Saffron Walden is a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rural ...

in the

Uttlesford Uttlesford is a local government district in Essex, England. Its council is based in the market town of Saffron Walden. At the 2011 Census, the population of the district was 79,443. Other notable settlements include Great Dunmow, Elmdon, Stebbi ...

district of

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

, England, north of

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated po ...

, south of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

and north of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. It retains a rural appearance and some buildings of the

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

period. The population was 15,504 at the 2011 census.

History

Archaeological evidence suggests continuous settlement on or near the site of Saffron Walden from at least the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...

period. It is believed that a small

Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, a ...

settlement and fort – possibly in the area round Abbey Lane – existed as an outpost of the much larger settlement of Cestreforda to the north. After the

Norman invasion The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, Duchy of Brittany, Breton, County of Flanders, Flemish, and Kingdom of France, French troops, ...

of 1066, a stone church was built.

Walden Castle ''Walden'' (; first published in 1854 as ''Walden; or, Life in the Woods'') is a book by American transcendentalist writer Henry David Thoreau. The text is a reflection upon the author's simple living in natural surroundings. The work is part ...

, dating from about 1140, may have been built on pre-existing fortifications. A priory, Walden Abbey, was founded under the patronage of Geoffrey de Mandeville, 1st Earl of Essex about 1136, on the site of what is now Audley End House. The abbey was separated from Walden by Holywell Field. After the dissolution of the monasteries, Sir Thomas Audley converted its cloisters into a dwelling. Later this became the site of

Audley End House Audley End House is a largely early 17th-century country house outside Saffron Walden, Essex, England. It is a prodigy house, known as one of the finest Jacobean houses in England. Audley End is now one-third of its original size, but is sti ...

. The market was moved from nearby Newport to Walden during de Mandeville's tenure, increasing the town's influence. This Tuesday market was held from 1295. The town's first

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

was granted in about 1300, to what was known then as ''Chepyng'' (i. e. Market) Walden. The town at that time was largely confined to the castle's outer bailey, but in the 13th century the Battle or Repel Ditches were built or extended to enclose a larger area to the south. The focus of the town moved southwards to Market Square. The main trading item in medieval times was wool. A

guildhall A guildhall, also known as a "guild hall" or "guild house", is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commonly become town halls and in som ...

was built by the

wool-stapler A wool-stapler is a dealer in wool. The wool-stapler buys wool from the producer, sorts and grades it, and sells it on to manufacturers. Some wool-staplers acquired significant wealth, such as Richard Chandler of Gloucester (England) who built Wi ...

s in the market place, but demolished in 1847 to make way for a corn exchange.

Saffron

In the 16th and 17th centuries the

saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent i ...

crocus ''Crocus'' (; plural: crocuses or croci) is a genus of seasonal flowering plants in the family Iridaceae (iris family) comprising about 100 species of perennials growing from corms. They are low growing plants, whose flower stems remain undergro ...

(''

Crocus sativus ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as saffron crocus or autumn crocus, is a species of flowering plant in the iris family (biology), family Iridaceae. A cormous autumn-flowering cultivated perennial plant, perennial, unknown in the wild, it is ...

'') was widely grown, thanks to the town's favourable soil and climate. The stigmas of the flower were used in medicines, as a condiment, in perfume, as an expensive yellow dye, and as an aphrodisiac. The industry gave Walden its present name. In the records of the Court of Common Pleas, the town was called Magna Walden in Hilary Term 1484, and Chipping Walden in the 15th and early 16th centuries, but by the 1540s it had become Saffron Walden. Cottages, Castle Street, Saffron Walden - geograph

Cottages, Castle Street, Saffron Walden - geograph

Puritans and Quakers

The town and surrounding area, like much of

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

, was strongly

Puritan The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...

during the 17th century. The population was influenced by the missionary John Eliot. By 1640, Samuel Bass's family and a number of others had departed for the

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...

as part of the Great Migration. Saffron Walden was at the centre of the

Eastern Association The Eastern Association of counties was an administrative organisation set up by Parliament in the early years of the First English Civil War. Its main function was to finance and support an army which became a mainstay of the Parliamentarian mi ...

during the

English Civil War The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians (" Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of England's governance and issues of re ...

. While the town was the headquarters of the

New Model Army The New Model Army was a standing army formed in 1645 by the Parliamentarians during the First English Civil War, then disbanded after the Stuart Restoration in 1660. It differed from other armies employed in the 1639 to 1653 Wars of the Th ...

