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| Monument Name |
Saffron Walden |
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| SMR Number |
408 |
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| Summary |
Medieval town area. |
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| Media |
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| Associated Media |
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| Description |
Medieval town area. <1> In the late 11th century the de Mandevilles built a castle (see 411) with an inner bailey containing their keep and domestic buildings and an outer bailey to contain a town. The church was laid out on the axis of the enclosing banks and 2 streets, Church St and Castle St, were laid out. In 1141 the de Mandevilles were able to bring a market here from Newport. In the early-mid 13th century a large area was enclosed to the south of the town bailey and new streets laid out (mainly High Street and its back lane, Gold Street). This was enclosed by an earthwork-the Battle or Repell Ditches (see 443). The earlier town ditch was filled to give more area. This extension may be associated with the grant of a new charter in 1236 and was done by the de Bohuns (successors of the de Mandevilles). In the late Middle Ages Saffron Walden became the 2nd richest town in Essex, becoming the major English centre for the production of the Saffron Crocus used to produce dyestuffs (wealth generated is reflected in the magnificent church). The first market was apparently located immediately east of the High Street, between Church Street and Castle Street and probably extended a little to the west of the High Street, its limits being probably extended by Myddylton Place. The market probably remained here until the enlargement of the town. It also seems that tenements were systematically laid out along 3 sides of a rectangular area to the west of the inner defences-an area more likely, therefore, to have contained the early market. Eventually it was moved to a site beyond the southern arm of the outer earthworks around Bury Hill The medieval streets and property boundaries conform to a rectilinear plan and the earthworks, the `magnum fossatum', conform to the same alignment and probably the same layout. This indicates deliberate planning. The layout comes from 2 periods of `proto-urban' or urban development, in the earlier 12th century and the earlier 13th century. Parts of the `magnum fossatum' survive and other stretches were noted in the last 200yrs. In the area enclosed the land to either side of High Street divides into square parcels of land 12 x 12 perches (c60 x 60m). Each line of division coincides with a known or presumed major medieval boundary or street frontage. However, there is no sign of the laying out of burgage within these units. A regularity of plot divisions is sometimes discernible within individual `insulae'. They may have been leased out as entire `insulae' or large portions thereof as the new town was a relative failure, the southern half of the town remaining under or undeveloped until the present century. <3> The street pattern is a fossil of the town's development. Behind the market place various rows indicate the layout of stalls in the medieval market. Streets mark the lines of castle and town baileys and the `magnum fossatum' or Battle Ditches. <4> APs of town are in the SMR. <5>-<8> Also photos of the town. <9> <10>
Site Assessment = "The ESP...proposes that the town be considered an area of restraint and that there should be no increase in the residential land allocation. Shopping facilities are to be concentrated in the central area". <2> Archaeologically one of the most important medieval towns in Essex. As study of the medieval town nationally proceeds from regional examples, Saffron Walden is nationally important. <4>
St Mary’s Church (TL 5372 3862)
The earliest reference to a church at Walden is in the foundation charter for Walden Abbey (1139-1143), where the Abbey had assigned to it the ‘parish church of the Blessed Mary of Walden’. It is not clear however whether this church was the original Saxon church to the south-west of the new town or a predecessor to the later 13th century church in the outer bailey. Grave-digging within St Mary’s Church has revealed foundations indicating that there was an earlier (and rather smaller church) on the site (Bassett, 1982). There is a fragment of a stone cross shaft of no later than 12th century date built into the late 13th century church wall. This may have been a market cross.
The current St Mary’s Church is centrally placed within the outer bailey. It is built of flint rubble with dressings of limestone and clunch. The earliest work in the church is late 13th century in date, it consists of the chancel-arcades, the arches opening into the chapels from the aisles and a crypt or vaulted chamber partially under the south aisle. The position of the crypt suggests that the aisles were originally narrower. There are further architectural indications, based on the internal proportions of the building, to suggest that the 13th century church was cruciform in plan with a possible central tower (RCHME, 1916).
The church was largely rebuilt between 1450 and 1525. A contract of 1485 connects the work with Simon Clerk, master mason at Eton and Kings College Chapel, Cambridge, and John Wastell who succeeded Clerk and was one of the finest master masons of his time. It is largely rectangular in plan with a west tower and porches on the north and south sides.
