Waltham Abbey is a suburban town and civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex, within the metropolitan and urban area of London, England, 13.5 miles (21.7 km) north-east of Charing Cross.

It lies on the Greenwich Meridian, between the River Lea in the west and Epping Forest in the east, with large sections forming part of the Metropolitan Green Belt.

The town borders Chingford to the south; Loughton, Theydon Bois and Buckhurst Hill to the east; Cheshunt, Waltham Cross and Enfield to the west; and the rural areas of Nazeing and Epping Upland to the north.

[2] Along the town's eastern edge is much of Epping Forest, maintained by the City of London Corporation; entirely within it is the village of High Beach.

Ermine Street lies only 5 km west and the causeway across the River Lea from Waltham Cross in Hertfordshire may be a Roman construction.

A local legend claims that Boudica's rebellion against the Romans ended in the neighbourhood, when she poisoned herself with hemlock gathered on the banks of Cobbins Brook.

[11] Traces of the flint rubble foundations of a 7th-century wooden church have been found under the choir of the present building; an associated burial has been radiocarbon dated to between 590 and 690.

[12][incomplete short citation] Other finds included a 7th-century Kentish jewellery book-clasp depicting eagles grasping a fish.

[13][incomplete short citation] The recorded history of the town began during the reign of Canute in the early 11th century when his standard-bearer Tovi or Tofig the Proud, founded (or rebuilt) a church here to house the miraculous cross discovered at Montacute in Somerset.

Legend has it that after his death at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, Harold's body was brought to Waltham for burial near to the High Altar.

Today, the spot is marked by a stone slab in the churchyard (originally the site of the high altar before the Reformation).In 1177, as part of his penance for his part in the murder of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, Henry II refounded Harold's church as a priory of Augustinian Canons Regular of sixteen canons and a prior or dean.

It was given by Edward Denny, 1st Earl of Norwich to create the first curacy, but was much altered in the 18th century and later, and was more recently architecturally Grade II*listed.

[14] In the 17th century there were four churchwardens (who fulfilled some roles of local government, collected and distributing poor relief): one each for the town, Holyfield, Upshire, and Sewardstone.

[22] The factory was sold to the government in 1787 and was greatly expanded during the next century, becoming the Waltham Abbey Royal Gunpowder Mills.

In the 19th century, searches began for more powerful and reliant propellant explosives, and guncotton was developed here by Frederick Abel, starting in 1863.

The site was an obvious target during World War II, and a German V-2 rocket landed near the factory in Highbridge Street on 7 March 1945, causing considerable damage to property and large loss of life.

Gravel extraction has also long been a major industry in the Lea Valley, leaving a legacy of pits now used for recreation and an important wildlife habitat.

[23] Waltham Abbey has formed part of the Epping Forest parliamentary constituency since 1974, represented by Dr Neil Hudson MP of the Conservative Party since 2024.

Prior to 1974, the town formed part of the Epping constituency, served by Sir Winston Churchill as its Member of Parliament between 1924 and 1945.

[24] Other previous MPs include Dame Eleanor Laing, Steve Norris, John Biggs-Davison, and Norman Tebbit.

[27] Following the Local Government Act 1929, in 1932 it was proposed that it should be merged with Chingford to form a new urban district of 'Chingford and Waltham Abbey'.

The land rises gradually from the marshes and meadows by the river to a small plateau of london clay in the east, 60–90 metres above sea level, capped in the highest parts by the sand and gravel of Epping Forest.

Waltham Abbey parish includes in its 41 km2 the villages and hamlets of High Beach, Holyfield, Sewardstone and Upshire.

In addition there are other remains of the former abbey – the Grade II*listed Midnight Chapel,[50] the gatehouse, a vaulted passage and Harold's Bridge – all in the care of English Heritage.

Housed in a building dating back to 1520 is the Epping Forest District Museum, which tells the story of the people who have lived and worked in this part of south Essex from the earliest times to the present.

The site hosts living history and battle re-enactment events most summer weekends and also offers a self-guided nature walk that shows visitors the ecology that has reclaimed much of the remaining 175 acres (0.71 km2).

The Epping Forest Conservation Centre in High Beach provides information, maps, books, cards, displays and advice for visitors to the area.

[58] Several local routes provide services to Cheshunt, Epping, Harlow, Loughton, and Waltham Cross, with operators including Arriva Herts & Essex and Central Connect.

For some decades this was in a former Methodist chapel, an irregularly shaped Edwardian building of stone-dressed red brick with a roof of Welsh slate tiles in free late gothic style with a belfry.