, Lieutenant-General of Horse,

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...

paid a 19-day visit in May 1647, taking part in debates to seek a settlement between Parliament and the army. He is thought to have stayed at the ''Sun Inn''. By the end of the 18th century saffron was no longer in demand and the industry was replaced by

malt Malt is germinated cereal grain that has been dried in a process known as " malting". The grain is made to germinate by soaking in water and is then halted from germinating further by drying with hot air. Malted grain is used to make beer, wh ...

and

barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...

. More than 40 maltings stood in the town by the end of the century. The trade was less lucrative than saffron, but the town continued to grow through the 19th century, and had a

cattle market In economics, a market is a composition of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations or infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offeri ...

, corn exchange and other civic buildings. During this time

Quakers Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belief in each human's abil ...

became economically active in the area. The influential Gibsons – one of the founding families of

Barclays Bank Barclays () is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services. Barclays traces ...

– aided the construction of several public buildings that remain today, such as the Saffron Walden Museum and the

Saffron Walden Town Hall Saffron Walden Town Hall is a municipal building in the Market Place, Saffron Walden, Essex, England. The structure, which was the headquarters of Saffron Walden Borough Council, is a Grade II listed building. History The current building was c ...

. In the 1900s the Saffron Walden branch railway line from Audley End station, on the mainline from London to Cambridge, was extended to

Bartlow Bartlow is a small village and civil parish in the South Cambridgeshire district of Cambridgeshire, England, about south-east of Cambridge and west of Haverhill in Suffolk. The River Granta runs through the village. History At Bartlow is on ...

. The branch succumbed to the

Beeching cuts The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised British Rail, railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Develop ...

in the 1960s. Heavy industry arrived after the Second World War. Acrows Ltd, makers of

falsework Falsework consists of temporary structures used in construction to support a permanent structure until its construction is sufficiently advanced to support itself. For arches, this is specifically called centering. Falsework includes temporary su ...

, built premises to the east of the town and became a significant employer and economic influence in the area. For a short time there was a dedicated railway station for the works known as Acrow Halt.

Coat of arms and maces

Saffron Walden's unofficial

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...

showed the saffron crocus within the walls of the castle in the form of an heraldic pun – as in, "Saffron walled-in". In 1961, a formal coat of arms was granted by the

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional Officer of Arms, officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the ...

and this was adapted in 1974 into its current form. The town has three

ceremonial mace A ceremonial mace is a highly ornamented staff of metal or wood, carried before a sovereign or other high officials in civic ceremonies by a mace-bearer, intended to represent the official's authority. The mace, as used today, derives from the or ...

s. The large mace was given to Saffron Walden by James II in 1685 and provides an early recording of the unofficial coat of arms. Made of

silver gilt Silver-gilt or gilded/gilt silver, sometimes known in American English by the French term vermeil, is silver (either pure or sterling) which has been gilded with gold. Most large objects made in goldsmithing that appear to be gold are actually ...

, it is approximately long. Two smaller silver maces were bought by the corporation in 1549 to commemorate the granting of a new town charter by

Edward VI Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour and the first E ...

. This purchase is recorded in the town's Guild of Holy Trinity accounts and reads, ''"For 2 new maces, weying 18 ownces one quarter and half at 8s. the ownce 7l.7s"''.

Sites and buildings of interest

The 12th-century

, built or expanded by Geoffrey de Mandeville, the first

Earl of Essex Earl of Essex is a title in the Peerage of England which was first created in the 12th century by King Stephen of England. The title has been recreated eight times from its original inception, beginning with a new first Earl upon each new cre ...

, is in ruins. After the

period, the castle fell into disuse and much of the flint was taken and used in the construction of local houses and the wall surrounding the Audley End estate. All that remains is the ruined basement. Near the castle is a

turf maze Sod, also known as turf, is the upper layer of soil with the grass growing on it that is often harvested into rolls. In Australian and British English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', and the word "sod" is limited mainly to agricultu ...

, a series of circular excavations cut into the turf of the

common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally com ...

. It is the largest example of this style of maze in England, the main part being about in diameter. The earliest record of it dates from 1699, although its origin may be earlier. It has been extensively restored several times, most recently in 1979. The oldest inhabited building in the town is believed to be the former maltings at 1 Myddleton Place. The 15th-century building with a courtyard garden was used by the

Youth Hostel Association Hostelling International (HI), formerly known as International Youth Hostel Federation (IYHF), is a grouping of more than seventy National Youth Hostel Associations in over eighty countries, with over 4,000 affiliated hostels around the worl ...

from 1947 to 2010. It is now used for functions. ''

Pevsner Pevsner or Pevzner is a Jewish surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Aihud Pevsner (1925–2018), American physicist * Antoine Pevsner (1886–1962), Russian sculptor, brother of Naum Gabo * David Pevsner, American actor, singer, da ...

