SAFFRON

See also:

• WALDEN, ROGER (d. 1406)

WALDEN  , a market-town and municipal borough in the Saffron Walden parliamentary division of Essex, England, beautifully situated near the Cam in a valley surrounded by hills, on a branch of the Great Eastern railway, 431 M . N.N.E. from London . Pop . (1901) 5896 . It has a somewhat ancient appearance and possesses a spacious market-place . Of the old castle, dating probably from the 12th century, but in part protected by much earlier earthworks, the keep and a few other portions still remain . Near it are a series of curious circular excavations in the chalk, called the Maze, of unknown date or purpose . The earthworks west and south of the town are of great extent; there was a large Saxon burial-ground here . The church of St Mary the Virgin, a beautiful specimen of the Perpendicular style, dating from the reign of Henry VII., but frequently repaired and restored, contains the tomb of Lord Audley, chancellor to Henry VIII . There is an Edward VI. grammar school, occupying modern buildings . The town possesses a museum with good archaeological and natural history collections, a literary institute and a horticultural society . The benevolent institutions include the hospital and the Edward VI. almshouses .

There is a

British and Foreign School Society's training college for mistresses . In the neighbourhood is the fine mansion of Audley End, built by Thomas, 1st earl of Suffolk, in 1603 on the ruins of the abbey, converted in 1190 from a Benedictine priory founded by Geoffrey de Mandeville in 1136 . Brewing, malting and iron-founding are carried on . The borough is under a mayor, 4 aldermen and 12 councillors . Area, 7502 acres . Saffron Walden (Waledana) was almost certainly fortified by the Britons, and probably by some earlier race . The town corporation grew out of the Gild of the Holy Trinity, which was incorporated under Henry VIII., the lord of the town, in 1514 . It was dissolved under Edward VI., and a charter was obtained for Walden, appointing a treasurer and chamberlain and twenty-four assistants, all elective, who, with the commonalty, formed the corporation . In 1694 William and Mary made Walden a free borough, with a mayor, 4 aldermen and 12 town councillors . The corporation became a local board of health under the act of 1858, and a municipal borough in 1875 . The culture of saffron was the most characteristic industry at Walden from the reign of Edward III. until its gradual extinction about 1768 .