Gordon Ridgewell  -  Saffron Walden  -  Essex  -  England  -  UK

GENERAL INFORMATION of Saffron Walden as reported in 1950

THE ANCIENT TOWN OF SAFFRON WALDEN on the north-west Essex border, lies in that wide break in the chalk uplands through which the famous River Granta flows northward to join the waters of the fen-land River Ouse. The hills amid which the town is situated are part of the long chalk back-bone of Eastern England, and beneath the town the chalk is estimated to be 800 feet in thickness.

In the local Museum will be found many interesting fossil remains of the rich life of the valley during the Tertiary period of Geological history, the tusks, bones and teeth of the elephant, mammoth, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, gigantic deer, and wild horse, discovered in the river gravel beds near the town. There are also relics of file primitive human inhabitants of the district, the men of the far distant stone age— from rudely-worked flint weapons of the hunters of the mammoth, to the beautifully chipped and ground tools of Neolithic times; as well as the rude pottery and primitive bronze tools of the first metal age, and the coins and earthenware of the Roman civilisation.

Many traces of the Roman occupation are still to be found in the district. It is evident from the strategic position of Great Chesterford and the quantity of Roman remains discovered there, that this was an important and populous station, the centre of Roman life in the district. Unfortunately nothing is now visible except the bare site where the busy Roman town once stood.

The foundations of Roman buildings have also been found in several of the parishes around Saffron Walden, notably at Wenden, where Roman tiles may be seen worked into the arch of the Norman west door of the Church, and at Hadstock, where were found the floors of a large villa containing two baths. The devastated condition of the Roman buildings throughout the district hints at the catastrophe which took place when the Roman occupation came to an end, and when little resistance was offered to the Teutonic war-bands who came spreading fire and sword along the Icknield way, (which runs through Norfolk and by the Suffolk and Essex borders), on their way south. The fierce tribesmen settled down in farm and homestead near the smoke-blackened ruins of the luxurious Roman dwellings, and gradually occupied the whole district.

The history of Saxon Walden is all but a blank, nothing being known of the part it took in the long struggle for supremacy among the invading tribes; but in the reign of Edward the Confessor the town was held by one of the great nobles, Ansgar, Master' of the Horse, and one of the Aldermen of London. He owned 2000 acres of wood .and arable land in Walden, and large estates in neighbouring parishes.

When William of Normandy laid his iron grasp on Eastern England, and crushed out the last struggles for independence in the fen district, Ansgar's land was made over to Geoffrey de Mandeville, a warrior whose sword-play amid the Saxon spears at Senlac had gained him the friendship of the Conqueror. He came doubtless with many a trusty Norman lance at his back, and to him the helpless Saxon landholders swore that cruelly-binding oath of fealty for life and limb which, for centuries, held them bound upon the land where they were born, never to move abroad save to do his business, or to battle in his wars.

This de Mandeville was responsible for the building of the castle, Ansgar's villains or serfs, and all others whom the Norman whip could find, toiling with trowel and mortar, or creaking stone-cart, until on the site of Ansgar's timber fortress there rose the grim Norman keep, towering perchance 80 feet high, with walls 12 feet thick. His grandson Geoffrey founded a monastery at Walden in 1136. The priory was dedicated to the honour of God, the Virgin Mary and St. James, and was styled the Monastery of St. James of Walden. At first the  monks devoted themselves to literary work, and the enter­tainment of travellers, but were later instructed in the observances of the Benedictine Order by the monks from Evesham Abbey. For many years the De Mandeville family enriched the priory with property in the neighbourhood, and in 1190 the establishment becoming important was raised to the rank of an abbey. The Monastic buildings, chapter house and abbey church have all disappeared and their shattered foundations lie beneath the lawns of Audley End. The hostelry or guest house in which travellers were entertained still remains, known as the stables. The rear of the buildings is visible on the left from the roadway in front of Audley End House, but the more picturesque north front cannot be seen from the road. The quaint mediaeval build­ings of the Abbey Farm, once used as estate almshouses, are the remains of the infirmary or hospital for decayed members of the vanished monastery. They date from the close of the 15th century or early 16th.

Saffron Walden is an important Market Town and Municipal Borough. It is 15 miles from the University Town of Cambridge and 42 from London. The population of the Borough, which is co-extensive with the parish was at the census of 1811, 3040; 1831, 4762; 1851, 5912; 1891, 6104; 1911, 6311; 1931, 5930; the estimated population in 1948 was approximately 7000. In 1940 some 3000 evacuees came to the town from London and many remained to make Saffron Walden their permanent home.

The area of the Borough is 7,502 acres. It is 27 miles in circum­ference, and includes the hamlets of Audley End, North End, Little Walden and Seward's End.

