Cheshunt to Broxbourne Walk

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Walk Maps

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Walk Options ( Circ. )

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13. Main Walk (17¼ km)

1. Circular Walk, returning to Cheshunt (12¾ km)
2. Circular Walk, with alternative afternoon (11¾ km)

Walk Directions

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1. Cheshunt Station to the Wildlife Discovery Centre (2¼ km)
• Cross the railway line and turn left into River Lee Country Park, taking the right-hand path at the back of the car park to go alongside the Small River Lea. At the far end turn right onto a track between Cheshunt Lake and North Metropolitan Pit. Turn left onto a path on this side of the River Lee Navigation and follow it past an Orchid Area (which you could loop through). Cross the navigation at Cheshunt Lock and turn left onto the perimeter path around Seventy Acres Lake, eventually coming to the new Wildlife Discovery Centre.
  • For a short cut you could turn right onto the perimeter path instead, but this would bypass the Discovery Centre.
1. Arriving from London, leave the station near the front of the train and turn right to cross the railway tracks, via the footbridge if necessary. On the other side immediately turn left into the signposted River Lee Country Park?, with the first of several information panels for the Waterbird Discovery Trail at the back of the small car park. Take the right-hand path through this semi-open area.
2. The surfaced path goes past a series of small wooden structures (for exercising your dog!) with a stream on the right, the Small River Lea?. Later Cheshunt Lake is visible beyond the stream. At the end turn right to cross the stream and follow the track between two lakes, with the one on the left having the less appealing name of North Metropolitan Pit.
3. Just before the track rises to cross the River Lee Navigation? fork left onto a path running parallel to its towpath. You will be crossing the navigation at the lock 300m ahead, but shortly before reaching it there is a gate on the left into a fenced-off area of wet woodland.
   • If you wish you can detour around this North Met Pit Orchid Area on a continuous section of boardwalk (part of the Orchid Discovery Trail), returning to the main path a little way ahead.
4. Either way, immediately after the exit from the Orchid Area fork right off the main path onto a broad grassy path going up to Cheshunt Lock. Cross the navigation and follow the path out to another Waterbird information panel. For the main route turn left onto the perimeter path around Seventy Acres Lake, initially heading N.
   • For a much shorter route around this lake (but bypassing the Discovery Centre) you could turn right instead. In the south-western corner of the lake you would fork left at a Viking Sign Post sculpture in a triangular path junction and meet the main route coming from the opposite direction in a further 150m. If you take this short cut (saving 1¾ km), resume the directions at [?] in §B.
5. For the main route follow the path around the north-western corner of the lake and then fork right at a triangular path junction to start coming back along its north-eastern side. The path follows a meandering course between the lake and the Old River Lea and eventually comes to a new building on the right with a bird hide which you could visit, the Wildlife Discovery Centre?.
2. The Discovery Centre to Hall Marsh Scrape (2½ km)
• Carry on along the perimeter path, eventually going across a high footbridge between Seventy Acres Lake and Hooks Marsh Lake. Turn left onto a long path heading south between Hooks Marsh Lake and Police Pit. At the far end turn right onto a path between Hall Marsh Scrape and Powdermill Cut.
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, now with the wide Flood Relief Channel on your left.
2. Turn right to go through the car park, away from the channel. Fork right in front of a patch of grass with a Bird Transition sculpture and follow the path over a high footbridge between two lakes. Shortly before the path curves right turn left onto a side path, heading S.
3. Follow this unsurfaced path for just over 1 km as it meanders along a strip of land between Hooks Marsh Lake (on the left) and a stream on the right, with Police Pit and later Friday Lake beyond it.
4. At the end of this stretch cross a footbridge over a stream (Powdermill Cut), ignoring a boardwalk on the right leading to the edge of Friday Lake. In front of a small grassy area containing a Banded Demoiselle sculpture turn right onto a path heading away from the Flood Relief Channel, with Hall Marsh Scrape off to your left.
3. Hall Marsh Scrape to the White Water Centre (1¼ • 1¾ km)
• Before reaching the Lee Navigation turn left to go past the western side of Hall Marsh Scrape. In 500m turn right onto a path across the Showground. On the far side cross the navigation on the Canal Bridge to come to the White Water Centre (which you could visit).
1. Follow the path between Hall Marsh Scrape and Powdermill Cut, with the steel Phoenix Hide offering an unusual viewing point across this floodplain grassland. At the corner of the scrape do not cross the footbridge ahead but turn left onto another surfaced path. Follow this path for 500m, gradually curving round to the left and heading back towards the Flood Relief Channel.
   • Two-thirds of the way along you could make an out-and-back detour to Snipe Hide. Old information panels show another viewing point on this stretch but Teal Hide has disappeared.
2. About 75m before the path reaches the Flood Relief Channel turn right to cross a stream on a wide bridge. Go through a gate and follow a grassy path across a large open area, the Showground. On the far side this merges with a path coming from Waltham Abbey and you cross the Lee Navigation on the Canal Bridge. Veer left down a slope towards an entrance into the Lee Valley White Water Centre.

