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WALLED INSAFFRON WALDEN · ESSEX

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Saffron Walden through the ages

Watch the walled-in market town grow, tap a pin for its story, and switch on layers for the Civil War, saffron, Audley End and our street names. ❄ Walden Christmas gifts

Castle & market town

1086–1399

Domesday Book (1086) records Waledana with 147 households, already among the largest fifth of places in England; the name is Old English and older Saxon finds come from Abbey Lane. Under the de Mandevilles came the castle, a priory (1136 in the Victoria County History; English Heritage gives 1139) and, in 1141, the market moved here from Newport. In the 1230s the de Bohuns laid out a new grid of streets, market place and church, and the town was ringed by the Magnum Fossatum, the Great Ditch.

Shaded areas are approximate reconstructions of the built-up town.

Layers

Then vs now: outline today's town Only show places from this era

Places

Still standing from earlier eras (0)

Castle & market town (1086–1399)

Walden Castle, by 1141; slighted 1157–58
Market Place, 1141
The Rows, 13th c. onwards
Battle (or Repell) Ditches, c.1250–1350
The Turf Maze, medieval; recut 1699
The Common, medieval Castle Green
The Old Sun Inn, 14th c.; pargeting 1676
The Eight Bells, 15th c.
Cross Keys, 15th–16th c.
Audley End: abbey to palace, 1139 → today
Gold Street, street name
King Street, street name
Castle Street, street name
Bridge Street, street name

Saffron town (1400–1599)

St Mary the Virgin, 1485–1525; spire 1832
1 Myddylton Place, 1490s
The Grammar School, Castle Street, 1521–22

Abbey to palace & Civil War (1538–1699)

The Old Sun Inn, 14th c.; pargeting 1676
Audley End: abbey to palace, 1139 → today
St Mark's College, Audley End village, 1605–14
The Army debates, May 1647, May 1647
Cromwell at the Sun Inn? (legend), 1647 tradition
The Cross Keys footsteps (legend), tradition
Friends Meeting House, High Street, 1676; rebuilt 1879
High Street, street name
Winstanley Road, street name

Georgian town (1700–1836)

Audley End: abbey to palace, 1139 → today
Town Hall, 1761; front 1879
Capability Brown's 'wrong bend', 1763
Tea House Bridge, 1760s
Saffron Walden Museum, 1834–35
King Edward VI Almshouses, 1834–81
The Union Workhouse, 1835–36
The King's Ditch culvert, 1832

Quaker & railway town (1837–1913)

Bridge End Garden, from c.1837
The hedge maze, Bridge End, Victorian; replanted 1984
Corn Exchange (the library), 1847–48
The Gibson Library, 1832; here since 1853
Gibson's Bank (Barclays), 1824 / 1874 / 1896
The Market Place fountain, 1862–63
Fry Art Gallery, Gibson era; reopened 1987
The old railway station, 1865–1964
Audley End station, 1845
The old hospital (council offices), 1865–66
Friends' School, 1879–2017
The Training College, 1884–1977
The water tower, Debden Road, 1913
The old waterworks, Hill Street, 1836 / 1862
Fairycroft Road, street name
Catons Lane, street name
Park Lane, street name
Radwinter Road, street name

Wars & the 20th century (1914–1999)

Audley End: abbey to palace, 1139 → today
The War Memorial, 1921
Audley End: the Polish SOE station, 1941–45
Anglo-American Memorial Playing Fields, 1954–55
Saffron Walden County High School, opened 1953
Site of the Rose & Crown, 1969
The Cold War bunker, 1990

Walden today (2000–now)

Walden Castle, by 1141; slighted 1157–58
Market Place, 1141
The Turf Maze, medieval; recut 1699
St Mary the Virgin, 1485–1525; spire 1832
Audley End: abbey to palace, 1139 → today
Bridge End Garden, from c.1837
Fry Art Gallery, Gibson era; reopened 1987
Audley End station, 1845
Friends' School, 1879–2017
Saffron Walden County High School, opened 1953
Saffron Hall, 2013

How we built this map

Places, dates and stories come only from the sources linked on each card: Historic England list entries, Saffron Walden Museum, the Saffron Walden Historical Society, English Heritage, Uttlesford District Council and Visit Saffron Walden among them. If we couldn't source it, it isn't here. The town outlines are our approximate reconstructions: the medieval line follows the Town Ditch as excavations have traced it, the 1890s line is traced from the Ordnance Survey six-inch map (National Library of Scotland), and today's comes from OpenStreetMap land use.

Read the full history Shop the town