Broxbourne Circular via Waltham Abbey Walk

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Walk Maps

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Walk Options ( Short )

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13. Main Walk (19¾ km)

1. Short Walk 1, finishing at Cheshunt (15½ km)
2. Short Walk 2, with shorter afternoon (14 km)

Walk Directions

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1. Broxbourne Station to Silvermeade (exit) (1½ km)
• From the station go up an embankment and turn left onto the New River Path. Follow this across the B194 and past the parish church. Turn left down Mill Lane and continue on a path under the railway to the River Lea's towpath, where there is a gate on the right into Silvermeade. Unless it is waterlogged the suggested route is to follow a path through this water meadow, joining the towpath 650m further along.
1. Outside the station go through a gate on the right and climb a flight of steps up an embankment. At the top turn left onto a path alongside the New River?, passing the station car park down on your left. At the far end go through a kissing gate and turn right onto Station Road, crossing the river.
2. Cross the road carefully and in 50m turn half-left onto a path across a corner of Broxbourne Recreation Ground, with a churchyard beyond the river on your left. At the end turn left onto a lane (Churchfields) to go back across the river and past St Augustine's church?. At a junction follow the road down to the left, away from the river.
3. The road (now Mill Lane) curves to the right. Keep right at junctions, entering River Lee Country Park?. The lane goes alongside the River Lea?, passing a Canoe & Cycle Hire shed and the Old Mill Retreat Café, with a signposted path for a “Wetlands and Woodlands” trail between them.

   The café is the suggested tea place at the end of the Main Walk, with the trail an optional extension.

4. Follow the riverside path under a low railway bridge. Before reaching a footbridge over the river there is a wooden kissing gate on the right into Silvermeade?. If conditions permit, the suggested route is to go through this water meadow.
   • If the meadow looks waterlogged you can simply continue along the towpath for 650m and resume the directions at §B, where the main route rejoins from the second of two more gates into the meadow.
5. Inside the water meadow the grassy path curves gently to the left. You will be leaving this triangular part of the meadow at its far right-hand end, but the path stays close to the towpath before swinging right in front of a belt of trees. Cross a stream in these trees on a wide bridge and go through a wooden kissing gate into the main part of the meadow.
6. Ignore a footbridge across the reed-covered stream on the right and bear slightly left to follow a faint grassy path parallel to the stream for 400m. The path passes several small fenced-off areas and another footbridge on the right as it makes its way back towards the river. At the far end leave the meadow through another kissing gate and turn right onto the towpath.
2. Silvermeade to Ashley Lake (1¾ km)
• From Silvermeade head south on the towpath for 650m. After passing a car park at the end of Wharf Road veer right to join a path heading south and then south-west, crossing a lane and merging with a cycleway. After crossing a footpath (Slipe Lane) veer right onto a grassy path which rejoins the cycleway near the railway line. Follow the cycleway round to the left to go alongside the large Ashley lake.
1. After the exit from Silvermeade head S on the towpath alongside the River Lea, which is navigable on this stretch. In 650m, just after passing a car park at the end of Wharf Road, veer right off the towpath onto a path across a grassy picnic area, dotted with trees. This swings left and merges with a path from the car park, then bears right to head away from the river.
2. After crossing a ditch on a footbridge you go past a vehicle barrier onto a lane. Turn left briefly onto the lane, then almost immediately veer right through another barrier onto the continuation of the footpath. In 200m bear left at a path junction to join a cycleway, heading S again.
3. In 50m go straight ahead at a major path crossing, then immediately veer right onto a grassy path. In 50m this merges with another path from the right, climbs a small slope and continues across a semi-open area. The path gradually approaches the railway line off to the right and in 250m rejoins the cycleway (which took a longer route past a fishing lake, Railway Pit).
4. You will now be following this cycleway for 1¼ km, to Turnford Brook. After staying close to the tracks for 175m it swings sharply left to head away from them, through a more wooded area. Follow the path as it curves gently round to the right and continues alongside a large fishing lake, Ashley Lake.
3. Ashley Lake to the Wildlife Discovery Centre (2½ km)
• Follow the cycleway past Ashley Lake to a T-junction in front of Turnford Brook. Turn left, cross the Small River Lea and fork left, then veer right to head eastwards. Cross over the Lee Navigation and turn right at a path T-junction in front of the Old River Lea. Keep left at a triangular path junction to join the perimeter path around Seventy Acres Lake, eventually coming to the new Wildlife Discovery Centre.
1. The path goes alongside the lake for 500m, then turns half-right and heads back towards the railway. After a final stretch of 200m near the tracks you come to a path T-junction in front of a stream, Turnford Brook. Turn left to head E, away from a bridge over the railway.
2. In 100m the path crosses the Small River Lea and you fork left, briefly heading back towards Broxbourne. Keep to the main path as it veers right and goes between the tree-lined edges of two lakes. Go up to and straight across the River Lee Navigation? on a high bridge and continue across Holyfield Marsh towards a large electricity substation.
3. At a path T-junction flanked by a pair of Wildlife Bench sculptures turn right to head S alongside the Old River Lea. In 250m keep left at a triangular path junction. The path follows a meandering course between the river and Seventy Acres Lake and eventually comes to a new building on the right with a bird hide which you could visit, the Wildlife Discovery Centre?.
4. The Discovery Centre to Waltham Abbey (Romeland) (3¾ km)
• Continue on the perimeter path around the lake, eventually coming to a small car park at the end of Fishers Green Lane. Turn left onto this lane, crossing the Flood Relief Channel. In 250m turn right onto a footpath, initially along a field margin and then veering left up across the field. Follow the footpath around two sides of a large fenced-off area and cross a footbridge over the Cornmill Stream. Turn left and follow the perimeter path along the eastern side of Cornmill Meadows, then through a subway under Waltham Abbey's ring road (Abbey View). Unless you want to go directly into the Abbey Gardens, skirt around them to the right and veer right into Romeland for the Crown pub.
1. Continue on the perimeter path around the lake, passing a viewing platform down on the shore and a footbridge across the river on the left. The path makes a wide loop alongside a meander of the river (Horsemill Stream) and eventually leads into a small car park. Turn left to cross the wide Flood Relief Channel on Fishers Green Bridge, joining the Greenwich Meridian Trail? (GMT).