The Corporation was constituted by a Charter from King Edward VI in 1549, confirmed by Queen Elizabeth ; this Charter was revoked by King James II under a writ of "Quo Warranto" and a fresh one granted, which gave the Crown the power to appoint the Mayor and Aldermen.

The ancient privileges were restored by King William III in 1694. As modified by the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835 the Council consists of a Mayor, 4 Aldermen and 12 Councillors, with Town Clerk. The Borough has its own Commission of the Peace and Bench of Magistrates, also Quarter Sessions with a Recorder.

Saffron Walden is the principal town in the Uttlesford Hundred. It is in the Diocese of Chelmsford, and is the head of the Saffron Walden Parliamentary Division of the County, the present Member being the Rt. Hon. R. A. Butler, p.c.

In the Market Place will be found a commodious Corn Exchange, also Cattle and Poultry Markets.

A weekly market is held on Tuesdays, and a Fair takes place annually on the Common during June. Early Closing Day is Thursday.

A branch line of the British Railways connects the town on one side at Audley End with the main line from London to Cambridge and the North, 'and on the other side at Bartlow with the Cambridge-Colchester line for Ipswich, Manningtree, Harwich and Parkeston, where con­nection is made with steamship lines to Antwerp, Rotterdam and Hamburg, and with the Continental Railways. There are also ample Bus and Coach facilities, for both passengers and parcels. The Town is well-paved, healthy, well-lit with gas and electric lamps, and is supplied with water from a new bore in the chalk, 512 feet deep, 25 degrees in hardness, softened by a base exchange before delivery for town use. The water supply is carried to Little Walden and Seward's End. The new Waterworks situated on Landscape View Site, Debden Road, were opened by the Mayor on 27th October, 1932. During 1933 a Paddling Pool was made in the grounds of the Water­works, thus turning to good use the waste water, and giving pleasure to the children of the town. The Water service is still undertaken by the Corporation. The Electricity service, formerly undertaken by the Corporation, was sold to the County of London Electric Supply Co., Ltd., in 1933, and was taken over by the Eastern Electricity Board in 1949. The town is also provided with shops of all descriptions, many of them old-established businesses.

Since 1927 the Town Council has constituted the Burial Board. The Cemetery is situated on a pleasant slope in Radwinter Road. It contains two chapels, one for the Anglican Church and the other for Nonconformists.

The Swimming and Washing Baths in Hill Street, erected in 1910, are well patronised.

There are in the Town institutions, clubs and organisations to satisfy the requirements of all tastes; particulars of these will be found under the various headings, in the following pages.

Saffron Walden contains a magnificent Parish Church, principally in the Perpendicular style, numerous Nonconformist Chapels, the ruins of a Norman Castle, a Town Hall built in the old-English timbered style, old-fashioned ornamental gardens open to the public, large Celtic earthworks, an earthwork maze, and many 16th and 17th century houses. It is also close to the great Jacobean Mansion of Audley End, and the late 15th century Abbey Farm buildings in Audley End hamlet. The surrounding country is undulating, well wooded, and contains-many spots well worthy of a visit.

From those prehistoric days when the dwellers in the settlement behind the Battle Ditches cultivated their little strips of corn land within the palisades, and milled the grain into coarse flour with those stone querns which may be seen in the Museum, agriculture has been the staple industry of the districIt is probable that cultivation in Roman and Saxon times was carried out here to a fairly high pitch, and from necessity there would spring up the auxiliary industries of the smith and farrier, the carpenter, wheelwright and builder, the rope-maker, the weaver and woolcomber, the tanner and dyer. These-secondary trades would form a class needing supplies of farm produce, thus bringing into being dealers and shopkeepers. As they were thus evolved in distant times so the industries of jhe town have remained, through great variations of social, political, and religious government to the present day, agriculture still being the ultimate support of the pop­ulation. In recent years the companion industry of horticulture has grown amazingly, and first employment for a large number of towns­people.

The town obtained its prefix of " Saffron " from the extensive cult­ivation in the district of that once famous drug, or dye, for it was used for both. Walden was the chief market in the kingdom for saffron, which Hollingshead states was first planted here in the reign of Edward III. It is mentioned as a titheable commodity by the Abbot of Walden in 1444. The legend runs that saffron was brought into England by a pilgrim who, wishing to benefit His country, stole, a saffron bulb, which he carried home hidden in the hollow of his palmer's staff. The plant was very extensively grown in the neighbour­hood at the close of the -16th century. Its culture was difficult, three seasons elapsing before it was ready to be gathered, and the crop was very uncertain ; in consequence the price per pound varied from 12s. in 1548 to the high-water mark of £4 Is. lOd. in 1665. The supply, however, soon exceeded the demand, and the practice of the " Crocker " farmers of giving one-half of the flowers to. those who picked the other half, combined with the importation of foreign saffron, completely glutted the market; and finally the disuse of the plant in medicine, mainly owing'to the decrease of small-pox, for which it was considered the best remedy, so diminished its value that by 1799 its culture had entirely disappeared.

