Norman Conquest Encyclopedia

Waltham Abbey

The Abbey was built by Harold in 1060 as a shrine to house the Holy Rood, a stone figure of Christ on the cross which was encased in silver that had been found nearby.The Holy Rood was said to have cured Harold of paralysis when he was a child.

After Harold's death at the battle of Hastings, he was reputedly buried at Waltham, and a gravestone can still be seen today. So many pilgrims flocked to the church in the years after Harold's death that it became very rich, and in about 1120 the church was rebuilt on a much bigger scale.

The Abbey survived until 1540, when most of it was pulled down by Henry VIII.