   The car park might be closed while construction work is taking place, but the bridge should remain open to pedestrians.

2. In 250m turn right off Fishers Green Lane onto a signposted footpath, crossing a (possibly temporary) works access road flanked by gates into the bottom corner of a large farm field. Keep ahead along the field margin, with Hooks Marsh beyond the hedge on your right. In 400m – about two-thirds of the way along the field edge – turn left as indicated by a footpath waymarker post to go up across the field, heading ESE.

   The next 400m might be a quagmire in wet weather. OpenStreetMap actually shows the path as going around the field edge (which is not the right of way), but there is no field margin on this stretch so it is unlikely to be any better.

3. If the right of way is not marked out, aim for the left-hand end of the tree boundary on the far side. At that point turn half-right as indicated by another waymarker post to go along the right-hand edge of a smaller part of the field, with a high chainlink fence on your right around part of the extensive gunpowder works site.
4. In the field corner go through a wooden gate to enter another part of the Country Park and continue alongside the fence, leaving the GMT (which turns left and then heads due south through woodland into Waltham Abbey). At the fence corner turn right to go gently downhill on a broad grassy path between the fence and a closely-packed line of tall conifers.
5. At the bottom of the slope follow this potentially muddy path round to the left and cross a wooden footbridge on the right over the Cornmill Stream. Turn left onto the grassy path alongside the stream and follow it all the way along the eastern edge of Cornmill Meadows Dragonfly Sanctuary?.
6. As you approach the south-eastern corner of these water meadows there is an information panel about the three small Abbey Fish Ponds off to the right. Leave the meadows through a wooden gate in the perimeter fence ahead and turn right onto a broad grassy path, away from a bridge over the stream. In 50m follow the path round to the left, through a subway under Waltham Abbey's ring road (Abbey View) and up to a footbridge across the stream.

   The Abbey Gardens across the bridge are a good place for a picnic, so if you do not want a pub lunch you could stop there and pick up the route again before or after its loop around the town and gardens.