During the latter part of the 18th century and the early part of the 19th, malting and brewing were carried on extensively in the town ; over 23,000 quarters of malt were produced in one year ; but both have since declined, while the tanning, dyeing, wool combing, straw hat and crape trades have vanished.

The burgesses of Saffron Walden are proud of their town, and it is very right and proper that they should be, for it is full of historic interest. The following pages give an account of the more prominent features which make a special appeal to resident and visitor alike, but space does not permit a description of the many smaller monuments of the past which are scattered thickly throughout the town. There is scarcely a street in its older portions which does not contain some relic of interest to antiquarians and archaeologists.

The stately Church of St. Mary, one of the finest examples in the country of the pure Perpendicular style of architecture as applied to Parish Churches, dominates the town from the top of Castle Hill much as the Norman keep must hate done in by-gone times. Stukely, the antiquarian, in describing its commanding position, says that its founda­tions are above the tops of many of the houses.

A church is mentioned in the Domesday Book as having been granted to Geoffrey de Mande^ille with the rest of Ansgar's Walden property, at the Conquest. Much confusion as to the date of the Church has been caused by confounding the parish church with the conventual church of the Abbey of Walden dedicated to St. James: the two being quite separate establishments.

The church and its revenues were granted to the Priory of Walden by the 1st Earl of Essex in 1130 and remained in its possession, the Abbots appointing the Vicars, until the dissolution of the Monasteries in 1538, when it passed into the hands of Lord Chancellor Audley,

The present structure stands, above ground, on the site of this earlier church, but no trace of the latter remains. The earliest parts of the existing building are the chancel arcade and the western arches of the north and south chapels, which date from about 1300. The rest of the church was built c.1470—1540, largely through the instrumentality of John Leche, Vicar of the parish from 1489—1521. The spire, replacing a timber lantern, was completed in 1832, at a cost of £3,316 from the design of the celebrated architect, Thomas Rickman, and the clock which was built by Messrs Thwaites and Reed in 1823, was temporarily stored in the Council Chamber over the South Porch. The original east window having perished, the space was walled up: this was opened in 1860, and the present window inserted.

The church is 184 feet long and 80 feet wide (inside measurements); the tower is 85 feet high, and the weathercock is 193 feet from the ground; from the floor of the nave to the roof measures 54 feet.

The most striking features of the nave are its fine proportions, its height and spaciousness. The columns are built of the easily-worked clunch stone, of which advantage has been taken in the rich moulding of the arches and the elegant carving in the spandrels. On these spandrels are carved a number of devices, Saffron flowers, the town's badge; the palmer's cockle shells and staff, (the device of St. James the patron of Walden Abbey); the Catherine wheel, badge of Catherine of Aragon; the Mullet of the de Veres, and the badge of the Bourchiers. The flat timber roof, which is very fine and beautifully carved, shews in the cornice the Tudor badges—the pomegranate, fleur-de-lys, Tudor rose and the crown and portcullis, and on the central bosses are the badges of noble families. The aisles are nearly as wide as the nave itself.

Part of the Chancel and the South Chapel were built by Lord Chancellor Audley ; and it is stated that he bought the timber roof of the chancel from Sudbury church.

In the centre of the South Chapel stands the black marble table tomb of Thomas, Lord Audley of Walden, Chancellor to Henry VIII and the chief agent in the spoilation of the monasteries. Henry Winstanley, the father of the ingenious Mr Winstanley, builder of the ill-fated first Eddystone lighthouse, is buried below ths spot where Lord Audley's tomb now stands ; it was originally in the chancel. On the east wall of the Chapel is a memorial to the two sons of the third Baron Braybrooke, who fell in the Crimea. Beneath the Altar in the Chancel is the.Howard vault, originally a sacristy entered from the Chancel. The vault contains the bodies of the last six Earls of Suffolk who owned Audley End estates, and also of Lord Howard de Walden and his two wives. The first four Earls of Suffolk lie in another vault beneath the first.

In the North Chapel stands the plain table tomb of John Leche, vicar of the parish from 1489 to 1521: he was a great benefactor to the church and town. The windows of this Chapel have been filled with new tracery; the east window, which followed the lines of the ancient one, is filled with stained glass by Burlison and Grylls, and was given by Florence Lady Braybrooke in 1904, in memory of her husband, Charles, 5th Lord Braybrooke, and their only child, the Hon. Mrs Richard Strutt.

The picture above the Chapel is a copy by Peters of Correggio's "Holy Family," given in 1793 by Field-Marshal John Griffin, Lord Howard, the first Lord Braybrooke.

The magnificent chancel screen was added in 1924, the gift of the late W. Favill Tuke, in memory of his wife.

