Abbey Church Tower - Waltham Abbey, Essex, UK
Posted by: Groundspeak Regular Member Master Mariner
N 51° 41.253 W 000° 00.233
30U E 707092 N 5730537
The tower of the Abbey Church is at the western end of the building and contains twelve bells.
Waymark Code: WMJBKD
Location: Eastern England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 10/25/2013
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member lumbricus
Views: 2

The Epping Forest Council website tells us, in an article dated 23rd march 2011:

Waltham Abbey will be a first stop for bellringers from all over the UK converging on London on Saturday 26 March to celebrate the centenary of their weekly journal, ‘The Ringing World’.

‘The Ringing World’ was first issued on Friday 24 March 1911 and its centenary is being marked by a big celebration in central London on Saturday.

Bellringers from all over in the UK have a number of different routes to get to the celebrations via churches at which they are able to ring.

For those coming from the north east (M11/A10), Waltham Abbey Church will be their first port of call and they will have the opportunity to ring the Abbey`s twelve bells between 9 and 10am on Saturday morning before continuing their journeys into London.

Jane Walters, Tower Captain at Waltham Abbey, said: “It is a great privilege that the Abbey will be one of the first churches where the bells will be rung on this great day”.

As well as ringing at towers in and around London throughout the day the celebrations include exhibitions, Evensong at Westminster Abbey and a Centenary Reception at Central Hall, Westminster, and a handbell concert at St Margaret`s Westminster.

In the entrance to the church there is one bell pull.

It is thought that these bells are those mentioned in Alfred, Lord Tennyson's poem "Ring Out, Wild Bells". Wikipedia tells us:

"Ring Out, Wild Bells" is a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Published in 1850, the year he was appointed Poet Laureate, it forms part of In Memoriam, Tennyson's elegy to Arthur Henry Hallam, his sister's fiancé who died at the age of twenty-two.

According to a story widely held in Waltham Abbey, and repeated on many websites, the 'wild bells' in question were the bells of the Abbey Church. According to the local story, Tennyson was staying at High Beach in the vicinity and heard the bells being rung. In some versions of the story it was a particularly stormy night and the bells were being swung by the wind rather than deliberately.

Address of Tower:
Abbey Church
Church Street
Waltham Abbey, Essex United Kingdom


Still Operational: yes

Number of bells in tower?: 12

Rate tower:

Tours or visits allowed in tower?: Yes

Relevant website?: Not listed

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OrientGeo visited Abbey Church Tower - Waltham Abbey, Essex, UK 03/19/2021 OrientGeo visited it
The_Senior_Crabbes visited Abbey Church Tower - Waltham Abbey, Essex, UK 06/05/2015 The_Senior_Crabbes visited it

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