'' described it as: "without doubt, the best medieval house of Saffron Walden". Other notable early buildings are in Bridge Street, Castle Street and the side streets off the High Street. The High Street contains some late-Georgian and Victorian buildings. Bridge End Gardens, Saffron Walden

Bridge End Gardens Bridge End Gardens is a group of linked ornamental gardens in Saffron Walden, Essex, England. The gardens are listed Grade II* on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of special historic interest in England, Register of Parks and Gardens. T ...

, seven interlinked gardens – including a maze, rose garden and walled garden – were originally laid out by the Gibson family in about 1840. They have been restored with help from the Heritage Lottery Fund and volunteers.

St Mary the Virgin, Saffron Walden St Mary the Virgin is the parish church of Saffron Walden, Essex. It is the largest non-cathedral church in Essex with an overall length of and the spire, high, which is the tallest in Essex. It was designated as a Grade I listed building in 19 ...

(

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

) is the largest

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

in Essex. The church dates mainly from the end of the 15th century, when an old smaller church was extensively rebuilt by the master mason

John Wastell John Wastell (1518) was an English gothic architect and master mason responsible for the fan vaulted ceiling and other features of King's College Chapel, Cambridge, the crossing tower (Bell Harry Tower) of Canterbury Cathedral, and sections of bot ...

, who was building

King's College Chapel King's College Chapel is the chapel of King's College in the University of Cambridge. It is considered one of the finest examples of late Perpendicular Gothic English architecture and features the world's largest fan vault. The Chapel was bui ...

in the nearby city of Cambridge. In 1769 it was damaged by lightning and the repairs, carried out in the 1790s, removed many medieval features. The

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires are ...

was added in 1832 to replace an older lantern tower. The church is long and the spire, high, is the tallest in Essex. The town's

Catholic church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, Our Lady of Compassion, is on Castle Street. Created in 1906 from a 16th-century barn, it was restored in 2004–5. With a long history of non-conformism, Saffron Walden has: * a

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

church on the High Street, * a

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...

Friends Meeting House A Friends meeting house is a meeting house of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), where meeting for worship is usually held. Typically, Friends meeting houses are simple and resemble local residential buildings. Steeples, spires, and ...

on the High Street, * a

United Reformed Church The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2022 it has approximately 40,000 members in 1,284 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers. Origins and history The United Reformed Church resulte ...

on Abbey Lane, * a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

church on Castle Street now occupied as the Community Church by the independent former Gold Street Chapel which was located in Gold Street.

Governance

Saffron Walden falls in to three local government administrative areas, including

Uttlesford District Council Uttlesford is a local government district in Essex, England. Its council is based in the market town of Saffron Walden. At the 2011 Census, the population of the district was 79,443. Other notable settlements include Great Dunmow, Elmdon, Stebb ...

and

Essex County Council Essex County Council is the county council that governs the non-metropolitan county of Essex in England. It has 75 councillors, elected from 70 divisions, and is currently controlled by the Conservative Party. The council meets at County Hall ...

. The town itself is administered by Saffron Walden Town Council which has 16 members. The majority party is

Residents for Uttlesford Residents for Uttlesford (R4U) is a localist political party in the United Kingdom. The party was launched in 2014, and formed from a number of residents groups in the area. The party is based in the Uttlesford administrative district in Essex a ...

('R4U'), who are a local political party formed by residents. The

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

are also represented on the Town Council. As of 2022 the mayor is James de Vries of Residents for Uttlesford. The town is divided into four parish wards: Audley, named after Audley End House - representing the western area of Saffron Walden including Audley End; Castle - taking its name from Saffron Walden Castle; Shire (formerly Plantation) - representing the southern area of the town; and

Little Walden Little Walden is a small settlement in the Uttlesford district, in the English county of Essex. It lies about north of the market town of Saffron Walden and is from Cambridge. The church, St.John's is a "remnant of Victorian concern for the s ...

