52 EPPING FOREST
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
ships lay at anchor here, while their owners were
busy despoiling the country, King Alfred, by
diverting the stream above or deepening the
channel below, or by damming out the tide at
Blackwall, left these ships high and dry, so that
the Danes had to sacrifice them and save them-
selves by an overland flight. The spot originally
WALTHAM ABBEY.
derived its sacred character and its name of
Waltham Holy Cross from a cross discovered
by a holy man in Somersetshire, and thence
miraculously transported to Waltham by oxen,
acting under divine guidance. Tovi, standard-
bearer to Canute, thereupon founded a church
and religious establishment. King Harold greatly
enlarged and enriched the foundation, and hither,
tradition says, he came to pray before he went
forth to meet the Normans, and hither his body
was brought for burial after he was killed at the
battle of Hastings. His tomb was within the
chancel, inscribed with the words " Haroldus In-
felix," but the destruction of this part of the
building left it in the open air, and the stone
which marked the spot was removed by depre-
dators. It is said that in the reign of Queen