Our Parish sits midway between Saffron Walden and Royston - both ancient market towns. We are part of the Saffron Walden Deanery.

Ψ Saffron Walden:

This medieval market town is home to the largest parish church in Essex. St. Mary the Virgin dates mainly from the end of the 15th century, when the previously existing and smaller church was extensively rebuilt in flint. In 1769 it was damaged by lightning and the repairs, carried out in the 1790s, removed many of the medieval features. The present spire was added in 1832 to replace an older ‘lantern’ tower. The church is 183 feet (56 m) long and the spire 193 feet (59 m) high, and is the tallest in Essex.

Saffron Walden also features the ruins of the 12th-century Walden Castle, built or expanded by Geoffrey de Mandeville, the first Earl of Essex. After the medieval period, the castle fell slowly into disuse and much of the flint was taken and used in the construction of local houses. All that remains today is the ruined basement. Nearby to the castle is the Maze, a series of circular excavations cut into the turf of the common. It is the largest turf maze in England, the main part being about 100 feet (30 m) in diameter. The earliest record of it was in 1699, and it has been extensively restored several times, most recently in 1979. There is also a hedge maze in nearby Bridge End Gardens. The garden, which lies off Castle Street and Bridge Street, dates from the 1840s and was originally laid out by Francis Gibson, a member of the locally well-known Gibson family who were eminent Quakers, bankers and brewers. Close to the Bridge End Gardens is the Fry Art Gallery which exhibits the work of artists who had an association with Saffron Walden and north west Essex. One artist of note included in the Fry Art Gallery collection is Edward Bawden who lived in the town during the 1970s and 1980s.

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The Anglo American playing fields contains a monument to commemorate the American airmen and people of Saffron Walden borough that died in the Second World War. Another tourist attraction is Audley End House, a manor house built by the Earl of Suffolk in the seventeenth century on the site of the medieval Walden Abbey, which had been rebuilt by Sir Thomas Audley. When first constructed, the house was one of the largest in England. However, two thirds of it was later demolished when it was found to be difficult to maintain. The house and gardens are now owned by English Heritage and are open to the public. During the summer months; several concerts which help make up the BBC Proms are held here. It is usually an evening of music varying from classical to rock to jazz followed by a fireworks display. Another annual fireworks display is held on the Saturday nearest to the 5th November. This event is organised by the Round Table and is held on the common - near the maze.

Nearby Audley End is the Audley End Miniature Railway, which is a 10 ¼" gauge railway ride through woodland. The ride is 1.5 miles long and has been part of the Saffron Walden landscape since it was opened in 1964. It is a popular site with children. The Duxford Air Museum, the largest aerospace centre in Europe with many flying examples, is situated nearby.

There has been a village on or near the site of present day Saffron Walden since before the Roman occupation of Britain, when Bronze and Iron Age tribes settled in the area. After the Romans withdrew from the country, a flourishing Anglo-Saxon town was established. With the Norman invasion of 1066, a stone church was built. The castle was constructed c.1116. A Priory, later to become Walden Abbey, was also founded under the patronage of Geoffrey de Mandeville, first Earl of Essex around 1136. The abbey was separated from the town of Walden by Holywell Field, which was enclosed in the sixteenth century to form part of the park of Audley End, the house of Sir Thomas Audley, who converted the abbey cloisters to a dwelling c. 1538-44. The inner or Little Court of the seventeenth-century house corresponds to one of the cloisters.

The basement is what remains of the Walden CastleIn 1141 the area’s market was transferred to the town from nearby Newport, further increasing the area’s influence. The town’s first charter was granted in 1300. This early town was known as Chipping Walden. The town was at first largely confined to the castle's outer bailey, but in the 13th century the Battle or Repell Ditches were built or extended, to enclose a new larger area to the south. The focus of the town moved southwards to Market Square.

In the medieval period the primary trade in Saffron Walden was in wool. However, in the 16th century and 17th century the saffron crocus (crocus sativus) became widely grown in the area. The flower was precious, as extract from the stigmas, the saffron, was used in medicines, as a condiment, as a perfume, as an aphrodisiac, and as an expensive yellow dye. This industry gave its name to the town and Chipping Walden became Saffron Walden.

By the end of the 18th century the saffron flower was no longer in such demand, and the flower was replaced by malt and barley. In the 1830s there were more than 30 maltings and breweries running. Although this trade was not so rewarding as the saffron, the town continued to grow throughout the 19th century, having a cattle market and building a library and other civic buildings. During this time Quakers became very active in Saffron Walden, the most influential family being the Gibsons, who aided in the construction of several buildings that remain today, such as the museum and the Town Hall.

The 1900s saw expansion of the Saffron Walden branch railway line that extended from Audley End, on the mainline from london to Cambridge, to Bartlow. This closed with the Beeching cuts in the 1960s. Some light industrial areas to the east, in particular Acrow Ltd, makes of falsework and the south of the town were added to diversify the employment. In the 1980s major expansion of housing estates to the south expanded the housing stock significantly. Today, Saffron Walden is a flourishing, beautiful and historic town. Because it has never been sacked or destroyed by fire, many of the buildings, streets and features, especially in the centre of town, date back centuries. Although the 1900s brought many changes and expansion, the character of the town and the valley in which it sits remains strongly intact.