If you want to visit the centre (which has a café), follow the directions below.

3. 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 want to curtail the walk and go directly to Cheshunt station, go to §L.

4. The White Water Centre to Waltham Abbey (Romeland) (1 km)
• Head south on the towpath of the Lee Navigation. Cross the navigation at Waltham Town Lock and go up to the A121. Turn left onto the main road and continue along the B194 and Highbridge Street towards Waltham Abbey Church. Turn left into Romeland for the Crown pub.
1. Make your way to the towpath alongside the Lee Navigation and turn right to head SE. Cross the navigation at Waltham Town Lock and veer right across a patch of grass with a Viking Ship sculpture to the main road ahead.
2. Turn left onto the A121 and go up to the traffic lights. 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 B194 (Highbridge Street) and should use the pedestrian crossing to switch to its right-hand side before reaching Highbridge Roundabout.
3. Go past the right-hand side of the large roundabout (with the 2012 Olympic Shield? in its centre), passing the Bake You Happy tearoom on the right and a Barge Yard information panel on the left. Carry on along Highbridge Street, crossing the Old River Lea and heading directly towards Waltham Abbey Church. For the first of the possible lunch pubs, turn left into a residential street (Romeland) after 100m to find the Crown on your right.
5. Romeland to the Abbey Church Centre (1 • ½ km)
• Return to Highbridge Street and go up to the 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 Church Centre near their north-western corner.
  • For a short cut you could go around the rear of the church and cut through the western end of the gardens to the Church Centre.
    
1. If you have been visiting the Crown, return to Highbridge Street and turn left. 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 main route goes out along Sun Street and loops back through the Abbey Gardens. If you are not planning to visit any of the town's other refreshment places you could take the short cut in [?] through a different part of the gardens.

2. Main route (1 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 (½ km)

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 stone passageway, where there is a Cloister Passage information panel (and a slightly better view of its vaulted ceiling through the grille at this end).
5. …

If you are finishing at Cheshunt via the alternative afternoon route, go to §K.


6. The Abbey Church Centre to the Viking Signpost (3½ km)
• Head north from the Church Centre, crossing the Cornmill Stream and going under under the town's ring road via a subway. Turn right onto the perimeter path around Cornmill Meadows and follow it to their north-eastern corner. Cross the stream and turn left onto a footpath going around two sides of a large fenced-off area, then down across a field and along its bottom edge to Fishers Green Lane. Turn left and follow the lane across the Flood Relief Channel. Repeat a short stretch of the outward route across the high footbridge between two lakes and continue to a triangular path junction by the south-western corner of Seventy Acres Lake.
1. Take the path past the left-hand side of the Church Centre, heading N towards a footbridge over the Cornmill Stream.
   • Before leaving the gardens you might like to take a closer look at the Ancestor? sculpture on the grass off to the left, and perhaps also the Abbey Gateway? beyond it. If you exit through the Gateway there is a footpath around the outside of the gardens which meets the direct exit by the footbridge.
2. From the footbridge follow the path through a subway under the town's ring road and turn right onto a fenced grassy path in front of Cornmill Meadows Dragonfly Sanctuary?. In 50m, shortly before reaching a bridge over the Cornmill Stream, turn left through a wooden gate.
3. Follow a clear grassy path heading N, soon passing an information panel about the three small Abbey Fish Ponds off to the left. The path goes alongside the stream all the way to the north-eastern corner of the water meadows, where you leave them via a footbridge across the stream.
4. Turn left onto a broad grassy path, which immediately swings right. This potentially muddy path climbs gently alongside a high chainlink fence around part of the extensive gunpowder works site, later with a closely-packed line of tall conifers on the right. At the end of the trees turn left to continue alongside the fence.
5. In 150m go through a wooden gate to continue along a field margin. At the corner of the works site turn half-left as indicated by a footpath waymarker post to go gently downhill across a vast farm field, heading WNW.

