62
EPPING FOREST.
ing walls and roof. The spires and chimneys of
Hackney and Walthamstow, seen dimly through a
curtain of London smoke, are not an unpicturesque
element in the view.
Queen Elizabeth's Lodge is a building of the
Tudor period, constructed of massive timbers filled
in with brickwork and plaster. It is popularly
believed to have been the hunting resort of the
Virgin Queen, and there is inherent probability in
the tradition, though it is not confirmed by con-
temporary historians. All true foresters believe
further that she was in the habit of riding up the
staircase and dismounting at the top. Nor would
this be a very difficult feat, as each step is a solid
oak beam, and they are laid in short flights and at
a moderate angle. On the first floor the bed-
rooms contain some curious old tapestry, but the
chief feature of the Lodge is the large room which
occupies the entire second floor. The timbers
which form the walls and arched roof are black
with age, and give a venerable appearance. From
the windows there is an extensive view over that
part of the Forest which lies between Chingford
and High Beach. The house is kept by a widow
of a former keeper, and is partly used as a place
of entertainment for parties of teachers or children.
The Abbey of the Holy Cross of Waltham,
or rather the nave of it, is all that remains of the
departed glories of the abbey, whose inmates ex-
ercised powerful sway over much of the adjoining
country. The Forest formerly extended around it
on the upland side, as the name, Weald-ham or
Village in the Forest, shows. The River Lea, in
very early times, formed a broad estuary on the
other side, and it is related that, when the Danish