
* {{cite book |last=Heale |first=Martin |date=2016 |title=The Abbots and Priors of Late Medieval and Reformation England |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cgbnDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA323 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0198702535 }}
* {{cite book |title=The Buildings of England: Essex |last=Pevsner |first=Nikolaus |year=1965 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-0-14-071011-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/londonicitiesof00pevs }}
* {{cite book |title=The Buildings of England: Essex |last=Bettley |first=James |first2=Nikolaus |last2=Pevsner |year=2007 |publisher= Yale University Press|isbn= 978-0-300-11614-4 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Tatton-Brown |first1=Tim |last2=Crook |first2=John |date=2007 |title=The Abbeys and Priories of England |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iQrqAAAAMAAJ |publisher=New Holland Publishers Ltd |isbn=978-1845371166}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Waltham Abbey Church}}
*{{official website|http://www.walthamabbeychurch.co.uk/}}
*[https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/waltham-abbey-gatehouse-and-bridge/ Abbey gatehouse and bridge page at English Heritage]
*[http://www.paradoxplace.com/Photo%20Pages/UK/Britain_South_and_West/Waltham/Waltham_Abbey.htm  Adrian Fletcher's Paradoxplace – Waltham Abbey Page]
*[http://www.walthamabbeyarchive.com Waltham Abbey Reflections Of the Past]
*[http://www.walthamabbeygenealogy.co.uk Waltham Abbey Genealogy site] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190121223104/http://www.walthamabbeygenealogy.co.uk/ |date=21 January 2019 }}
*[http://www.walthamabbeyhistoricalsociety.org.uk Waltham Abbey Historical Society]
*{{oscoor gbx|TL381007}}.
{{William Burges}}
{{Greater Churches}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waltham Abbey (Abbey)}}
[[Category:Monasteries in Essex]]
[[Category:Augustinian monasteries in England]]
[[Category:Christianity in Anglo-Saxon England]]
[[Category:Church of England church buildings in Epping Forest District]]
[[Category:1030 establishments in England]]
[[Category:Christian monasteries established in the 1030s]]
[[Category:1540 disestablishments in England]]
[[Category:English Heritage sites in Essex]]
[[Category:English churches with Norman architecture]]
[[Category:William Burges church buildings]]
[[Category:Grade I listed churches in Essex]]
[[Category:Grade I listed monasteries]]
[[Category:Monasteries dissolved under the English Reformation]]
[[Category:Pilgrimage churches]]
[[Category:Waltham Abbey]]
[[Category:Harold Godwinson]]