King Harold Day procession and ceremony

The costumed performers and traders from King Harold Day will form a procession which will walk through the town centre before taking part in a ceremony at the King Harold Memorial in the Abbey Churchyard.

The procession will gather outside the Museum at the end of Sun Street, Waltham Abbey, at 1.30pm and led by the music of the medieval musicians will walk along Sun Street, through the Market Square, and into the Churchyard ending at the King Harold Memorial about 2pm.

There Geoff Littlejohns of The English Companions will give a recital in Old English, and a modern translation. Chris Sumner, the Chairman of Waltham Abbey Historical Society, will tell us interesting details about King Harold. And The Rev’d Tim Yeager will ask us to remember Harold Godwinson, formerly Earl of Essex and our Lord of the Manor of Waltham, who founded the Minster Church at Waltham. As King Harold II he fought the two great battles of 1066, winning the first, but sadly losing his life in the second at Senlac Hill. 957 years ago, on 14th October 1066, England lost its last Anglo Saxon King, signalling the end of the Anglo Saxon era.

Floral tributes will be placed on the Memorial by the Mayor of Waltham Abbey, Cllr Shane Yerrell, and other representatives.

A “Feudal” return to King Harold Day

It’ll be a welcome return for The Feudals re-enactment group at King Harold Day this
coming Saturday 11 October.   The Feudals were our first re-enactment group when King Harold Day started, and we thought it was time we invited them again.   Members of the group will be travelling from across the country for what will be the last event of their 2014 season.   They’ll set up their Village with medieval tents, where they’ll demonstrate medieval crafts, cook their food in the medieval way, and show visitors their arms and armour.   Twice during the day, at 11am and 3.15pm, they will perform in the Arena.   Engaging in archery, they will shoot for a prize and for the approval of the Queen and her Ladies in Waiting.

The medieval musicians, Squeake’s Noyse, will be playing at their tent and showing visitors their medieval musical instruments.

Coda Falconry will be with us.   The birds will be on show all day so visitors can get close to them, and at 11.30am and 2.45pm they will be flown from the Arena, no doubt soaring up into the trees and then returning to the falconer’s hand.

Chingford Morris will be performing their Mummers’ Play and dancing.

And there will be Have-a-Go Archery with Epping Archers. 

There will be animals to get close to, and bees in an observation hive.   The alpacas, which caused such a sensation in the last two years, will be with us again, and, big secret, a tiny horse.   Yes, we know it’s not medieval, but the lovely Copped Hall vintage Rolls Royce will be in attendance.

There will be Craft Stalls around the gardens and in the Abbey Church Centre. 

Five of Waltham Abbey’s primary schools will be taking part in an Art Exhibition which will be on display in the Abbey Church so do go and see the children’s work.   Hillhouse Primary, Leverton Infant & Nursery, Upshire Primary, Waltham Holy Cross Infant, and Waltham Holy Cross Juniors will be taking part.   Their work this year is part of the important new project for a Waltham Abbey Tapestry.   Bayeux has one, so why not Waltham Abbey.   The tapestry will portray the history of the town and its former and present
industries and attractions.   The primary schools were asked to design their ideas for subjects to be included in the tapestry’s panels.

In the Abbey Church, there will be a special concert recital at 12.30pm, part of the Music for Lunch series of professional concerts.   Ian McDonough, violin, and David Boarder, piano will play Sonata in G major, Brahms,  and Scherzo-Tarantelle, Wieniawski.  The concert is free with a retiring collection, and refreshments available from 12 noon.

There will be guided tours of the Abbey, (small charge for church funds), and a demonstration of traditional bread-making.        

Procession and Ceremony  –  At noon, the costumed performers and traders will gather outside Epping Forest District Museum at the end of Sun Street, and will walk in procession, led by the musicians and the Anglo Saxon flag, along Sun Street, through the Market Square, Church Street, and into the Abbey Churchyard, where a ceremony will take place at the King Harold Memorial Stone.   Flowers will be placed on the memorial stone by our principal guests, the Chairman of Epping Forest District Council, Cllr Tony Boyce, and the Mayor of Waltham Abbey, Cllr Ann Mitchell.   Waltham Abbey’s Town Crier, Peter Frost, will also be with us. 

King Harold Day will be held in the Abbey Church, the Abbey Churchyard and Abbey Gardens, (by kind permission of the Church authorities and Lee Valley Regional Park), from 10.00am to 4.00pm.  

Admission is £5 for adults, £3 for senior citizens; with children who are accompanied by an adult free of charge.