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King Harold Day 2006
"The Battle of Hastings" by Marriott Edgar
Harold, Crowned King and Killed in a Year
New Boards for the Abbey Gardens
Sites for the Interpretative Boards
Schools' Art Competition
Other places connected with 1066
Harold's Links with Waltham Abbey
How it all Began
King Harold Day people
King Harold Day 2004 and 2005
The Eve of Conquest
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New Boards for the Abbey Gardens
Location: Essex
This page tells you a little about the enduring project which is part of King Harold Day. It is designed to increase interest in the history of the town, both from Waltham Abbey residents and tourists.
LHI Project - New Boards for the Abbey Gardens
This spring we applied for grant funding from the Local Heritage Initiative, and were one of the last projects to be agreed before the scheme closed.
The Project
The grant is to go towards the cost of staging the 2006 King Harold Day and also to provide an enduring project for the Abbey Gardens and Abbey Churchyard area. Since the whole rationale of the King Harold Day Society is to commemorate King Harold, the last Saxon King of England, and his Abbey of Waltham, it was decided that the project would be to promote the historical sites of the Abbey in the churchyard and the Abbey Gardens.
Boards, Boards and more Boards
The project will provide 12 interpretative boards at various points, see separate page. The scheme is open ended so that more boards can be provided in the future, with the ultimate intention of there being a Heritage Trail around the site.
The Lee Valley Regional Park, which manages the Abbey Gardens, has agreed to fund two of the Boards, and it is hoped that a further Board will be funded by Epping Forest District Council.
Let’s Set Up a Special Group
When we heard that we had been given an award, a Special Group was set up to research the project. We recruited:-
Martin Webster, Rector of Watham Abbey, and Olive Snell, Churchwarden, to represent the Abbey Church.
Dave Carter, to represent Waltham Abbey Town Council.
Janet Grove and Peter Huggins, to represent Waltham Abbey Historical Society.
Tony O’Connor, to represent Epping Forest District Museum.
Ian Kendall and Eric Wilton, to represent Lee Valley Regional Park.
Elaine Fletcher, Tricia Gurnett and Isabelle Perrichon, to represent the King Harold Day Society.
Research and Preparation
We are working closely with Alan Gardner, a Historic Building Consultant to English Heritage and Lee Valley Regional Park. With his help, we have established which points in the Gardens should have Boards. Working with Eric Wilton, we have decided on the design of the Boards, having viewed similar projects elsewhere. Important points are that they should, as far as is possible, be resistant to graffiti and vandalism, and that they should not face the sunniest aspects to avoid fading. We are also ensuring that the Boards will be visible from wheelchairs.
Now, we are researching and sourcing suitable images for the Boards, and writing the text which will accompany them. Lucy Hose, Marketing Manager of Lee Valley Regional Park, will then cast her experienced eye over them from the point of view of the tourist consumer. Preliminary permissions have been received from some of the relevant authorities, but now, with drafts of the contents of the Boards and their design, we need to obtain specific permission from English Heritage as the site is an Ancient Monument, from Epping Forest District Council for planning permission, from the Parish and Diocese authorities as ultimate owners of the land, and from the Lee Valley Regional Park as managers of the Gardens.
Making the Scheme Public
Once these permissions have been received, we intend to hold a public meeting is Waltham Abbey Church, so that the community can be made aware of the whole project. At that time, we will also release the story to the press.
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