The Grave of King Harold

After Hastings, a woman who loved the dead king was the only one who could find his body. It was brought back here.

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King Harold's Grave

Only Edith Swanneck could name the fallen king.

See it clearly

What's there: Memorial stone marking the site of the lost high altar
Legend from: Norman Conquest
Tone: Dark history

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Before you go

The memorial stone is outside, in the churchyard by the east end, and can be seen whenever the grounds are open. The church's own opening hours vary, so check its visit page.

Harold's grave, Waltham Abbey
Near Highbridge Street
The pin is approximate.

Waltham Abbey: is the last Saxon king of England buried under a stone in this churchyard?

After Harold II died at Hastings in 1066, the Waltham story says two canons from his own church, Osgod and Aethelric, went to the battlefield and could not recognise his body until his companion Edith Swanneck picked him out by marks only she knew. They carried him back to Waltham and buried him by the high altar. Another medieval account claims Harold survived and lived on as a hermit. The tomb vanished when the abbey church was pulled down after the Dissolution. Today a stone outside the east end of the church marks the place of the old high altar.

Sources

Legends nearby

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