KING HAROLD AND WALTHAM ABBEY
HAROLD, CROWNED KING AND KILLED IN A YEAR
ROYAL CONNECTIONS WITH WALTHAM ABBEY
Eve of the Conquest
"In Waltham on St Agnes' Eve
A stately corpse lay stretched upon a bier.
The arms were cross'd upon the breast, the face,
Uncover'd by the tapers trembling light,
Showed dimly the pale majesty severe
Of him whom death, and not the Norman Duke
Had conquered; him the noblest and the last
Of the Saxon Kings; save one the noblest he;
The last of all."
Taylor, "Eve of the Conquest".
With thanks to Waltham Abbey Historical Society