7. For the suggested route turn right in front of the bridge. Follow a grassy path alongside the stream, soon curving round to the left. Shortly after passing the Abbey Gateway? entrance into the gardens veer right through a gap into a residential square (Romeland). Bear left and go along the row of houses to come to the first of the town's possible lunch pubs, the Crown.
5. A loop around Waltham Abbey (1¼ km • 600m)
• Go out onto Highbridge Street and up to the Abbey Church. After visiting it the suggested route is to cut through a corner of the church grounds to Market Square and go all the way along the pedestrianised Sun Street, passing several more refreshment places. Turn left at the traffic lights ahead onto Crooked Mile, then turn left through a gate into Waltham Abbey Gardens. Take any route through them to the Abbey Gatehouse which you passed earlier and return to Highbridge Street, either via the church or by cutting through Romeland.
  • For a short cut you could go around the rear of the church into the western end of the gardens to reach the Church Centre.
    
1. If you have been to the Crown, turn left out of the pub and then left again onto Highbridge Street. At the end of this street you pass the Town Hall? on the right and come to the west door of the Church of the Holy Cross and St Lawrence?, which is well worth a visit.

The walk now loops around the town before leaving it along Highbridge Street, so you could postpone visiting the church until later. The main route goes out along Sun Street and loops back through the full length of the Abbey Gardens. If you are not planning to visit one of the town's other refreshment places you could take the short cut in [?] through a different part of the gardens, or indeed skip the rest of this section altogether.

2. Main route (1¼ km)

1. Take the tree-lined path on the southern side of the church, passing a statue of King Harold? high up on its south wall. Where the path splits keep right to stay on the main path.
2. The path leads out to Market Square via a short passage beside the (possibly closed) Welsh Harp. Bear left across the square into the pedestrianised Sun Street.
3. About halfway along this street you go over a pavement mosaic marking the Greenwich Meridian? and pass the Sun Inn on the right.
4. At the end of the street the Epping Forest District Museum? is in an attractive half-timbered building on the right and the Angel pub is on the left, just before the junction with Quaker Lane.
5. Join Quaker Lane and turn left at the traffic lights ahead onto a residential street (Crooked Mile). In 75m turn left through a gate into Waltham Abbey Gardens?. Cross a moat on a wooden footbridge into the old Abbey Orchard (and wildflower garden).
6. Turn half-right to cut across the orchard to the middle of its western side. Cross another footbridge into the main part of the gardens and fork right onto a path leading to the enclosed Rose Garden.
7. If you exit on its northern side you will come out opposite the site of the medieval Bloomery Forge?, in which case turn left onto the path alongside the garden, soon passing another pavement mosaic marking the Meridian.
8. Follow the path up to the building ahead (the Church Centre), where there is an information panel about the Infirmary and Chapel.
   • If instead you exit the Rose Garden through the Sun & Moon gateway on its western side, the Church Centre is straight ahead.
     

3. Short cut (600m)

1. … fork left to stay alongside the church.
2. Veer left around the back of the church to come to a stone slab memorial marking the king's possible burial site.
3. With the church behind you, go diagonally across the patch of grass to the left towards an iron grille in the stone wall. Go through a gap in the wall to its right.
4. Turn left and go alongside the wall to the other end of this medieval Slype?, where there is a Cloister Passage information panel (and a slightly better view through the grille at this end).
5. …
4. Take the path heading SW away from the Church Centre, passing a tall wooden sculpture on the grass off to the right, the Ancestor?. The path merges with another from the left and leaves the gardens through the main gateway. Cross the Cornmill Stream on a wide bridge and turn left onto the path you were on earlier.
5. You will be leaving Waltham Abbey along Highbridge Street. For variety the suggested route is to continue alongside the stream to the Abbey Church, passing the Mill site and the Rectory, but you could repeat your earlier route and cut through Romeland.
6. Romeland to the White Water Centre (1 • 1½ km)
• Head west along Highbridge Street, past Highbridge Roundabout and along the B194 and A121 for 500m to a bridge across two river channels. Turn right off the road onto the path between them and cross the Lee Navigation at Waltham Town Lock. Go along the towpath to the White Water Centre.
  • If you want to divert to Waltham Cross station, continue along the A121 past the river bridge for a further 1 km.
1. Head W along Highbridge Street, away from the church. Keep to the left-hand side of the large roundabout (with the 2012 Olympic Shield? in its centre), passing the Bake You Happy tearoom and now on the B194. Use the pedestrian crossing to switch to its right-hand side before reaching the traffic lights ahead.
2. Unless you want to make a long out-and-back detour along Beaulieu Drive to the museum at the former Royal Gunpowder Mills? (500m away), keep ahead at this junction. You are now on the A121 and in 150m you reach the town bridge across both the Flood Relief Channel and the Lee Navigation.
   • If you want to curtail the walk by finishing at Waltham Cross station, simply continue along the A121 for a further 1 km, crossing to its left-hand side at some point. On the railway bridge go down a flight of steps to the station forecourt and cross the footbridge to Platform 1 for trains to London.
3. To continue the walk, turn right off the road onto the broad path between the two river channels. After passing a Viking Ship sculpture veer left across the grass and cross the navigation at Waltham Town Lock. Turn right and go along the towpath for 400m. There is a bridge over the navigation ahead and a pedestrian entrance into the Lee Valley White Water Centre on your left.

