Waltham Abbey Church
garienos and I did a visit last weekend. This is the first Norman (otherwise known as Romanesque) church in England, built by King Harold to hold a 'holy rood'. He brought architects and stone masons over from France and you can see how chunky they made their archtecture. Pillars and such were made by making an outer wall and then filling it with rubble. The interiror (and glass at the east end) is mostly a Victorian make-over including a Zodiac ceiling based on the original one in Peterborough Cathedral.
Although my copy of Hick's 'The Green Man; a Field Guide' talks about Woodwoses and such on the porch (built later) which we didn't spot, probably because of the low light, I did find this chap above a column by the altar. As he has something curly coming out of his mouth I think he might be an early foliate head related to the more complex ones found at Kilpeck etc:
p.s. I forgot ... Harold was also buried here after the Battle of Hastings rather than at Battle Abbey ...