- representing the small village of the same name and a large rural area to the north of the town. Nationally, the town is part of the much larger Saffron Walden Parliamentary constituency. The MP is

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

Kemi Badenoch Olukemi Olufunto Badenoch ( ; née Adegoke, 2 January 1980) is a British politician serving as Secretary of State for International Trade, President of the Board of Trade and Minister for Women and Equalities since 2022. She previously served in ...

who is Secretary of State for International Trade. Notable former MPs include: *

Alan Haselhurst Alan Gordon Barraclough Haselhurst, Baron Haselhurst, (born 23 June 1937) is a British Conservative Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Saffron Walden from 1977 to 2017, having previously represented Middleton and Prest ...

from a by-election in 1977 until his retirement at the 2017 general election. Baron Haselhurst was Chairman of Ways and Means and Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons from 1997 to 2010. *

Rab Butler Richard Austen Butler, Baron Butler of Saffron Walden, (9 December 1902 – 8 March 1982), also known as R. A. Butler and familiarly known from his initials as Rab, was a prominent British Conservative Party politician. ''The Times'' obituary c ...

from 1929 to 1965, former

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to that of a vice president, ...

and

Chancellor of the Exchequer The chancellor of the Exchequer, often abbreviated to chancellor, is a senior minister of the Crown within the Government of the United Kingdom, and head of His Majesty's Treasury. As one of the four Great Offices of State, the Chancellor is ...

, who became Lord Butler of Saffron Walden and is buried at the parish church. It has been considered a

safe seat A safe seat is an electoral district (constituency) in a legislative body (e.g. Congress, Parliament, City Council) which is regarded as fully secure, for either a certain political party, or the incumbent representative personally or a combinat ...

for the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

since 1922.

Demography

According to the

Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible for th ...

, at the time of the

United Kingdom Census 2001 A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194. The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...

, Saffron Walden had a population of 14,313. The 2001 population density was , with a 100 to 94.5 female-to-male ratio. Of those over 16 years old, 45.0 per cent were married, 27.4 per cent were single (never married), and 8.2 per cent divorced. The parish's 6,013 households included 38.5 per cent married couples living together, 31.5 per cent one-person households, 8.4 per cent co-habiting couples, and 7.9 per cent single parents with children. Of those aged 16–74, 22.3 per cent had no academic qualifications, close to the average for Uttlesford (22.0 per cent) and below that for the whole of England (28.9 per cent). In the 2001 UK census, 73.0 per cent of Saffron Walden residents declared themselves Christian, 0.6 per cent Muslim, 0.4 per cent Buddhist, 0.2 per cent Jewish, and 0.1 per cent Hindu. The census recorded 17.6 per cent as having no religion, 0.4 per cent with an alternative religion, and 7.8 per cent not stating their religion.

Education

Saffron Walden County High School Saffron Walden County High School (SWCHS) is a coeducational academy school for ages 11–18 in Saffron Walden, Essex, England. The school is also an accredited training school, and was formerly a specialist Technology College. The current exec ...

is a large co-educational

academy An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

with over 2000 pupils. Located to the west of the town centre, it was rated outstanding in its most recent

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...

report in 2012. The school replaced

Saffron Walden Grammar School Saffron Walden Free Grammar School (or Saffron Walden Grammar School) was a school in the Essex town of Saffron Walden, which for over four hundred years educated the boys of the town and surrounding villages in a manner designed to be after the ...

, which was established in 1521 by the town's Holy Trinity Guild and Dame Joan Bradbury, a local benefactor. Dame Bradbury also founded Dame Bradbury's School on Ashdon Road. There has been a school on this site since 1317 but it was in 1521 that Dame Bradbury made this school available for local people. For the first four years Dame Bradbury paid the salary of the schoolmaster herself, until the school was endowed in 1535.

Friends' School Friends schools are institutions that provide an education based on the beliefs and testimonies of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). This article is a list of schools currently or historically associated with the Society of Friends, reg ...

, renamed Walden School, was a co-educational Quaker independent school with roots dating back to 1702. Its final building, in Mount Pleasant Road, opened in 1879. On 11 May 2017 it was announced that Walden School would close at the end of the 2016–17 school year. Its final day was 7 July 2017. Saffron Walden College, a teachers' training college for women, closed in 1977.

Transport

Saffron Walden is served by

Audley End railway station Audley End railway station is on the West Anglia Main Line serving the village of Wendens Ambo and the town of Saffron Walden in Essex, England. It is down the line from London Liverpool Street and is situated between and stations. Its three ...

, which is located outside the town in the village of

Wendens Ambo Wendens Ambo is a village in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. The population at the 2011 census was measured at 473. Its name originates from the merging of two originally separate villages called Wenden Magna (or Great Wenden) and We ...

, with regular bus services to the town centre. The station is on the West Anglia mainline service between Cambridge and

London Liverpool Street Liverpool Street station, also known as London Liverpool Street, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in the north-eastern corner of the City of London, in the ward of Bishopsgate Without. It is the t ...