   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.

6. If the right of way is not marked out, aim for a pair of waymarker posts 50m to the left of a wide gap in the hedge boundary at the bottom. On reaching them turn right to go along the field margin, with Hooks Marsh on the other side of the hedge. In the field corner cross a (possibly temporary) works access road flanked by gates onto a lane.
7. Turn left onto the lane to go through the hamlet of Fishers Green. In 250m the lane crosses the Flood Relief Channel on Fishers Green Bridge and leads into a small car park for the Country Park, which you might recognise from your outward route in §B.
8. … Ignore the side path off to the left which you took previously and follow the main path up to a Viking Sign Post sculpture in a triangular path junction.

If you are doing the Circular Walk (to Cheshunt), go to §J.

7. The Viking Signpost to Ashley Lake (2 km)
• Fork right and go around the western side of Seventy Acres Lake to its northernmost point. Head north alongside the Old River Lea for 250m, then turn left onto a path across Holyfield Marsh. Go over the Lee Navigation onto a woodland path between two lakes, curving round to the left. At a major path junction turn right to cross the Small River Lea and go alongside Turnford Brook. Before reaching the railway turn right again onto a cycle path heading north alongside the tracks, then curving right to come to the south-western corner of Ashley Lake.
1. Fork right at the path junction to stay on the lake's perimeter path, heading N along its western side. In 300m keep ahead where the path from Cheshunt Lock joins from the left. Repeat the outward route in §A around the north-western corner of the lake and then fork left at another triangular path junction, leaving the perimeter path.
2. Follow the path alongside the Old River Lea, with a large electricity substation coming into view beyond the river. In 250m turn left at a path junction flanked by a pair of Wildlife Bench sculptures. The path soon rises to cross the Lee Navigation on a high bridge and continues along a strip of woodland between two lakes.
3. The path curves round to the left and in 250m merges with another path from the right, briefly heading back towards Cheshunt and running alongside a stream, the Small River Lea. In a further 50m you reach a major path junction, with a path off to the right leading to a bridge over the railway line, 150m away.
4. Turn right at the path junction, crossing the Small River Lea and briefly going alongside Turnford Brook. Before reaching the railway bridge turn right again onto a broad cycle path. This runs parallel to the railway line for 200m, then turns half-right to move away from it. In a further 200m it bears left to go alongside the large Ashley Lake.
8. Ashley Lake to Broxbourne Waterside (3 km)
• Follow the cycle path past Ashley Lake and then back towards the railway to run alongside the tracks again. Where the cycle path swings right towards Railway Pit, keep ahead on a grassy path which rejoins it at a major path crossing. Go straight across, then in 50m fork right onto a path leading to the River Lea near Wharf Road car park. Turn left onto the towpath and follow it for 650m to a gate leading into Silvermeade. Unless it is waterlogged the suggested route is to go through this water meadow, rejoining the towpath 650m further along at the start of another section of the Lee Navigation.
1. Follow the cycle path alongside the large Ashley Lake. At the far end it veers back towards the railway and runs parallel to the tracks for 150m. Where it bends right the suggested route is to keep ahead on a broad grassy path through a semi-open area. In 250m the path goes through a small dip, after which you fork right to rejoin the cycle path after 50m.
2. Bear left onto the cycle path and go straight ahead at a major path crossing. In 50m fork right onto a side path and follow this for 200m, going 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.
3. After crossing a stream on a wooden footbridge the path curves left and goes through a semi-open area dotted with trees. In 150m, shortly before reaching the car park at the end of Wharf Road, veer right onto a side path leading to the wide River Lea (which is navigable on this stretch).
4. Turn left and go along the towpath for 650m. Just before the start of a line of pollarded willows on the left-hand side of the path, there is an information panel for Silvermeade?. If conditions permit, the suggested route is to go through a wooden kissing gate into this water meadow.
   • If the meadow looks waterlogged you could simply continue along the towpath for a further 650m and resume the directions at the start of the next section, where the main route rejoins from the second of two more gates into the meadow.
5. Inside the water meadow turn half-right and follow a faint grassy path all the way across the main part of the meadow, parallel to a stream on the left and passing several small fenced-off areas. On the far side go through a wooden kissing gate and cross a tree-lined stream on a wide bridge.
6. Follow the grassy path as it swings right and then left to go around two sides of a smaller part of the meadow. At the far end exit through a kissing gate to rejoin the River Lea's towpath by the start of another section of the Lee Navigation.
9. 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 pub. 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 use the map to detour to the town's High Street via Mill Lane or the Recreation Ground.

