Having so far diverged from the direct road to the Abbey, we may well go a little further, taking a narrow roadway that runs by the mill leading to the Abbey fields.
The Abbey Gateway.
At the termination of half a dozen or so of old houses and cottages, there comes into view a bridge over the mill stream, giving access to a beautiful arch, or rather pair of arches, known as the Abbey Gateway. What remains of this once important structure, which formed the main entrance to the Abbey and the abbot’s house, consists of the front only of the old gateway, and comprises two ancient pointed arches, with a tower on the south side (the corresponding tower on the north has disappeared). At the spring of the main arch, on either side, are still traceable the arms of Edward III. on a shield surmounted by an angel. The gateway was originally approached by a drawbridge, and the porter’s window in the tower which commanded this still exists. The entrance to the old monastic buildings was by a pointed doorway in the south wall, which extends from the gate, now bricked up. This handsome old gateway also formed the entrance to the mansion erected by Sir Edward Denny, to whom the abbot’s house was given by Elizabeth. He was the grandson of Sir Anthony Denny, Chamberlain to Henry VIII., to whom much of the ecclesiastical property of Waltham was given after the Dissolution. Sir Edward Denny’s house, which was a large one in the characteristic Elizabethan style (a central doorway and two projecting wings), is spoken of by an old chronicler as being “beautiful to behold,” with a spacious garden of a character “scarcely to be equalled by any private gentleman’s.”
Higher up the Corn mill stream, in the Abbey fields, and bordering on the “pool,” is another beautiful remnant of very early architecture, probably contemporary with the Abbey church, known as Harold’s Bridge. Tradition says that in early times this was the only passage across the stream, and that not only Harold, but Tovi before him, used this bridge, when proceeding into or from the royal forest of Waltham. It is a most interesting architectural relic. There are still visible two of the five beautiful ribs which originally adorned this fine arch. Recently steps were taken to preserve this interesting monument of antiquity by restoring the stonework forming the base of the bridge. The Abbey farmhouse, with its picturesque Elizabethan front, which is said to have formed the abbot’s stabling in mediæval times, stands to the north-east of Harold’s Bridge.
The Abbey Church.
From the Abbey fields, the finest view of Harold’s noble minster is obtained, and it is with feelings of pleasant anticipation that one retraces one’s steps thereto, meditating on the way upon the many strange and wondrous scenes that have been witnessed on the ground over which one passes. As the eye wanders over the beautiful lines and the massive, age-stained walls of the ancient church, the mind is impressed with its grandeur and its significance as a vast page of England’s story.
The Abbey church and town of Waltham Holy Cross alike owe their actual foundation to Tovi the Proud, standard-bearer and chief counsellor to Cnut, who, delighted by the fine opportunities for hunting which were afforded by the number of deer running in the great forest of Waltham, established a settlement here, and founded a convent. Hither, also, Tovi brought from his manor of Lutegarsbury (Montacute), in Somerset, a miraculous crucifix, and set it up in the church. The legend of this Holy Cross, as told in the De Inventione tract, and translated by Lambarde, is a wonderfully interesting story.