If you want to visit the centre before continuing the walk, follow the directions below.

4. Detour into the White Water Centre (+~½ km)

1. Go through the pedestrian entrance onto an enclosed path and skirt around a lake to reach the main building. There are steps from the Reception area up to the Brew Street Kitchen and Bar on the first floor.
2. There are paths from the large Terrace behind the café and around the side of the building to the Olympic course. If it is operating you can watch canoeists and rafters tackling it from a footbridge.
3. To resume the walk retrace your steps out of the centre.

If you are finishing at Cheshunt via the shorter afternoon route, go to §L.

7. The White Water Centre to Cadmore Lane (3 km)
• Go across the Lee Navigation and veer left across the Showground. On the far side turn left onto a path between Horsemill Stream and Hall Marsh Scrape. At a path T-junction turn right to continue around Hall Marsh Scrape, now alongside Powdermill Cut. Shortly before reaching the Flood Relief Channel turn left onto a path running between Hooks Marsh Lake and a couple of fishing lakes. At the end turn left to go back across the navigation and alongside the southern end of North Metropolitan Pit.
1. Go across the Lee Navigation on the Canal Bridge into a large open area, the Showground. Veer left off the main path onto a grassy path heading NNE for 450m, passing under pylons near the far side.
2. Go through a gate, cross Horsemill Stream on a wide bridge and turn left onto a surfaced path. Follow this path alongside the stream for 500m, initially heading NE and gradually curving round to the right.
   • After 200m you could make an out-and-back detour to Snipe Hide, overlooking the floodplain grassland of Hall Marsh Scrape on your right. Old information panels show another viewing point on this stretch but Teal Hide has disappeared.
3. At a path T-junction turn right onto another surfaced path, now alongside another stream (Powdermill Cut). On this stretch the steel Phoenix Hide offers an unusual viewing point across Hall Marsh Scrape. As the path nears the Flood Relief Channel turn left by a small grassy area containing a Banded Demoiselle sculpture, crossing Powdermill Cut on a footbridge.
4. Ignore a boardwalk off to the left and simply follow this unsurfaced path for just over 1 km as it meanders along a strip of land. Hooks Marsh Lake is on your right throughout and there is a stream on your left, with Friday Lake and later Police Pit beyond it. The path ends at a T-junction where you turn left onto the perimeter path around Seventy Acres Lake.
5. After the path swerves right and left fork left at a Viking Sign Post sculpture in a triangular path junction. Go back across the Lee Navigation and keep ahead on a broad track (Cadmore Lane), with a large fishing lake on the right (North Metropolitan Pit). At the corner of this lake there is a narrow path off to the right just before the track crosses the Small River Lea.

If you are doing the Short Walk (to Cheshunt), go to §K.

