Skirmish at Saffron Walden 1643
History & Significance
Saffron Walden is a market town and civil parish in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England, 12 miles (19 km) north of Bishop's Stortford, 15 miles (24 km) south of Cambridge and 43 miles (69 km) north of London. It retains a rural appearance and some buildings of the medieval period. As well as the town itself, the parish also includes Little Walden and Audley End. At the 2021 census, the built up area had a population of 16,610, and the parish had a population of 17,022.
Archaeological evidence suggests continuous settlement on or near the site of Saffron Walden from at least the Neolithic period. It is believed that a small Romano-British settlement and fort – possibly in the area round Abbey Lane – existed as an outpost of the much larger settlement of Cestreforda to the north.
The town was originally just called Walden, derived from the Old English walhdenu meaning 'valley of the Britons'.
After the Norman Conquest of 1066, a stone church was built. Walden Castle, dating from about 1140, may have been built on pre-existing fortifications. A priory, Walden Abbey, was founded in around 1136 under the patronage of Geoffrey de Mandeville, 1st Earl of Essex. The abbey was separated from Walden by Holywell Field. After the dissolution of the monasteries, Sir Thomas Audley converted its cloisters into a dwelling, which was subsequently rebuilt as Audley End House.
In the 13th century there had been a market at nearby Newport. The market was moved to Walden during de Mandeville's tenure, increasing the town's influence. A Tuesday market was held from 1295, and the town was granted its first formal market charter in about 1300. The town then became known 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 was built by the wool-staplers in the market place, but demolished in 1847 to make way for the Corn Exchange.
In the 16th and 17th centuries the saffron crocus (Crocus sativus) 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.
The ground they fought on
The site of Skirmish at Saffron Walden 1643 lies on White Chalk Subgroup, bedrock that formed in the Maastrichtian. The rock here is chalk.
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