Beneath the three eastern-most windows of the north aisle there is a series of twelve shallow mullioned recesses, arranged in three bays, with elaborately carved canopies. The spandrels of the canopies above the central bay are enriched with ten shields bearing the instruments of the Passion; while those of the eastern-most bay are filled with Scriptural subjects, which are as follows, reading from left to right: (1) An Eagle, the emblem of St. John, Ev.: (2) King David: (3) "The Noli Me Tangere": (4) St. John, Baptist: (5) Our Lady and Holy-Child,—mutilated: (6) Incredulity of St. Thomas: (7) The Agony in the Garden, and a group which it has been suggested may represent Judas and one of his accomplices, in Satan's toils. Together with various niches for saints, these carvings are all that remains of the side-chapels which the church Once contained. In the wall beneath the carvings are placed the only nine brasses which remain of the many effigies and inscriptions which once paved the church. Nearest the east is placed first an effigy of a lady about 1495 ; 2nd and 3rd, effigies of two ladies (c.1480): 4th and 5th, effigies of a civilian and his wife (c. 1510): 6th and 7th, effigies of a civilian and his wife (c. 1530): 8th, effigy of a civilian (c. 1530): 9th, effigy of a priest (c. 1430).

The only piece of old stained glass remaining in the church is in the west window of the south aisle, and is a medallion portrait, said to be of King Edward VI.

The three modern stained glass windows in the chancel by Ward and Hughes and the reredos were placed there as memorials by the late Joseph Lecand Taylor, and the memorial windows in the south aisle by the families of Nockolds, Harding (Wiseman), and Rickard. In the north aisle are memorial windows: to John Thomas Frye, for more than 60 years organist of the church; to Harold Atkinson. m.b. and to'Miss M. M. Tuke. These three windows are by Messrs Powell of Whitefriars. The west (tower) window,¹ also by Powell, is in memory of Ralph Glutton, Vicar 1844-1868, and his wife.

There are two side porches, the northern used as a vestry, and over the large southern entrance porch is the former council chamber, still belonging to the Corporation of Walden, who use it for storing ancient documents, and formally visit it in procession once every year after the election of the Mayor for the succeeding year ; until recently the election itself took place there on St. Bartholomew's Day, 24th August. This connection is probably a relic of the Holy Trinity Guild from which the Corporation took its rise and all of whose meetings were held in the Ch-arch.

At the west end of the south aisle a consistory or bishop's court used to be held. Underneath is a crypt with a groined roof used as a charnel house, which now contains the heating apparatus.

The Church has suffered much in the past from the hands of the rest­orers and the fury of the elements: in 1445 it was sorely shaken by a great "weathering of wind," etc., and in 1769 "split by lightning," which smashed all the windows. The great restoration of 1793, carried out at a cost of about £8,000, seems to have been almost as destruct­ive as the storm, and although it rescued the edifice from an almost ruinous condition, it swept away almost all vestiges of ancient work in the shape of carvings and brasses which had escaped the devastations of religious fanatics. The old carved cedar altar piece was removed to Littlebury Church with a number of the old oak figures probably similar to the fourteen which still may be seen in the chancel roof. The grotesque gargoyles and many of the carvings of the interior have also vanished.

In 1931—32 a scheme of restoration was carried out to the roof and other portions of the church, which had suffered from the ravages of the death-watch beetle, at a cost of over £3,000.

The reformation saw the demolition of the organ or organs which the Saffron Walden Church possessed in the 15th and early 16th centuries. The musical history of the church from that period to the beginning of the 19th century is apparently a blank. At the latter date the singing was led by a choir band, the members of which in accordance with the custom of the day wore wigs. In 1824 the church was furnished with its first modern finger organ, built by John Vincent at a cost of £800. In 1833 some slight repairs were carried out and in 1845 addi­tions, costing £60, were made. There were no other alterations for the next 40 years, and it is remarkable that one man (John Thomas Frye) who was organist of the Church from 1820—1884, should have been in charge of this organ during practically the whole of its existence. In 1885 the organ was entirely reconstructed by Messrs T. C. Lewis and Co. The total number of pipes was 1,708; of draw stops 34; the pedal organ was played by Lewis' tubular-pneumatic action. The total cost of the instrument, including expenses, amounted to £1,147.

In 1911, the organ was rebuilt by Messrs Norman and Beard at a cost of £1,015 ; the organ chamber and other items costing an addi­tional £253. The action throughout is tubular-pneumatic. The console is separate from the organ. The draw-stops are controlled by a special form of ivory stop keys which have been adopted by the builders in several important instruments erected by them. These stop keys are so designed that they can be worked by an interchangeable composition action operated by a piston placed over the choir organ keys. This action enables the organist to prepare any combination of stops which he will require, and to bring them into action by touching one piston. A gas engine and rotary blower supplied the wind pressure for the entire organ. The pipes of the old organ were used as far as possible, but they have been re-voiced and altered to suit the conditions, now numbering well over 2,000. Another stop was added in 1926, ,and an electric blower has replaced the gas engine. The front of the present organ originally belonged to the Vincent instrument of 1880.

