Waltham Abbey Bible in Top 10

Published on 4 February 2010

The Waltham Abbey Bible, on display at Epping Forest District Museum, has been selected as one of the top ten most important museum objects to reflect Essex’s history.

BBC Essex has joined up with museums across the county to choose a number of objects the people involved feel best reflect its unique place and past in the world. This is part of the BBC’s Nationwide history of the world project. A series of television and radio programmes will be broadcast on the BBC throughout 2010 with a vision to tell the history of the world through man-made objects.

Epping Forest District Museum Officer Tony O’Connor was interviewed about the significance of the Waltham Abbey bible by BBC Essex radio on Thursday 28 January. He said: “The bible is one of our star items on display at the Museum. It dates back to about 1200 AD and is all that survived from the library in the Abbey Church, the last in the country to be dissolved by King Henry VIII in 1540.”

Inscriptions inside the Bible tell us it was the property of the Prior (the second most important official in the Abbey). The lack of rich decoration suggests this book was used for private study and not for display within the church. Both the Old and New Testaments are written in tightly-packed Latin script on 238 pages of Vellum (Parchment), the standard writing material in medieval England, made from treated animal skins.

Tony O’Connor added: “It is a real privilege for the Bible to be chosen as one of the most important objects in Essex’s history. The Bible does not just belong to the Museum but to all the residents of the Epping Forest district and represents an important part of local and national history.”

The Waltham Abbey Bible, which was acquired with support form the Victoria & Albert Museum Purchase Fund can be viewed at Epping Forest District Museum. For opening times, please call 01992 716882 or visit the Epping Forest Museum Website. More information about A history of the world can be found at the BBC Essex Website.

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