8. Cadmore Lane to Aqueduct Lock (1¾ km)
• Take lakeside and woodland paths close to the Small River Lea for 1½ km, eventually joining the Lee Navigation for a short stretch to Aqueduct Lock.
1. For the longer ending in Broxbourne, turn right in front of the bridge onto the lakeside path. In 250m you might be able to glimpse a Play Boulders sculpture on a small open space across the Small River Lea. In a further 200m the path goes up a small slope and merges with a cycleway coming from a brick bridge over the stream.
2. Keep ahead on the cycleway, still between the Small River Lea and the northern end of the lake. In 350m keep right at a major path junction, where the stream is joined by Turnford Brook. In a further 50m keep ahead on an unsurfaced path, leaving the cycleway which veers right.
3. This woodland path goes alongside the stream for 500m, with glimpses of more fishing lakes on both sides. Eventually it swings right and meanders through the trees before coming out in front of the Lee Navigation. Turn left and go along its towpath for 250m to Aqueduct Lock.
9. Aqueduct Lock to Broxbourne Waterside (2½ km)
• Turn off the towpath and again take narrow paths between a series of small lakes before returning to the Lee Navigation just before it merges with the River Lea at King's Weir. Follow the towpath for 1 km to reach a gate leading into a water meadow, Silvermeade. Either take a grassy path all the way through this meadow or simply remain on the towpath to Broxbourne Waterside, the start of another section of the Lee Navigation.
1. At the far end of the lock you could simply remain on the towpath, but for variety the suggested route is to turn left down steps onto a path signposted to Ashley Lake. Turn right at a path junction and follow the woodland path over a low rise on a shallow flight of steps with some new wooden fencing, heading NW.
2. In 200m the narrow path turns half-right, crosses a ditch and goes through a patch of scrubland to a small car park. Ignore a path opposite and turn left to go out along its unsurfaced access road, which immediately bends right to head N. You pass Railway Pit on the left, Boot Pit and then Lee Pit on the right. At the end of the access road turn right onto a lane to go back towards the Lee Navigation.
3. After skirting around a metal fieldgate ignore a sharp left turn onto a lane, but turn left onto the towpath in front of a bridge. You soon pass King's Weir where the navigation merges with the main River Lea, which is navigable on this stretch. In 200m, shortly before passing a car park, you pass the path on the left which you took earlier and now have to retrace your outward route for 650m.
4. When you reach the information panel for Silvermeade? the suggested route is to carry on along the towpath. In 700m, near the exit from Silvermeade, there is a footbridge ahead over the River Lea where it splits from the Lee Navigation.
   • If you want to return through the water meadow, go through the gate and follow a faint grassy path parallel to a stream on the left. At the far end go through a wooden kissing gate, cross a tree-lined stream on a wide bridge and turn right to go around two sides of a smaller part of the meadow before rejoining the towpath.
10. Broxbourne Waterside to the Station (¾ • 1½ km)
• Either take the left-hand path past a café and the remains of an old mill (with an optional extension on a boardwalk circuit through some wetlands), or the right-hand path if you want to visit the Crown. The routes rejoin at a footbridge over the mill-stream where a path leads under the B194 into the station car park.
  

There is a choice of routes to the station, with the café route in [?] including an optional circuit around some wetlands on a long boardwalk. If the café has closed or you need something stronger, either take the pub route in [?] or detour to the town's High Street via Mill Lane or the Recreation Ground (see map).

1. Old Mill Café route (¾ • 1½ km)

1. Ignore the footbridge and follow the path alongside the River Lea, going under a low railway bridge and past the car park for the Old Mill Retreat Café.

In the marshy area behind the car park there is a horseshoe-shaped “Wetlands and Woodlands” trail, although at the time of writing it was fenced off for repairs. Even when open it should not be attempted if the back of the car park is under water, since part of the boardwalk through the wetlands area will be flooded too.

2. Optional Wetlands & Woodlands extension (+¾ km)

1. If conditions permit you could do this extension in either direction. The wetlands section is a long boardwalk which starts from the back of the car park; the woodlands section starts between the café and a Canoe & Cycle Hire shed. Whichever direction you take, ignore steps up to an exit at the far end and return on the other path.
3. To head for the station, go past the Canoe & Cycle Hire shed and turn right to cross the river. Veer left through the ruins of Broxbourne Mill? and follow a tarmac path running alongside the river. Just before this goes under the railway, turn left up steps onto a metal footbridge.