*Some deterioration to the organ, largely due to the action of the gas, has now become apparent and an Organ Restoration Fund is now being raised.

The belfry contains a peal of twelve bells ; numbers five to nine and twelve were cast by John Bryant of Hertford, in 1797-8 ; but numbers ten and eleven were re-cast by Messrs Mears in 1813 and 1849. Numbers one to four, which were cast by Alfred Bowell, of Ipswich, were added in 1914, and were dedicated by the Bishop of Chelmsford on Great Ringing Day, June 27th. These four were replaced by four new bells by Messss Mears, in 1928. The total weight of the bells is 5 tons 8 cwts. 2 qrs. 12 Ibs.

Mr John Taylor, the celebrated bell-founder of Loughborough, speaks af the eleventh bell as being one of the most perfect bells in the Kingdom, being in tune with the rest of the peal, as well as being in tune with itself:  this can be said of probably not more than half-a-dozen bells in England.

By the will of Thomas Turner, mercer, of Saffron Walden, dated June 10th, 1623, the day of his funeral, June 27th, is observed as a ringing festival to which ringers journey from many parts. Turner left money with which an estate was purchased at Henham, Essex, to provide for this festival and for a memorial sermon to be preached on that day. Years ago the bells used to be rung almost incessantly all day from six in the morning. This bequest was in gratitude to the bells in Walden for guiding him to safety when lost in the woods at Audley End.

The old churchwardens' accounts and the Corporation books contain many interesting references to the bells ; the earliest in 1440, Henry Vlth's reign, 'For rynaggyn wanne ye quene was her iiijed." The ringers had been previously fined 2/- for not ringing a peal when Queen Margaret of Anjou came to the Abbey.

"Paid the ringers when the King came to Audley End, 2/- (1670)." September of the same year "Paid the ringers when the Queen came to Audley End 3/-." Finally the ringers seem to have surpassed them­selves, "when she came thorow the towne on Market day, 4/-!"

These are complete from 1558. In vol. 3 there is a note "that his sacred Majesty, Charles the Second, by the grace of God, King of England, came to Walden Church from Audley End, Sunday forenoon, October ye II, 1668." There is also an extremely interesting book of Churchwardens' Accounts, 1623—1757 ; whilst an earlier book of Accounts, dated 1438—1485, is preserved at Audley End.

The living is a Vicarage in the gift of the Right Hon. Lord Braybrooke.

This institution, situated on the Castle or Bury Hill, originated in a Natural History Society started in the town about 1832. The collections were first housed in a cottage, but, rapidly outgrowing their limits, the society at the invitation of the then Lord Braybrooke removed them^o their present home, the large brick building in the castle grounds, which had been builtfor Municipal purposes. Here they occupied the upper floor until 1879, in which year the present picturesque Town Hall was built and presented to the town by the late George Stacey Gibson, when they were free to occupy the entire building. At this time the collections which, had been largely brought together by the generosity and public spirit of the Gibson family were in considerable disorder, but, on determining to extend and reorganise the Museum in 1880, a resident curator was appointed, and since then the collections have so increased that they fill every available part of the building. In 1948 the building was bought from Lord Braybrooke with the help of £1,000 from J. D. Player, a Freeman of the Borough.

The entrance hall contains a collection of old carved oak furniture, and two very fine carved stone mantelpieces from the house of the celebrated Dr Gabriel Harvey, of Walden, and a fine series of Dutch Delft ornamental tiles; two sets being old fire hearth coves from the Sun  Inn,  Church  Street,  commemorating Cromwell's visit in  1647.

The long east wing, formerly the hall of the Saffron Walden Agri­cultural Society, and used for concerts and meetings, now contains an extensive zoological collection, comprising a series of the largest African mammals and collection of other foreign and British mammals, birds^ birds' eggs, mollusca, reptiles and corals, and several anatomical pre­parations, also many cases of insects and a valuable herbarium.

To the left of the entrance hall is the geological department, con­taining a fine series of local and general fossils and minerals, arranged in stratigraphical order, and a further room contains a magnificent collection of birds of paradise, humming and other tropical birds.