, with an off-peak service of two trains an hour, southbound and northbound, and more services during peak times. The journey time to London is about 55 minutes. All southbound trains also stop at

Tottenham Hale station Tottenham Hale is a National Rail and London Underground interchange station located in Tottenham Hale in north London, England. On the National Rail network it is on the West Anglia Main Line, from London Liverpool Street, and is served by G ...

, where there is a

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

Victoria line The Victoria line is a London Underground line that runs between in south London and in the north-east, via the West End. It is printed in light blue on the Tube map and is one of the only two lines on the network to run completely undergr ...

station and onward rail connections to

Stratford station Stratford is a major multi-level railway station which rates as the 5th busiest station in Britain, serving the district of Stratford and the mixed-use development known as Stratford City, in the London Borough of Newham, east London. It is s ...

in east London. The journey to

Cambridge station Cambridge railway station is the principal station serving the city of Cambridge in the east of England. It stands at the end of Station Road, south-east of the city centre. It is the northern terminus of the West Anglia Main Line, down th ...

from Audley End takes under 20 minutes. An hourly

CrossCountry CrossCountry (legal name XC Trains Limited) is a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Arriva UK Trains, operating the Cross Country franchise. The CrossCountry franchise was restructured by the Department for Transport (DfT) ...

service between and

Birmingham New Street Birmingham New Street is the largest and busiest of the Birmingham station group, three main railway stations in Birmingham city centre, England, and a central hub of the Rail transport in the United Kingdom, British railway system. It is a ma ...

via and also stops at Audley End. Saffron Walden is accessed from junction 8 of the M11 travelling from London (a distance of about ) and from junction 10 travelling from the Cambridge direction ().

Stansted Airport London Stansted Airport is a tertiary international airport serving London, England, United Kingdom. It is located near Stansted Mountfitchet, Essex, England, northeast of Central London. London Stansted serves over 160 destinations acros ...

is some from the town, while

Luton Airport London Luton Airport is an international airport located in Luton, Bedfordshire, England, situated east of the town centre, and north of Central London. The airport is owned by London Luton Airport Ltd (LLAL), a company wholly owned by L ...

is away. Regular bus services connect the town with Cambridge,

, Haverhill and Stansted Airport. Cmglee Saffron Walden museum erratic

Audley End Airfield, a private grass runway, is located about outside of the town. During the

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the com ...

pandemic, Essex Highways narrowed some roads in the town centre to make

social distancing In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious disea ...

easier for pedestrians and they reduced some

speed limit Speed limits on road traffic, as used in most countries, set the legal maximum speed at which vehicles may travel on a given stretch of road. Speed limits are generally indicated on a traffic sign reflecting the maximum permitted speed - expres ...

s to as part of their "Safer, Greener, Healthier" scheme.

Culture

– once one of the largest mansions in England – is now in the care of

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

and open to the public. During the summer months, picnic concerts and a last night in the style of the

BBC Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hal ...

have been held in the grounds. Audley End Miniature Railway – originally built by Lord Braybrooke – is a

gauge Gauge ( or ) may refer to: Measurement * Gauge (instrument), any of a variety of measuring instruments * Gauge (firearms) * Wire gauge, a measure of the size of a wire ** American wire gauge, a common measure of nonferrous wire diameter, es ...

railway ride through woodland adjoining Audley End House. The track is long and opened in 1964. Saffron Walden Museum, which was established in 1835 by Saffron Walden Natural History Society, is close to the town's castle. The museum had many benefactors from local families, including the Gibsons, Frys and Tukes. The first professional curator Guy Nathan Mayard, was appointed in 1889 and his son, also Guy Maynard, succeeded him as curator before moving on to

Ipswich Museum Ipswich Museum is a registered museum of culture, history and natural heritage located on High Street in Ipswich, the county town of Suffolk. It was historically the leading regional museum in Suffolk, housing collections drawn from both the fo ...

. It is still owned by the founding society – now Saffron Walden Museum Society – and is managed by Uttlesford District Council. The museum contains the stuffed remains of a lion named Wallace (1812 – 1838), said to have inspired

Marriott Edgar Marriott Edgar (5 October 1880 – 5 May 1951), born George Marriott Edgar in Kirkcudbright, Scotland, was a British poet, scriptwriter and comedian, best known for writing many of the monologues performed by Stanley Holloway, particularly the ...