2. The Crown route (¾ km)

1. Cross the River Lea on the footbridge to go alongside the Lee Navigation. At the next bridge go up steps to a narrow lane and cross the navigation to come to the Crown.
2. After visiting the pub, retrace your steps over the road bridge and follow the lane round to the right. Go past a small car park opposite the Lee Valley Boat Centre and across another waterway.
   • A short out-and-back detour up the steps on the right would reveal the site of Broxbourne Lido?.
3. To head for the station, go into the car park opposite the steps up to the lido and veer right to go diagonally across it. In the far corner turn left onto a tarmac path going under the railway and immediately turn right up steps onto a metal footbridge.
3. To complete the walk, cross the River Lea and follow the path up a slope and under Station Road. The station? is at the far end of its long car park, with the entrance on the left. All the platforms are accessed via an overhead walkway, with trains to London leaving from Platforms 1 or 2.
   
11. Cadmore Lane to Cheshunt Station (¾ km)
• Cross the Small River Lea and veer left to go all the way along a broad grassy strip between the stream and the railway line. Go through a small car park to come to the level crossing in front of Cheshunt station. There are several refreshment places less than 150m beyond it on Windmill Lane.
1. Keep ahead on Cadmore Lane, crossing the Small River Lea. The most direct route is along the surfaced path beside the stream, but the suggested route is to carry on briefly along the main track and then veer left to go past a large Stag Beetles sculpture on the grass. Either way, take any route along the full length of the broad grassy strip between the stream and the railway line (or one of the paths along its edges).
2. In 500m all routes converge on a small car park. Go through this and turn right to come to the level crossing in front of Cheshunt station.
   • There is a direct entrance onto Platform 1 on this side of the crossing if you want to go straight back on a Greater Anglia train.
3. There are several refreshment places less than 150m away on Windmill Lane, on the other side of the crossing: the Red Cow pub and Hackberries Cafe & Bistro on the left; Rose Cafe and the Maltsters pub on the right.
4. Return along Windmill Lane to the main station entrance. London Overground trains leave from Platform 3, on this side; cross to Platform 1 via the station footbridge for Greater Anglia trains to Liverpool Street or Stratford.
12. The White Water Centre to Cheshunt Station direct (2¼ km)
• Take the path heading north-west away from the centre. After crossing the Small River Lea fork right to head north along the eastern side of Bowyers Water. At the far end take either of two paths ahead, which rejoin after 500m. In a further 250m turn left onto a lane …
1. Take the path heading NW away from the canal bridge for 400m, passing a sign for a Disc Golf Course and crossing the Small River Lea. At a triangular path junction fork right and keep right at further junctions to head N alongside a large lake, Bowyers Water. In its north-eastern corner the path forks and you can take either route: both go past a large wooden sculpture.

2. Giant's Chair route

1. Fork left at the path junction. In 75m the route continues ahead at the next path junction (but a short out-and-back detour to the left would bring you to a viewing platform over an Orchid Area in front of the lake).
2. Continuing on the main route, the path merges with another from the left and goes along the right-hand side of a meadow (Thistly Marsh), soon passing the Giant's Chair sculpture on the right.
3. In a further 150m fork right onto a path through some trees. Cross the Small River Lea on a footbridge and turn left onto a cycleway, rejoining the other route.

3. Green Man route

1. Fork right at the path junction to cross the Small River Lea on a wooden footbridge. Where the path splits again in front of the Shrine sculpture (of a ‘Green Man’), fork left.
2. In 150m the path merges with a cycleway coming from Waltham Common Lock. In a further 300m the other route rejoins from a footbridge on the left.
4. Follow this cycleway for 250m, passing a group of wooden sculptures in a clearing on the right along the way (which you could detour around if you are not pressed for time). At the end turn left onto Pindar car park's access road …
5. …
6. …

