A LEGEND stretching back 1,000 years was revived last night (Wednesday).
The story of how the Holy Cross came to Waltham Abbey from Somerset in 1035, accompanied by 12 oxen and 66 Saxons was told by people from the town who retraced their steps across the River Lee.
As no-one from the town was able to track down 12 oxen, Scouts from the Third Waltham Abbey group carried the cross from the Lee Valley White Water Centre and across the River Lee in Highbridge Street to the Abbey Church, followed by many more ‘Saxons’ than the 66 required.
According to the legend, the lord of the manor of Montacute, Somerset, Tovi the Dane, found the cross buried in the ground and loaded it onto a cart.
He called out a list of holy place names, but the oxen pulling the cart only moved when he shouted out the name of Waltham, as it was then called, when they were said to have made the 150-mile journey as if pushed by the cross.
The cross and the abbey that grew up around it became an important centre for pilgrims for hundreds of years.
Rod Reid, the church’s curate, who led the parade dressed as a monk from the abbey, said: “We want people to come to the Abbey for a pilgrimage and on Holy Cross Day, we remember the pilgrimage that brought the cross here in the first place.”
As a symbol of the journey made in 1035, bells were rung in Montacute and Waltham Abbey at the same time last night, as the cross was entering the Abbey Church.
The event’s organisers, who include the church and Waltham Abbey Historical Society, hope to make it an annual fixture.
Tricia Gurnett, a historical society member and one of the event’s organisers, said: “It was a huge success.
“I counted at least 69 Saxons, but I’m sure it was at least twice as many.
“There’s no way of knowing if it was the same route they took. For a start, it would have been the old river that they would have crossed, rather than the current one.”
She said the parish church had been packed with school children and people from the town earlier in the day, when she helped re-enact the discovery of the Holy Cross in Somerset.
“It will definitely be bigger next year,” she added.
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