's comic poem "The Lion and Albert". The

Fry Art Gallery The Fry Art Gallery is an art gallery in Saffron Walden, Essex. Recognised as an Accredited Museum by Arts Council England, it displays work by artists of national significance who lived or worked in North West Essex during the twentieth centu ...

exhibits the work of artists who had an association with Saffron Walden and north west Essex, focusing on

Great Bardfield Artists {{Use British English, date=July 2015 The Great Bardfield Artists were a community of artists who lived in Great Bardfield, a village in north west Essex, England, during the middle years of the 20th century. The principal artists who lived t ...

. The collection includes extensive artworks and supporting material by

Edward Bawden Edward Bawden, (10 March 1903 – 21 November 1989) was an English painter, illustrator and graphic artist, known for his prints, book covers, posters, and garden metalwork furniture. Bawden taught at the Royal College of Art, where he had be ...

, who lived in the town during the 1970s and 1980s, and

Eric Ravilious Eric William Ravilious (22 July 1903 – 2 September 1942) was a British painter, designer, book illustrator and wood-engraver. He grew up in Sussex, and is particularly known for his watercolours of the South Downs and other English landsca ...

. Saffron Hall, which is attached to Saffron Walden County High School, opened in 2013. The 730-seater venue came about as a result of a £10 million donation by an anonymous music loving donor. In 2014, former head of music at the

Barbican Centre The Barbican Centre is a performing arts centre in the Barbican Estate of the City of London and the largest of its kind in Europe. The centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhi ...

Angela Dixon became its director.

Sport and leisure

The Anglo American playing fields, located close to Bridge End Gardens on Catons Lane, are home to the town's cricket club and were donated to Saffron Walden by the US forces after the

war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...

. Prior to that, Saffron Walden Cricket Club played on the town's common – with a history of cricket matches recorded back to 1757. A monument at the site commemorates the American airmen and people of Saffron Walden who died in the Second World War. * Saffron Walden has a

non-league football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

club

Saffron Walden Town F.C. Saffron Walden Town Football Club is a football club based in Saffron Walden, Essex, England. They are currently members of the and play at Catons Lane. History The club was established as Saffron Walden in 1872 and are the oldest senior foot ...

, which also plays at Catons Lane. * There is also a Rugby Club playing in the London League
Saffron Walden rfc
and * a long-distance running and triathlon team. Lord Butler Leisure Centre is located on Peaslands Road and includes a pool, gym and sports injury clinic. The

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

passed through Saffron Walden in 2014. Saffron Walden has a well-established

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

club with its main pitch and clubhouse in Newport and a second pitch at Saffron Walden County High School. The club has eight men's teams, seven women's teams and a large junior section. The women play in Division 2, and the men play in Prem B. The town's skate park is an American-built facility. It opened in 2007.

Music

Saffron Walden is the name of a tune often associated with the

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

" Just as I Am". It was written by Arthur Henry Brown (1830–1926) from Essex. He wrote many hymn tunes, which he often named after his favourite places.

Notable residents

In alphabetical order: *

(1903–1989), artist, was resident from 1970 at 2 Park Lane Studio. *

Stig Blomqvist Stig Lennart Blomqvist (born 29 July 1946) is a retired Swedish rally driver. He made his international breakthrough in 1971. Driving an Audi Quattro for the Audi factory team, Blomqvist won the World Rally Championship drivers' title in 1984 an ...

(born 1946) and his son

Tom Blomqvist Tom Leonard Blomqvist (born 30 November 1993) is a New Zealand-based, Britain-born Swedish professional racing driver, and BMW Motorsport works driver, currently racing in the 2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship with Meyer Shank Racing. Blomqvist ...

(born 1993), racing drivers, live in the town. * Elizabeth Butchill (c. 1758–1780), hanged for

infanticide Infanticide (or infant homicide) is the intentional killing of infants or offspring. Infanticide was a widespread practice throughout human history that was mainly used to dispose of unwanted children, its main purpose is the prevention of reso ...

, was a native of the town. *

(1902–1982), cabinet minister, was MP for Saffron Walden in 1929–65, before being created Baron Butler of Saffron Walden. *

Jack Cardiff Jack Cardiff, (18 September 1914 – 22 April 2009) was a British cinematographer, film and television director, and photographer. His career spanned the development of cinema, from silent film, through early experiments in Technicolor, to fi ...