1. Old Mill Café route (¾ • 1½ km)

1. If exiting the water meadow turn left onto 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. If exiting the water meadow zig-zag right and left to cross the River Lea on a footbridge, continuing 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.
   
10. The Viking Signpost to Cheshunt Station (1¼ km)
• Fork left to cross the Lee Navigation and go down to its towpath. Head south along it for 500m, then cut through Pindar car park and continue along its access road to reach Cheshunt station. There are several refreshment places less than 150m past the station on Windmill Lane.
1. Fork left at the path junction, cross the Lee Navigation and immediately turn sharp right to go down to its towpath. Turn right to go under the bridge and head S on the towpath for 500m, passing Cheshunt Lake on your right.
2. After passing the lakeside sailing club (Herts Young Mariners) veer right onto a short path leading into Pindar car park. For the most direct route, simply continue along its access road 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 the same way 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.
11. The Abbey Church Centre to the White Water Centre (1½ • 2 km)
• Leave the gardens via the Abbey Gatehouse on their western side and turn left. Cut through Romeland (or go via the church) and turn right onto Highbridge Street. Retrace your outward route past Highbridge Roundabout and along the B194 and A121 for 500m to the bridge across two river channels. Turn right onto the path alongside the Flood Relief Channel. In 200m turn left …
  • If you want to divert to Waltham Cross station, continue along the A121 past the river bridge for a further 1 km.
1. 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 Abbey Gateway?. Cross the Cornmill Stream on a wide bridge and turn left onto a path alongside it.
2. You will be leaving Waltham Abbey along Highbridge Street, retracing your outward route. The most direct route is to cut through Romeland on the right (passing the Crown), but if you want to (re)visit the Abbey Church continue alongside the stream, passing the Mill site and the Rectory on the way to the church.
3. Either way, go back along Highbridge Street and continue past Highbridge Roundabout, now on the B194 and passing the Bake You Happy tearoom. Use the pedestrian crossing to switch to the right-hand side of the B194 before reaching the traffic lights.
4. … You are now on the A121 and in 150m you reach the town bridge across two river channels.
   • 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.
5. To head for Cheshunt, turn right off the road onto the broad path between the two channels, passing a Viking Ship sculpture on the left. Follow the path for 200m as it swings round to the right alongside the Flood Relief Channel. Before it curves back to the left, turn left through a metal fieldgate into the Showground.
6. Follow a broad path through this large open area, at first tracking a line of pylons and later veering left to head W. On the far side the path briefly merges with the outward route in §C as …

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

7. …
…
12. The White Water Centre to Cheshunt Station (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 cycle path, 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 cycle path coming from Waltham Common Lock. In a further 300m the other route rejoins from a footbridge on the left.
4. Follow this cycle path for 250m, passing a group of wooden sculptures in a clearing on the right along the way. At the end turn left …
5. …
6. …

Walk Notes

1. 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.]
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. Waltham Abbey Town Hall was built in 1904 in a Continental Art Nouveau style.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. The Greenwich Meridian was established as the universal baseline of 0° longitude at an international conference in 1884. In Waltham Abbey its location is marked by pavement mosaics in Sun Street and the Abbey Gardens. A small part of this walk follows the Greenwich Meridian Trail, a long-distance coast-to-coast route which was inaugurated in 2009 to mark its 125^th anniversary.
11. The Epping Forest District Museum of local history is contained in two historic houses which have been skilfully combined into a single building.
12. 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.
13. 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).
14. 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.
15. 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’.
16. 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).
17. 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.
18. 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.
19. 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.
20. 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 8, 2025

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