Waltham Abbey, Essex : Historical writing

Descriptive gazetteer entries

These other entries in our collection of descriptive gazetteers are also about Waltham Abbey. You may be able to find further references to Waltham Abbey in the descriptive gazetteers by doing a full-text search here.

Place Type of entry Source
Waltham hundred Bartholomew
WALTHAM a hundred Imperial
Waltham Abbey (or Waltham Holy Cross) market town and parish Bartholomew
WALTHAM-ABBEY, or W.-Holycross a small town, a township, and a parish Imperial
Waltham Holy Cross Bartholomew

This additional information from our descriptive gazetteers is for locations within the parish or parishes associated with Waltham Abbey.

Place Type of entry Source
High Beach ecclesiastical district and village Bartholomew
HIGH BEECH a chapelry Imperial
Holyfield hamlet Bartholomew
HOLYFIELD a hamlet Imperial
SEWARDSTONE a hamlet Imperial
UPSHIRE a hamlet Imperial

Travel writing

This website includes the complete texts of books describing journeys around Britain, written between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries. Selecting one of the links below will take you to the first reference to Waltham Abbey within the selected text. This will not always be a description of a visit: travellers often mention places other than where they are, for example as a basis for comparison.

Traveller Section No. of Refs.
Thomas Pennant Enfield to London 3
William Camden Essex and Suffolk 2
Daniel Defoe Letter 1, Part 3: Norfolk and Cambridgeshire 2
William Camden Saxons, Danes and Normans 1
William Camden The Division of Britaine 1
William Camden Middlesex and London 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 1, Part 1: Through Essex to Colchester 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 1, Part 2: Harwich and Suffolk 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 6, Part 2: Oxford, Bristol and Gloucester 1

This website includes two large libraries, of historical travel writing and of entries from nineteenth century gazetteers describing places. We have text from these sources available for these places near your location:

Place Mentioned in Travel Writing Mentioned in Historical Gazetteer
Waltham Cross 0 2
Enfield Lock 0 2
Sewardstone 0 2
High Beech 0 2
Theobalds 3 1
Bulls Cross 0 2
Cheshunt 6 2
Ponders End 0 2
Nazeing 0 2
Loughton 0 2
Wormley 2 2
Goffs Oak 0 1
Clay Hill 0 1
Chingford 0 2
Theydon Bois 0 2
Enfield 21 2
Buckhurst Hill 0 2
Chigwell 0 2
Broxbourne 0 2
Woodford Wells 0 2

Names from historical writing

The following appear as names for Waltham Abbey. Follow the links for what the author actually said:

Name Author Source
ABBEY OF WALTHAM William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
WALTHAM John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
Daniel Defoe A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain, divided into circuits or journies (London: JM Dent and Co, 1927).
Thomas Pennant The Journey from Chester to London (London: Wilkie and Robinson, 1811).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
WALTHAM ABBEY John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
WALTHAM ABBEY OR WALTHAM HOLY CROSS John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
WALTHAM ABBEY OR W. HOLYCROSS John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
WALTHAM HOLY CROSS John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
WALTHAM HOLY CROSSE William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
WEALD HAM William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
W. HOLYCROSS John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).

NB: These variant names come from our collections of historical travel writing and descriptive gazetteers:

  • The above links take you to the first reference to this particular version of the name within a book of travel writing, or to the relevant gazetteer entry.
  • Some names may derive from research by antiquarian writers such as William Camden and Thomas Pennant into the Roman, Saxon and medieval names of places. Their claims are not always supported by modern place-name researchers.
  • References by travel writers to the place using its "normal" name are not included. Descriptive gazetteer entries are included only if the name does not appear anywhere else.