(1914–2009), Oscar-winning cinematographer, lived at 7a High Street. * Thomas Cornell (c. 1595–1655), was a Quaker who emigrated to

British North America British North America comprised the colonial territories of the British Empire in North America from 1783 onwards. English overseas possessions, English colonisation of North America began in the 16th century in Newfoundland (island), Newfound ...

and founded the Cornell family there. *

Charles Dunstone Sir Charles William Dunstone (born 21 November 1964) is the British co-founder and former chairman of mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse, former chairman of multinational electrical and telecommunications retailer and services company Dix ...

(born 1964), co-founder and chairman of

Carphone Warehouse The Carphone Warehouse Limited was a mobile phone retailer based in London, United Kingdom. In August 2014 the company became a subsidiary of Currys plc (previously named "Dixons Carphone"), which was formed by the merger of its former parent Ca ...

and chairman of

TalkTalk Group TalkTalk Telecom Group plc (commonly known as TalkTalk Group, trading as TalkTalk) is a company which provides pay television and Internet access services to businesses and consumers in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 2003 as a subsidiary ...

, was born in the town. *

James Gapes James Gapes (1822 – 22 October 1899) was a local politician in Christchurch, New Zealand. He was Mayor of Christchurch on two occasions, and the father of a later mayor, Thomas Gapes. He was the first mayor who was elected by the voting publi ...

(1822–1899), born in the town, became mayor of

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, New Zealand. *

George Stacey Gibson George Stacey Gibson FLS (20 July 1818 – 11 April 1883), was a British banker, botanist and philanthropist. Early life George Stacey Gibson was born in Saffron Walden, Essex on 20 July 1818, the only child of Wyatt George Gibson (1790–1862) ...

(1813–1893), botanist, banker and philanthropist, lived at Hill House, High Street. *

Gabriel Harvey Gabriel Harvey (c. 1552/3 – 1631) was an English writer. Harvey was a notable scholar, whose reputation suffered from his quarrel with Thomas Nashe. Henry Morley, writing in the ''Fortnightly Review'' (March 1869), has argued that Harvey's Lati ...

(1552/3–1631), scholar and writer, lived at 13–17 Gold Street. *

Imogen Heap Imogen Jennifer Heap (born 9 December 1977) is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. Her work has been considered pioneering in pop and electropop music. Heap classically trained in piano, cello and clarinet starting at ...

(living), singer and songwriter, was a boarder at the Friends' School. *

Jeff Hordley Jeff Hordley (born 7 March 1970) is an English actor, best known for portraying the role of Cain Dingle in the ITV soap opera, ''Emmerdale''. For his portrayal of Cain, he has been nominated for the British Soap Award for Best Actor at three ce ...

(born 1970), actor, played

Cain Dingle Cain Dingle is a fictional character from the British soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Jeff Hordley. Cain made his first appearance on 30 March 2000, and in 2006, he was written out of the series when Hordley left the soap; however, the opti ...

in ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, '' ...

''. *

Gordon Jacob Gordon Percival Septimus Jacob CBE (5 July 18958 June 1984) was an English composer and teacher. He was a professor at the Royal College of Music in London from 1924 until his retirement in 1966, and published four books and many articles about m ...

(1895–1984), composer, was resident in 1959–1984 at 1 Audley Road and president of Saffron Walden and District Music Club. *

Ian Lavender Arthur Ian Lavender (born 16 February 1946) is an English stage, film and television actor. He is best known for his role as Private Pike in the BBC sitcom ''Dad's Army'', and is the last surviving major cast member of the series following the ...

(born 1946), actor, best known as Pike in ''

Dad's Army ''Dad's Army'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard (United Kingdom), Home Guard during the World War II, Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft (TV producer), David Crof ...

'', lived in the town until 2001. *

Stephen McGann Stephen Vincent McGann (born 2 February 1963) is a British actor, best known for portraying Dr Patrick Turner in the BBC One medical period drama series ''Call the Midwife''. He is one of a family of acting brothers, the others being Joe, Pau ...

(born 1963), actor, resides in the town. *

Jojo Moyes Pauline Sara Jo Moyes (born 4 August 1969), known professionally as Jojo Moyes, is an English journalist and, since 2002, an award-winning romance novelist, #1 New York Times best selling author and screenwriter. She is one of only a few author ...

, romantic fiction author, lives nearby in

Great Sampford Great Sampford is a village and civil parish on the junction of the B1053 and B1051 roads in the north-west of the English county of Essex. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 Census was 586. The village includes a primary school, ...

. *

Clare Mulley Clare Margaret Mulley (born 1969) is an English award-winning author and broadcaster. Her first book, ''The Woman Who Saved the Children: A Biography of Eglantyne Jebb'' (Oneworld, 2009) republished in 2019 to mark the centenary of Save the Chi ...

