Image of Waltham Abbey Church on a bright sunny day with blue sky and green grass

Waltham Abbey Gardens and
Cornmill Meadows

Waltham Abbey Gardens, Abbey View, Waltham Abbey, Essex EN9 1XQ

Never sleeps, open 24 hours a day

With the remains of the country’s largest Augustinian Abbey, Waltham Abbey Gardens history is closely linked with royalty and religion from Bouda and Tovi to Henry VIII

info@leevalleypark.org.uk

03000 030 610

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Facilities

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How to get here

You can plan your journey to the site using Google maps – click on the site in the map to discover more.

Car parking

Waltham Abbey Gardens has a car park that is open 24/7. There is a charge for parking which helps us maintain our wonderful park. Car parking tariffs apply at all times. No overnight parking is permitted at
any time.

Car parking charges

Picnic spots

There are a few picnic benches in the gardens as well as great open spaces you can lay down a blanket and spread yourself out.

Walking, running and cycling routes

Waltham Abbey Gardens is great for short walks with buggies and wheelchairs. If you fancy an extended walk Cornmill Meadows has a circular route or if you want to venture out our Monks and Meadows walking route is a great route that takes you through Cornmill Meadows to River Lee Country Park.

Bird hides

There is an open bird hide in Cornmill Meadows (around ///major.tides.healers).

Things to do near by

The gardens are in the town of Waltham Abbey so you can easily walk to the town to pick up food, visit Waltham Abbey Church and the historic Royal Gunpowder Mills

Toilets

The closest public toilets are at Waltham Abbey Town Hall.

Things nearby

Waltham Abbey Church

Discover the amazing history of this Augustinian landmark

Lee Valley Animal Adventure Park

From meeting farm animals to epic event days - plan a day out for all the family

Epping Forest District Museum

Learn about the people and events that shaped the history of the area

Royal Gunpowder Mills

Explore the Mills' explosive history and see how nature has reclaimed this site

History of Waltham Abbey Gardens

Waltham Abbey Gardens has been the setting for a church since about 790 AD, with the first stone church commissioned in 1057/8 by Earl Harold Godwinson (later King Harold II), whose body was reputedly brought here for burial after the Battle of Hastings. At its height, the monastic church was over 400 feet (135m) long, and was the last to be dissolved by Henry VIII.

After dissolution, a large mansion house was built by the Denny family, opposite what is now the Church Centre, with extensive formal gardens. They built the boundary walls with stone from the monastery, with some of the original carvings still to be seen to this day.

The site passed through several uses, until becoming part of the Lee Valley Regional Park in 1967, since when it has become a popular venue for events and family days out.

Image of Waltham Abbey Rose Gardens, some red roses are in bloom and two people are walking out the back gateway

Image of the mead in Waltham Abbey Gardens with a blooming Willow Tree and Monk statue in the middle

Waltham Abbey Gardens today

The gardens span 9.03ha with amenity grassland perfect for a picnic, playing games or enjoying the stretch of open space. There are some areas of the site set aside as wildlife refuges and woodland so bring your binoculars along to see what you can spot. In the south east area of the site is a moated old orchard with a number of veteran fruit trees, along with newly planted specimens, and over twenty varieties of fruit. This is also the setting of our yearly Wassailing event in the winter.

The Cornmill Stream links the gardens with Cornmill Meadows, a semi-natural floodplain grassland with changing wildlife residents. The whole site lies within the Waltham Abbey Conservation area, and the land between the Romelands Estate and the moated orchard is designated as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

For the visitor there is an excellent heritage experience with extensive paths and the opportunity to become immersed in the multiple layers of history, spanning over 1,000 years, to be found on the site. The proximity of the site to the Waltham Abbey town centre makes the site particularly easy to visit and enjoy the stories in this historic market town.

Spring morning in the orchard area of Waltham Abbey Gardens

Cornmill Meadows

Cornmill Meadows is a large 54ha public park and nature reserve. The site is a mosaic of woodland, wetlands and meadows including traditional wet pasture and hay meadow within a level floodplain landscape. It's particularly noted for its dragonfly species, for which it is protected by a SSSI designation. The site was originally part of the land directly worked by the Abbey’s community, and now forms part of the Scheduled Ancient Monument area. In the dragonfly sanctuary you can see the fish ponds used by the monks to stick fish. The site also has calico ditches dating back to the 17th century, now used by wading birds overwintering and in the spring.

For the visitor there is an excellent countryside experience with extensive paths and great opportunities to see numerous dragonfly species, which along with other wetland insects, attract large numbers of Swift, Swallow, House Martin and Hobby during the spring and summer months. Wintering wildfowl such as Wigeon are plentiful, as are water edge birds such as Grey Heron, Lapwing, Snipe and several species of waders. Water Vole are also present and spectacular rafts of water lilies can be seen in the Old River Lea in the early summer.

Waltham Abbey Gardens is great for wildlife but if you really want to immerse yourself around nature Cornmill Meadows is the place to go.

Cornmill Meadows is one of the best examples of semi-natural floodplain grassland remaining in the park. The mosaic of rivers, ditches and pools make this a fantastic place to see a variety of wildlife throughout the year. Hay meadows, woodland and a network of glades and rides can be found in the adjacent tree park.

Spring and autumn are excellent times to visit to see waders passing through the valley, with the possibility of interesting species such as Ruff and Black-tailed Godwit as well as Redshank and Common and Green Sandpiper.

Summer provides one of the best places in the region to see dragonflies, with over half the UK species found here, notably the White-legged Damselfly and Hairy Dragonfly. In late summer the woodland glades can be worth scouting on a fine evening for large numbers of Migrant Hawker Dragonfly.

In winter there are magnificent views of large flocks of Wigeon and Teal. These are regularly joined by flocks occasionally Lapwing and Golden Plover.

A walk along the rivers and streams is interesting at any time of year. Look out for Kingfisher or dragonflies. The Banded Demoiselle is particularly striking.

No visit is complete without stopping at the Wake Hide to view the pools. Good numbers of Teal and waders can be seen in winter, whilst in summer Hobby hunt dragonflies overhead. You may even be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of a Water Vole or hear the distinctive ‘plop’ as it dives into the water.