The upper rooms contain a large and fine collection of pottery, porcelain and old English glass, a collection of pictures and ancient views of Walden, 17th century furniture, tapestry and needlework, old MSS. and early printed books, a large series of local and general antiquities and numerous ethnological exhibits. The present state of order and systematic arrangement is due to the labours of a former curator, the late G. N. Maynard, who, during his 2i years of office, expanded the collection to the present extent and gradually evolved order out of a state of chaos ; and to the fact that during that period the Museum has been greatly enriched by many additions made by George Stacey Gibson, William Murray Tuke, Joshua Clarke, Joseph Clarke, Dr H. Stear and the Right Hon. Lewis Fry, all now deceased. The Museum is vested in Trustees and is controlled by a Board of Management. Open daily from 11 to 6, summer ; 11 to dusk, winter, on weekdays, and on Sundays from May to October 2.30 to 5.30. No charge for Admission. Secretary and Curator—Mr Henry Andrews.

All that remains of Walden Castle is the base of the great flint work tower, built about the year 1120, broken down to within 25 feet of the ground. Access is obtained to the dungeon floor by a cutting through the walls made about 1800 A.D. The great fire-place of the first floor may be traced in the west wall, and in the north-west angle is the Castle well (now domed in), over 60 feet deep with foot holes in the chalk for descent. A huge square mass of flint work in the centre of the keep is the base of the enormous column which carried the floor above. Indications of a staircase may be seen in the entrance angle, and on the west exterior are the ruins of the gate house or fore build­ings. The arched bays contain stone coffins from Berden Priory and Ickletpn Abbey, founded by the wife of the excommunicated de Mande-ville, also the Whipping Post or Pillory from Newport Prison, and the door of the old Hadstock village lock-up.

The hill top occupied by the Museum grounds was once enclosed by the outer walls of the. Castle, which tradition states to have covered 30 acres of ground, but of which all traces have been lost; only the steep slope of the hill indicating where the encircling walls probably stood.

Although now used as shops and dwelling-houses, this ancient building (once the property of the Winstanley family of Eddystone Lighthouse fame) still leans its many-gabled front across the Church Street foot­way as it did when Fairfax made it his headquarters iri 1646, and from there Cromwell and his officers held conference with the Parlia­mentary Commissioners in March, 1647, "In the Create Church at Saffron Walden," which sealed the fate of Parliament and King. There is some uncertainty as to the date it was built, but parts of k belong to the 14th and 15th centuries.

The devices, more grotesque than elegant, which decorate its gables, make it one of the best remaining Essex examples of houses adorned with parge work.

Owing to its architectural and historical interest the National Trust was approached with a view to its being transferred to them and pre­served for the benefit of the Nation, and to enable this to be done £2,000 was raised by subscriptions and the transfer formally carried through in June, 1933.

The Common, some 14 acres of meadow land adjoining the Castle Hill, now used for recreation, fairs, etc., was once part of "The Castle Meads " and used for grazing and garden purposes ; and was probably enclosed within the outer walls of the Castle area.

In 1252 a great tournament was held at Walden, and the jousts were held on that part 6f the Castle Meads which is now the Common ; in one of the contests Sir Ernald de Monteney was accidentally killed by Sir Roger de Leybourne. That, indeed, was the official report, but the writer of a contemporary chronicle has doubts about the accidental part, for de Leybourne was a man of sinister reputation, and owed de Monteney a grudge.

At the eastern end is an earthwork maze of geometric design, and said to be of Roman origin. It is surrounded by a ditch and low bank, and the continuous path running through is computed to be about a mile long. The uses of these ancient mazes is a matter of dispute, and nothing definite is known about them.

The Town Cricket -Club plays here regularly during the season. Swings and other apparatus are provided for the use of the children.

These are earthworks of ancient British construction, lying off the junction of High Street with London Road and continuing round -to the Park end of Abbey Lane. They form the surviving angle of a large fortification, whose deep ditch and high rampart enclosed about 30 acres. It has been traced across the top of High Street to the angle of Audley Road and Fairycroft Road, following the latter almost to its junction with East Street, whence it turned on the line of George Street and Abbey Lane to join the existing portion in forming a rectangular enclosure.

These gardens laid out by Francis Gibson more than 100 years ago are very extensive and pretty. There is an ornamental garden in the Dutch style, a rose garden, shrubberies, lawns and a maze, a copy of the famous one at Hampton Court. The gardens are open to the public daily from 9 a.m. to half-an-hour before sunset. They are the property of Dr Lewis S. Fry, and temporarily placed by him under the control of the Corporation. The Gibson Picture Gallery, just inside the entrance, is open to the public on payment of a small fee. Part of the gardens is now used as a Gardening Centre for the boys and girls of the elementary schools of the town and district.  

Situated at the rear of the Municipal Offices in Hill Street, this Garden was opened to the Public on 6th May, 1935, in celebration of the Silver Jubilee of H.M. King George V.

This was originally a part of the grounds of " The Close," and is situated near the end of Castle Street at the top of the hill overlooking Bridge End. It was purchased by Public Subscription, to commemorate the Coronation of T.M. King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, being  opened to the Public on 1st September, 1938.

