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Club
History
Brief
details of how
club
was formed. Click
here
for information.
Venues
Click
here for list of
boat
bookings.
Trip
Reports
Results
of trips,
click here
for
brief report
on each outing.
Photo
Library
Index
of images,
click here to
select
pictures from
various trips.
Useful
Sites
Selection
of sites
giving general
information
of
sea angling. Click
here
to view.
Waltham
Abbey
Details
of the town of
Waltham
Abbey.
Click here to
continue.
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Waltham
Abbey is located in the west
corner of the county of Essex, between the River Lea and Epping
Forest.
It can be accessed from the M25 motorway and there is a WAGN
(West Anglia Great Northern) Railway Station at nearby Waltham
Cross.
You can also get there via the River Lea which runs through
Hertfordshire and Essex |
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A
Town full of History |
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Waltham
Abbey is a town steeped in history. It is most famous nowadays
for being the reputed resting place of King Harold who famously
died at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, after suffering an arrow
in his eye. King Harold's tomb is marked in the church grounds
of Waltham Abbey Church in the position believed to be the high
altar of the former splendid Abbey. King Harold's Standard
Bearer Earl Tovi founded the Abbey. He formed a community and
built a Church to serve it and it was believed the Church housed
a fragment from the cross of Christ. |
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After
the Norman conquest the Norman's gave the manors in Waltham to
supporters of William the Conqueror. In 1177 this was changed
and the secular canons were dissolved and Henry II revested the
tithes of the manors in the Abbey and re-established it as a
house of Augustine Canons.
It officially became an Abbey in 1184. Extensive buildings were
erected at the Eastern end in contrast to the great Norman Naive
and for many years the Abbey had a powerful influence on the
area with many noble associations and was often visited by
monarchs who hunted in the Royal forest. A most distinguished
guest was Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, who later had much
to do with events that led to the reformation. |
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Throughout
the Middle Ages the Abbey and surrounding areas thrived and
rights to hold a market and fairs were granted during the reign
of Richard I, and the fairs became great events. The Abbey has
the distinction of being the last great Abbey to go under the
reformation
in 1540. After this the lands passed to Sir Anthony Denny and
the great monastic buildings were destroyed leaving just the
original naive.
Waltham Abbey lies on the Greenwich Meridian 0 degrees
longitude.
The Town still retains character from long ago with timber
framed buildings overlooking
Market
Square where the town has enjoyed a market for the past 700
years (now held Tuesdays and Saturdays). Other significant
historical remains include Harold's Bridge, also known as Stoney
Bridge, which was built in the 14th Century across the Cornmill
stream and the 12th Century Abbey Gateway, which still stands to
this day and is remarkably well preserved.
Other places of interest in Waltham Abbey include the Museum
which is situated in Sun Street in two timber framed houses
dating from 1520 and there is the Lea Valley Parks Countryside
Centre with it's beautiful rose gardens and dragon fly
sanctuary. To the West side of the town is the Lea Navigational
Canal, once used to transport gunpowder along the River Lea to
London docks. The gunpowder was manufactured in the now closed
former Royal Gunpowder Mills which spanned 184 acres. The
Ministry of Defence who ran the Gunpowder Mills for 300 years
have now given the site to a Trust with a sizeable endowment and
the site will open as a Gunpowder Museum in the year 2000.
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