Waltham Abbey and King Harold’s Day
The Church
There has been a church on this site since 610 AD. Rebuilt on a grander scale by Harold Godwinson (Earl of Essex and East Anglia) and consecrated in 1060 AD. The church has a long history that can be found here.
Harold Godwinson later became King Harold II in 1066. During that year Harold was forced to march north to Stamford Bridge and fend of a viking invasion. Two weeks later he was in Hastings trying to repel the Norman invasion. The Normans prevailed over the Anglo-Saxons and England/Britain was changed forever. This was the last successful invasion of the British Isles.
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King Harold’s Day
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“Hit me with your rhythm stick”. Morris dancing didn’t appear until 1448 but I’m not going to say anyting.
“I don’t know why they do it. They’d be better of with a hammer, like me and Thor”.
She was very good and produced some appealing airs.
The value of life was accounted very differently then. A slaves life being worth less than a toe of any other person.
On the other hand they had some sophisticated shoe marketing techniques.
What did the Normans ever do for us ?
“Falcons, who said falcons, I’ll give them food poisoning”. The falconry display includes a Peregrine Falcon and is here 🙂
Freed From Time 
Better keep on the right side of the law, Saxons.
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October 18, 2015 at 19:53
A person could get a lot of entertainment out of a pound. 😀
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October 19, 2015 at 15:28
Ha! I looked at the decor and I thought “This *has* to be William Burges” (whose work I saw earlier this year at Cardiff Castle). And indeed it was 🙂 Thanks for the great photos, Graham!
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October 18, 2015 at 23:30
Well spotted. I had no idea. I’ve never been to Cardiff Castle but probably will next summer.
Thanks for the visit. 🙂
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October 19, 2015 at 15:32
Great reportage. I read a lot of English history. It is good to see the places that meant so much in that period.
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October 19, 2015 at 16:21
Thank you. It certainly was an interesting period. A lot happening and plenty of intrigue. 🙂
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October 19, 2015 at 19:47
Fabulous castle! Brutal laws…
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October 20, 2015 at 04:26
Quite so. They seemed to have a set of values that seem strange by today’s values.
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October 20, 2015 at 16:49
What a visual feast! Lovely~
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October 21, 2015 at 18:44
Thank you. One could say smorgasbord, but the Saxons wouldn’t like it. 🙂
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October 21, 2015 at 22:18