Walk Notes

1. The misleadingly-named New River is an aqueduct, constructed in the early 17^thC to increase the supply of clean water to London.
2. St Augustine, Broxbourne dates from the 15^thC and contains several interesting memorials, including a tomb with effigies of Sir Henry Cock and his wife surrounded by their kneeling children.
3. River Lee Country Park is a large open space between Broxbourne and Waltham Abbey. It is part of the linear Lee Valley Regional Park, which follows the course of the River Lea for 42 km from Ware to the Thames. [By convention the spelling Lee is used for constructed features such as the Navigation and the Country Park, whereas the natural river and place names derived from it are spelt Lea.]
4. The River Lea runs for 68 km from its source in the Chilterns near Luton to the Thames in east London. It splits into several waterways (Old River Lea, Small River Lea, etc) as well as the constructed channels.
5. Silvermeade is an area of wet grassland dissected by a network of ditches. The fences along their sides are to protect the banks and provide a habitat for water voles.
6. The River Lee Navigation was constructed alongside long stretches of the River Lea in the 18^thC to improve navigation, which had become more difficult with the increased extraction of water into the New River.
7. The Wildlife Discovery Centre opened in December 2020, replacing the Bittern Information Point. It contains a large bird hide overlooking Seventy Acres Lake and a 5m-high viewing tower with 360° views.
8. The Greenwich Meridian Trail is a long-distance coast-to-coast route which runs for 439 km, from Peacehaven in East Sussex to Sand le Mere in East Yorkshire. It was inaugurated in 2009 to mark the 125^th anniversary of the Meridian.
9. Cornmill Meadows Dragonfly Sanctuary is an area of partly-flooded rough grassland surrounded by slow-flowing rivers which together support many species of dragonflies and damselflies. It has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
10. The Abbey Gateway was the main entrance to the monastic area, with separate arches for horse-drawn vehicles and pedestrians. The interior wall is one of the earliest brick walls in the country, partly built with large medieval red bricks known as ‘Waltham Great Bricks’.
11. Waltham Abbey Town Hall was built in 1904 in a Continental Art Nouveau style.
12. The Church of the Holy Cross and St Lawrence, Waltham Abbey was rebuilt in Norman style between 1090 and 1150, the fourth church on the site. When construction of the abbey started in 1177 it was greatly lengthened eastwards but the extended nave, transepts and chancel were all demolished in 1540. The west tower was added in 1556 after the old (east) tower collapsed.
13. King Harold (Godwinson) is said to have been cured of paralysis while praying before the Holy Cross when Earl of Essex. After his death at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 legend has it that his body was brought to Waltham, but some historians have speculated that he is buried in Bosham church, in West Sussex.
14. The Greenwich Meridian was established as the universal baseline of 0° longitude at an international conference in 1884. It runs through Waltham Abbey where it is marked by pavement mosaics in Sun Street and the Abbey Gardens, as well as the ‘Sun & Moon’ gateway (1995) in the Rose Garden.
15. The Epping Forest District Museum of local history is contained in two historic houses which have been skilfully combined into a single building.
16. Waltham Abbey Gardens were laid out by the Denny family, who built Abbey House on the site of the former abbey at the end of the 16^thC. The house was demolished in 1770.
17. The Bloomery Forge smelted iron ore and provided metalwork for the abbey and its farm (a bloom is an iron or steel bar in an intermediate stage of manufacture).
18. The Slype is a stone passageway with a vaulted ceiling leading into the cloisters, a remnant of the 12^thC abbey.
19. The Ancestor sculpture (1992) was carved by artist Helena Stykianides from a single oak tree cut from Epping Forest. It represents an Augustinian canon and has a series of enigmatic images on the back.
20. The 2012 Olympic Shield commemorates the building of the Lee Valley White Water Centre, which was constructed to hold the canoe slalom events. It depicts King Harold surrounded by King Henry Ⅷ and various civic and Olympic plaques.
21. The Royal Gunpowder Mills were acquired by the Crown in 1787, taking over a private business which had been operating for over a century. Production continued until 1945 when the site became a research centre for rocket propellants, but this closed in 1991. A heritage centre has been open to the public since 2001.
22. Broxbourne Mill is mentioned in the Domesday Book and produced flour until the late 19^thC. In the 20^thC the mill wheel powered a small engineering works, but the three-storey building burned down in 1949. It has been partially restored by the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority.
23. Broxbourne Lido was built by the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority in 1978, but demolished only 30 years later because it did not meet contemporary health & safety standards.
24. Broxbourne Station was relocated from its original Station Road site in 1959, hence the distinctively modern building (which is Grade Ⅱ listed) on a railway line which opened in 1840.

» Last updated: April 27, 2025

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