THE MARKET PLACE is a fine square on the south side of which stands the Town Hall, containing a large hall with a gallery, accessible from the Market Place by stone staircases, a council chamber, a court room and apart­ments for magistrates, juries and committees, also a muniment room. This valuable and picturesque building was presented to the town by the late George Stacey Gibson, and was opened in 1879 ; it is a timbered building in the Tudor Style, and cost £7,000 to erect. In the large hall are full length portraits of King Charles I and his Queen, Henrietta Maria, and also of the donor, George Stacey Gibson, in his mayoral robes.

On the eastern side of the square is the handsome building of Barclays Bank, and the "Rose and Crown" Hotel, often mentioned in the town records as the "Rose"; it is partly of the 15th century date.

In the centre of the square stands an ornamental drinking fountain, presented to the town in 1863, by the late Mrs W. G. Gibson and the late George Stacey Gibson.

'The Market Place was formerly paved with cobbles and contained the Market Cross—an open-sided shed under which were the stocks and whipping post. The Municipal Corn Exchange is situated on the west side built on a\site where once stood the "Hall of the Wool Staple," for Walden was a Staple Town where all the wool shorn in the neighbour­hood had to be brought to be weighed and assessed for taxation purposes. This was demolished in 1848; its upper story, which was divided into tenements, is supposed to have been originally an ancient merchant's hall, probably connected with the wool trade of the town. On the site of the Cattle Market, there was until 1856 a fine Elizabethan Mansion, built by the father of the celebrated Dr Gabriel Harvey, of Cambridge University, the friend of Spenser, and the Hobbinol of his "Fxrie Queene." Two very finely carved mantel-pieces from the destroyed building are preserved in the Museum Hall, one depicting all the branches of the Harvey business, rope-making, farming, beekeeping, etc. The passage just here, between Market Place and Hill Street, was formerly very narrow, and a large gabled building on the opposite side hung over the path so that-one might from the upper windows shake hands across the street.

Situated at the top of High Street, this was erected in 1921 by Messrs Whitehead and Day, of this town, in memory of the men of Saffron Walden who fell in World War I, 1914-1918. There are the names of 158 men, cast in bronze tablets, affixed round the base. The cost was defrayed by public subscription. Fifty-two further names of those who lost their lives in the recent war were added in 1948.

The delightful Park attached to the Audley End House, the property of the Right Hon. Lord Braybrooke, is open to the public who are allowed to use the drive between the Abbey Lane and Upper Lodges, and the grass footpath leading through the lower part of the Park to the main road. In addition to the Mansion itself there are to be seen the ancient buildings known as the Stables, and the old Almshouses in Audley End Hamlet, both of which are relics of the Abbey of Walden. The Park was the venue for the 1949 Essex Agricultural Show, and provided an ideal setting.

The estates of the dissolved Abbey of Walden, together with the Lordship of the Manor, were granted by Henry YIII to his rapacious Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas Audley, who had been mainly instrumen­tal when Speaker of the House of Commons in passing the Act whereby no less than 376 of the smaller monasteries were simultaneously suppressed, and who was largely responsible for the six later Acts, whereby all the more wealthy establishments were surrendered to the King. Audley received as his portion of the spoil, besides the rich Abbey, Estates and Manor of Walden—from which he took his titles when raised to the Peerage—the Priory of Christ Church, in Aldgate (the richest in England), the Priory of Crouched Friars, and St. Botolph's Priory in Colchester, and Tiltey Abbey, near Thaxted. Audley seems to have retained the favour of Henry VIII until his death. He was buried in Walden Church, where his altar tomb with his.motto "garde ta foy" still remains.

It is probable that Lord Audley occupied some portion of the Abbey buildings converted to residential purposes, and his descendants certainly did so. His daughter, Margaret, married Thomas, 4th Duke of Norfolk, who, after her death, became the sole possessor of the vast Audley Estates. Unfortunately for himself he became entangled in the web of Mary, Queen of Scots, and negotiated marriage with her, thinking that if Mary survived Queen Elizabeth he would become King Consort of England, a project which ultimately cost him his head. It is remarkable that while Norfolk was under arrest at the Charterhouse in 1576, <Jueen Elizabeth visited Audley End in state. She was met by the Corporation of Walden, who presented to her 'a silver cup with cover' double gilt, value £19 3s. Od. and spent over £10 in gratuities to the Court, including "6s. 8d. to ye black gard." Elizabeth again stayed at Audley End in 1578, and was waited upon by a grand deputation from the University of Cambridge with presents, a Latin Oration and ,sl 'Disputation in Philosophy,' handled by chosen orators for the edification of the Court.

The Town of Walden again presented a silver cup, and together disbursed £22 15s. Od., the " Frenche Ymbasyter!" receiving a gallon of wine, 2s.

