Journal of Proceedinf/s. ix 



believed to be the end of the world, and the last swell of that great 

 wave of enthusiasm had not entirely subsided when the miraculous cross 

 which was brought to Waltham and deposited in the church erected there 

 was discovered. It was a miracle-working age, and no wonder that a 

 miraculous crucifix was found under-ground, possessing extraordinary 

 virtues, and demanding extraordinary devotion on the part of the faithful. 

 Tovi, who lived in tlie time of King Canute, was the first to set aside a 

 portion of his land for the purpose of building a church at Waltham. 

 After To\d's death the lordship of Waltham seemed to have reverted to the 

 Crown, and subsequently Harold enlarged Tovi's foundation for two 

 priests to one for a dean and twelve canons. The regular clergy or the 

 monks had not then attained the footing in England which they afterwards 

 did. We did not during several succeeding reigns hear of any alteration 

 in Harold's Church, which was consecrated in 1059. The founder himself 

 had been found under a heap of slain, and had been laid to rest in the 

 choir of his own Church. A wonderful tale of how Harold had escaped, 

 and had had several subsequent adventures and admitted that he was 

 Harold, had been invented ; but that legend could not bear the test of 

 historic research. In the year 1177 an important change took place at 

 the church at Waltham, when Henry the Second enlarged Harold's 

 original foundation. Henry's work was probably limited to the choir, of 

 which nothing now remains, and to the conventual buildings, of which 

 fragments do remain. In 1242, in the time of Henry the Third, we hear 

 of the Abbey Church of Wakham being consecrated, proving that some 

 alteration had been made in the east end of the Church ; that the altar 

 had been moved, thus causing the choir to require re-consecration. There 

 is thus very little doubt that Harold's choir had been pulled down, and a 

 more magnificent choir built. He believed that, in making excavations at 

 the east end of the present Church, foundations were discovered on the 

 north side for a long distance in a line with the present walls, pro\dng 

 that the choir was a very long one, probably nearly the same length as 

 the nave. There was found no wall on the south side to correspond with 

 that found on the north side ; the foundations on the south side had been 

 entirely removed. Afterwards a beautiful Lady Chapel was built on the 

 north side of the nave. From the character of the work of the Chapel, 

 one would imagine that it was early 14th century ; but he thought that it 

 was a little later than that, and dated from about 1340. No alteration of 

 any magnitude was subsequently made until the dissolution, after which 

 time as much trouble was taken to demolish as had pre\'iously been taken 

 to build. During the reign of Philip and Mary the central tower was 

 blown up with gunpowder. In the 18th century and early in the present 

 all sorts of barbarities were inflicted on the Church, the roof being 

 lowered and two galleries erected at the west end, and the whole area 

 filled with high pews. The present improved state of the Church was due 

 to the work of Mr. Burges, the Architect of the restoration in 1859—60. A 

 few fragments of the domestic buildings of the Abbey even now existed. 



h 



