Description
The monastic buildings and those parts of the church east of the crossing were demolished at the dissolution, and the Norman crossing tower and transepts collapsed in 1553. The present-day church consists of the nave of the Norman abbey church, the 14th-century Lady Chapel and west wall, and a 16th-century west tower, added after the dissolution. Markers on the remains of the walls in the grounds indicate the location, before demolition, of the high altar, (beneath which some believe Harold Godwinson is buried), and other parts.
The interior is notable for the massive Norman piers and also for the many carvings of human faces nestling in the stonework left by the original masons. Waltham Abbey is also renowned for its 15th-century Doom (painting).
Read more about this topic: Waltham Abbey Church
Famous quotes containing the word description:
“A sound mind in a sound body, is a short, but full description of a happy state in this World: he that has these two, has little more to wish for; and he that wants either of them, will be little the better for anything else.”
—John Locke (1632–1704)
“Once a child has demonstrated his capacity for independent functioning in any area, his lapses into dependent behavior, even though temporary, make the mother feel that she is being taken advantage of....What only yesterday was a description of the child’s stage in life has become an indictment, a judgment.”
—Elaine Heffner (20th century)
“God damnit, why must all those journalists be such sticklers for detail? Why, they’d hold you to an accurate description of the first time you ever made love, expecting you to remember the color of the room and the shape of the windows.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)