Lord Thomas Howard, son of the above Duke of Norfolk, was created 1st Earl of Suffolk, and gave the name of Audley House to the magnificent residence he built on the site of the destroyed monastery, and of which the present imposing Mansion is a sadly diminished remnant. It was commenced in 1603 and finished in 1613, costing it is said not less than £200,000, and when in its magnificent entirety was deemed one of the finest residential mansions in Europe, and the equal, ' if not superior, of anything in England, including the palaces of Hampton Court and Richmond. King James I visited it twice before  its entire completion, and remarked that though it might do very well  for a Lord Treasurer (the Earl holding that office at .the time) yet it  was much too large for a King.  So enormous was the expense of  maintenance, that none of the possessors after the death of the builder was able to keep an establishment suitable to the magnificence of the house. James, the 3rd Earl, sold the house and park to Charles II, who resided  there  in  great  state,  with  his  Queen  and  Court  on  many occasions, and it is owing to the artistic enterprise of Henry Win-stanley, his clerk of the works at Audley End, who published a series of engravings of the Mansion, that we know the full extent and magnifi­cence  of  this master-piece of Jacobean Architecture.  It is  recorded that the Queen with some of the Court ladies and gentlemen went disguised   to   one  of   the   neighbouring   fairs,   and   there   they  were detected owing to their strange affected speech, and stranger apparel, and were escorted back to the palace by a body-guard of gaping rustics. The Walden Corporation presented Charles with a silver cup, value £20, in 1665. Eventually, however, the Mansion and Park were returned to the Earl of Suffolk, a great part of the purchase-money being unpaid. In  1721 three sides of the great quadrangle, of which the present west front facing the river is the remaining side, were pulled down: and in 1748 the Countess of Portsmouth, heiress of the la-s: Earls of Suffolk who owned the Mansion, pulled down the eastern side of the second  or  inner   Court,  which  contained  the  splendid  oak-panelled gallery 24 ft. high, 32 ft. wide and 236 ft. long, exclusive of an enor­mous bay window in the centre.   The present buildings of the Mansion comprise the middle block which separated the great West Quadrangle from the inner or East Court, with a short ? portion of the North or South wings of the latter.

The Countess of Portsmouth was succeeded by a nephew who took the title of Lord Howard de Walden, (which had been in abeyance for some time), and who was created Baron Braybrooke in 1788; he was succeeded in possession of Audley End by his relative Richard Neville, 2nd Baron Braybrooke, from whom the present Lord Braybrooke is descended. The title of Howard de Walden, however, passed to a distant branch of that family.

The house contains a large oak-panelled hall 90 ft. long hung with family portraits, heraldic banners and trophies of arms and armour; it contains a finely carved fireplace, and at the north end a great oak screen very finely carved, and at the south end an openwork stone screen rather out of keeping with its surroundings. In the library is a well-carved straightback chair of oak, once the property of Alexander Pope. On the first floor is a splendid suite of reception rooms, including the saloon which contains a collection of full-length portraits of successive owners of Audley End and has a very finely ornamented ceiling. The next room contains some good portraits including a Rembrandt and a Holbein. There are two Libraries, the larger contains about 10,000 volumes and has a fine mantelpiece bearing the arms of Lord Audley and of the 3rd Lord Braybrooke and his wife.

The dining room faces north into the quadrangle and is very fine; it contains some good portraits, one being the only original portrait of George II in existence. The chapel was fitted up by Lord Howard de Walden in 1770 in Gothic style. In the state bedroom is a portrait of Queen Charlotte, who occupied the apartment when staying at Audley End. The picture gallery and other rooms contain many curiosities and art treasures, amongst them Voltaire's snuff box. There is also a collection of stuffed animals formed by the Hon. R. C. Neville, 4th Baron Braybrooke. An archajological museum of antiquities formed by the same Lord Braybrooke is now in the Archaeological and Ethno­logical Museum at Cambridge.

The park and grounds are very pretty and extensive; the lawns, said to be about 17 acres in extent, are among the finest in England. The Temple of Concord to the east of the Mansion, erected in honour of the recovery of George III in 1789, and the monument in the Deer Park, to the memory of the Countess of Portsmouth, were built by Lord Howard de Walden.

The family of Neville (Baron Braybrooke) sprang originally from Sir Edward Neville, of Allington Park, Kent, who died in 1492. The present Lord Braybrooke is the 9th Baron.

The house, stables, and gardens, in all about 100 acres, have been acquired by the Ministry of Works, and .will be preserved as an Ancient Monument. The present Lord Braybrooke has lent to the Ministry of Works the pictures, furniture, etc. of the principal State Rooms, which are now open to the Public on Saturdays, Sundays and Thursdays from 9.30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. Entrance fee 1/-.

Gordon Ridgewell  -  Saffron Walden  -  Essex  -  England  -  UK