(born 1969), biographer, lives in the town. *

Sarah Ockwell-Smith Sarah Ockwell-Smith (born ) is a British author of parenting and childcare books and a proponent of attachment parenting. Published works Ockwell-Smith's first book ''BabyCalm'', published in 2012, focuses on parenting from birth to six month ...

(born 1976), child-care author, lives in the town. *

Cliff Parisi Cliff Parisi (born Clifford R Manley; 24 May 1960) is an English actor, known for his roles as Minty Peterson in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' and Fred Buckle in the BBC period drama ''Call the Midwife''. In 2019, he participated in the nin ...

(born 1960), former

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

actor, who played Rick "Minty" Peterson *

Tom Robinson Thomas Giles Robinson (born 1 June 1950) is a British singer, bassist, radio presenter and long-time LGBT rights activist, best known for the hits "Glad to Be Gay", "2-4-6-8 Motorway", and "Don't Take No for an Answer", with his Tom Robinson ...

(born 1950), singer-songwriter, attended the Friends' School in 1961–67. * Sir Thomas Smith (1513–1577), scholar and diplomat, was born in the town. *

Stan Stammers Stan Stammers (born 19 May 1961, England) is an English musician best known as the bass player for the bands Theatre of Hate, Spear of Destiny and Plastic Eaters. Early life Stammers grew up in Saffron Walden, Essex. He got into punk music b ...

, songwriter and musician, formerly of

UK Subs U.K. Subs are an English punk rock band, among the earliest in the first wave of British punk. Formed in 1976, the mainstay of the band has been vocalist Charlie Harper, originally a singer in Britain's R&B scene. They were also one of the f ...

, grew up in the town. *

William Strachey William Strachey (4 April 1572 – buried 21 June 1621) was an English writer whose works are among the primary sources for the early history of the English colonisation of North America. He is best remembered today as the eye-witness reporter of ...

(1572–1621), historian, was born in the town. *

Heidi Thomas Heidi Thomas (born 13 August 1962) is an English screenwriter and playwright. Career After reading English at Liverpool University, Thomas gained national attention when her play, ''Shamrocks And Crocodiles'', won the John Whiting Award in 1 ...

(born 1962), TV and film screenwriter, lives in the town. * Stuart Wardley (born 10 September 1975 in

), professional footballer *

Raymond Williams Raymond Henry Williams (31 August 1921 – 26 January 1988) was a Welsh socialist writer, academic, novelist and critic influential within the New Left and in wider culture. His writings on politics, culture, the media and literature contribu ...

(1921–1988), cultural critic, divided his time between Saffron Walden and Wales in later life. *

Henry Winstanley Henry Winstanley (31 March 1644 – 27 November 1703) was an English painter, engineer and merchant, who constructed the first Eddystone lighthouse after losing two of his ships on the Eddystone rocks. He died while working on the project duri ...

(1644–1703), creator of the first

Eddystone Lighthouse The Eddystone Lighthouse is a lighthouse that is located on the dangerous Eddystone Rocks, south of Rame Head in Cornwall, England. The rocks are submerged below the surface of the sea and are composed of Precambrian gneiss. View at 1:50000 ...

, was born in nearby

Littlebury Littlebury is a village and civil parish in the Uttlesford district, north-west Essex, England. The village is approximately a mile and a half from the market town of Saffron Walden, south from Cambridge, the nearest city, and north-east from t ...

and lived at 5 Museum Street. *

Diana Wynne Jones Diana Wynne Jones (16 August 1934 – 26 March 2011) was a British novelist, poet, academic, literary critic, and short story writer. She principally wrote fantasy and speculative fiction novels for children and young adults. Although usually de ...

(1934–2011), author, attended the Friends School (1946–1952). * Joseph Warren Zambra (1822-1897), pioneering photographer, optician and scientific instrument maker. Co-founder of

Negretti and Zambra Negretti and Zambra (active 1850 – c. 1985) was a company that produced scientific and optical instruments and also operated a photographic studio based in London. History Henry Negretti (1818–1879) and Joseph Zambra (1822–1897) for ...

Twin towns

Saffron Walden is twinned with: *

Bad Wildungen Bad Wildungen is a state-run spa and a small town in Waldeck-Frankenberg district in Hesse, Germany. It is located on the German Timber-Frame Road. Geography Location Bad Wildungen lies in the eastern foothills of the Kellerwald range in the so ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

References

External links

Saffron Walden Town Council
{{Authority control Uttlesford Market towns in Essex Towns in Essex English Civil War Hymn tunes