Ψ Royston: The town grew up at the crossing of two ancient thoroughfares, Ermine Street and the Icknield Way (cum Ashwell Street); the former was created after the Roman conquest, while the Icknield Way has long been accepted as a prehistoric routeway. These roads are sometimes called military roads as they were prepared or improved by Roman military forces to facilitate their access to the hinterland of Britain. The modern equivalent to Icknield Way is the A505 (which now bypasses the town to the north). The A10 follows the alignment of the Ermine Street south of the town, but diverts before it reaches the crossroads. The A1198, known as the Old North Road follows the alignment of Ermine Street northwards.

A cross, variously known as Royse's, Rohesia's or Roisia's Cross, was erected by the crossroads at an unknown date. The cross gave the settlement its earliest name of Crux Roesia or Roisia's Cross. By the fourteenth century this had become Roisia's Town, Roiston or Royston. A large boulder of red millstone grit, bearing a square socket, is supposed to be the base of the cross, and has been placed by the cross roads at the northern end of the High Street. Until 1540 the "vill" of Royston was divided between five parishes: Barkway, Reed and Therfield in Hertfordshire and Melbourn and Kneesworth in Cambridgeshire. In that year it became a separate ecclesiatical parish, partly in each county.

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Ralph de Rochester founded the Augustinian priory which came out of a chapel for three canons, later expanded to seven or more regular canons. Royston also had two hospitals, or free chapels, as well as the monastery. The hospital of St John and St Thomas was founded for lepers in 1224 by Richard Argentine, Sheriff of Cambridgeshire on the south side of Baldock Street. The Hospital of St Nicholas was situated in the Cambridgeshire side of Royston. It was founded in about 1200 probably by Amphelise, a daughter of Richard the Chamberlain. In 1213 King John granted them a fair to celebrate the feast of St Nicholas (May 8 - 9). The patronage of the hospital subsequently descended to Sir Giles Argentine, lord of the manor of Melbourn, who also held the patronage of the other Hospital. In the fourteenth century, St Nicholas Hospital was put under the jurisdiction of that of St John and St Thomas. The whole was suppressed in 1547.

The town having lost is monastic charter, the site of the priory was obtained by Robert Chester, a gentleman of the bedchamber to Henry VIII, who set up a market. Much of the town was given over to inns catering for travellers mainly going between London and York. On April 29, 1603 James VI of Scotland was travelling down to become King James I of England, pausing overnight at the Chester residence. Attracted by the suitability of the area for hunting, James later hired the house for a year. In 1604 the king decided to create a hunting lodge in the town by demolishing the "Cock" and "Greyhound" Inns. The King's Lodgings were completed in 1607, and were described in 1652 as "all of brick well-tiled double-built, in length 78 ft., breadth 43 ft., height from eaves to ground 24 ft., thickness of walls 24 inches." The buildings were never extensive enough to cater for a full court, but which provided a suitable spot for hunting, near enough to London for convenience and sufficiently far away to deter intrusion. Indeed he created a strict prohibition on anyone else from taking game within 16 miles of Royston, and an elaborate infrastructure was established to support the King in the pursuit of his sport.

Queen Anne and Prince Henry only visited the town once, in 1611 – 1612. Next year the Queen opposed the marriage of her daughter, Princess Elizabeth to Frederick V, Elector Palatine, but the King came to Royston with the Earl of Rochester to negotiate the dowry which was signed there. Following the marriage, celebrated on St Valentine's day 1613, the King, Prince Charles and Frederick came to stay at Royston. James' successor, Charles I visited Royston less frequently than his father. In June 1647 he was brought through the town as a prisoner of the parliamentary army. After Charles's death the royal buildings fell into disrepair. The Crown sold its last interests in the town in 1866.

Over the centuries, the town catered for travellers making the journey from London to York. There were several coaching inns, and the many archways on High Street indicate the entrances to the yards. It must however have been difficult at times turning a coach into those yards from the narrow street that we see today. The building in today's Kneesworth Street with the two tall chimneys is half the palace built for James; the original front of the building has now gone. The delightful fish and chip shop next door was the king's kitchens, and his equerries lived across te road it what is currently the Conservative Club.

The church of St John the Baptist is part of the greater medieval church of the priory, which fell down or was raided for stone after the dissolution by King Henry. As well as the Anglican church, the other principal denominations have their own buildings in the town; the schoolroom of the former Congregational Church is now home to the town museum. The town also boasts a fine selection of other buildings. These range from the tudor period through to more modern times, such as "Thurnall's" on Melbourn Street, a grade I listed building from the 16th century, with a 17th century facade.

Royston Cave was created as a secret meeting place for the Knights Templars in the period that followed their persecution for heresy which began in 1307. In the 14th century the cave was filled in and the entrance shaft sealed with a millstone and then covered over. Undetected for the next 400 years until, in 1742, builders dug a hole in the Butter Market to set a bench and discovered the buried millstone and the shaft leading downwards into the chalk.