78 THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
upon it as follows :—"It is a beautiful example of late 13th century
architecture, as although the figures and the upper part of the monument
have been restored, much of the original work remains. The cross stands
on modern basement steps, and is built of stone in three diminishing
stages ; the first stage is original, the second and third with a pinnacle
and cross at the top were rebuilt in 1833-1834, and again in 1887-1889.
The first stage is hexagonal with traceried sides, small buttresses at the
angles and a much worn sculptured cornice ; the tracery on each side
of two trefoiled panels below a quarter foil and a crocketted triangular
label with foliated finial ; in the head of each panel a shield, suspended
from a knot of foliage, bears the arms of England, Ponthieu or Castile
quartering Leon. The second stage is elaborately decorated, and has
canopies with crocketted finials, under which are three statues of the
Queen, said to be original, except the head of the statue on the west,
which has been replaced. All the restorations have been copied from
the original work. In 1906 the custody of the cross was taken over by
the Herts County Council."
From the Household Expenses of Edward I. we learn that its total
cost was £92 in the currency of the period, and the stone came from
Caen in Normandy. This cross was the model for the Martyrs' Memorial
at Oxford.
Leaving this interesting monument of marital affection "Ye Olde
Foure Swannes" inn was next inspected ; its sign, stretching across
the road, is a quaint survival of this type of sign, once common, but now
fast disappearing. It bears date 1260, but the building (or rather its
predecessor) was not a hostelry at that early period. Salmon, in his
History of Hertfordshire suggests that it occupied the site of the original
manor house of Cheshunt.
The party then retraced its steps and proceeded to cross the valley
of the Lea to where, in the old Essex town of Waltham, the historic
Abbey of Waltham Holy Cross loomed in the distance and invited closer
acquaintance.
At the Abbey the party was welcomed by the vicar, the Rev. F. B.
Johnston, who had just celebrated his 50 years of association, first as
curate and then as vicar, with the venerable pile.
Assembled in the church, Mr. Barns read to the visitors the following
interesting account of the Abbey and of the legend of its foundation.
Waltham Abbey.
" The pyramids themselves, doting with age, have forgotten the names
of their founders." So wrote Thomas Fuller, incumbent of Waltham
from 1648-1658. This may be true of the pyramids, but is not so of
Waltham Abbey, for among the MSS. preserved in the British Museum
are two, one in the Cottonian and the other in the Harleian collections,
which give full account of the original founding by Tovi, and the practical
re-founding by Harold. The writer of the first, whose name is unknown,
joined the secular foundation of Waltham, of which he was a Canon,
in 1174, and was turned out when the house was made into a regular
foundation for Austin Canons in 1177. The MSS. is entitled De Inventions
Sanctae Crucis, and Dr. Stubbs, who edited it in 1861, says it is to be