The town enclosure
The town enclosure ditch (variously known as the magnum fossatum, the Great Ditch, Battle Ditches or the Repell Ditch) appears to have been dug in the 1230’s under the direction of Humphrey de Bohun. The southern and eastern sides of the outer bailey were levelled at the same time (some dismantling may have already taken place during the slighting of the castle in 1157-8). The town enclosure was roughly square in plan, the south side 540m long, the east side 570m long, the north side (which appears to have re-used the outer bailey ditch) 540m long and the west side 450m long. The south-west corner still survives as a right-angled ditch and bank, at which point it would have cut through the original settlement of Waldena. The southern side of the town enclosure ran from the corner of Gibson Close to Fairycroft Road, where it turned to run northwards. There was a break in the enclosure ditch to allow the High Street to cross. Trenches were excavated across the southern side at the Cinema-Maltings site (ESMR 444-7) and the Gold Street maltings site (ESMR 428-37). Maynard observed the ditch during sewerage works on Fairycroft Road and a section was excavated across it to the rear of the Rose and Crown Hotel (ESMR 472-7). As it was not observed during the Castle Meadows excavations (ESMR 409-10) it must have stopped at or just short of the inner bailey ditch. The properties’ boundaries indicate its continuation to the north of the castle, where it appears to have linked into the pre-existing outer bailey ditch which formed the rear boundary to the property boundaries which faced on to Castle Street. The western side of the enclosure ran from the surviving corner at Gibson Close northwards across Abbey Lane and Swan Meadows (were it was located by evaluation (ESMR 13284)). The rear boundaries of the properties which face on to the northern side of Freshwell Street appear to mirror its original course until it meets the northern end of the High Street and the outer bailey ditch again.
The street-pattern
The 13th century street-pattern consisted of an amalgamation of existing roads and new roads laid out on a 12 perch grid-system. From west to east these were the High Street, Gold Street/the original line of Cross Street/Church Path and Market Street. From south to north there was Abbey Lane/George Street/Hill Street, Church Street and Castle Street. A new rectangular market-place was laid out in the area between Cross Street, Hill Street and Market Street.
The 13th- early 16th built-up area (TL 5375 3851)
The area within the early 13th century town enclosure was laid out in a rectilinear grid-pattern as a planned development, which however incorporated pre-existing landscape features, both man-made and topographical (Bassett, 1982). The location of the castle on the top of Bury Hill and Castle Street and Church Street which ran parallel to both the outer bailey boundary and the contours were already fixed. The High Street which ran at right-angles to this was also in its current position, and the road which ran from the abbey was also in position (on the line of Abbey Lane and George Street/Hill Street). The pre-existence of all these features which lie either parallel or at right-angles to each other would have influenced the decision to impose a rectilinear system on the new town. The land to either side of the High Street, south of its junction with Church Street, divides into square parcels of land (insulae) measuring 12 perches by 12 perches (c.60m by 60m).
Within the 12 perch blocks there appears to have been no attempt to impose a wholesale system of burgage plots, in contrast to the regularity of the 12th century tenements blocks on Bury Hill. Instead it appears that within some of the insulae there is a regularity of plot layout that suggests that each was developed as an individual block.
Saffron Walden has a remarkably fine collection of buildings dating to the later medieval period; in addition to the 12th century castle and 13th century church, there are still surviving four 14th century and 28 15th century buildings. These are all of timber-frame construction. Recent excavations to the rear of 33-5 High Street have revealed walls of flint rubble with daub facings, provisionally interpreted as basal walls for a timber-framed superstructure. However, many of these have cellars cut into the chalk and lined with flint that maybe medieval in date. Watching-briefs, largely by Maynard at the beginning of the 20th century, have established the presence of numerous masonry foundations within the town area (Bassett, 1982), that do not belong to the castle. These probably represent either the top of flint-lined cellars or masonry plinths for timber-framed houses. The manorial court rolls of 1381 refer to the lord of the castle having a timber-framed house for himself and some of his men outside the castle walls, but presumably within the town. The court rolls also give some indication of the distribution of activities within the town, in that by the end of the 14th century the dye works were concentrated in and around the castle bailey, with the vats placed in the bailey ditch itself. The stream that ran along the south of the market-place (later culverted) probably also played a role in manufacturing.
The 13th - early 16th century market-place (TL 5382 3848)
The market-place was moved from its original site in the outer bailey to a new site to the south of the castle in the heart of the new town. A square area (24 perches by 24 perches) was laid out, Hill Street formed the southern edge, Market Street the eastern edge and Cross Street the western edge. The market area was gradually encroached on and infilled. In the southern half the stalls became permanent shops, separated by narrow lanes. Their names are indicative of the wares sold (Cromarty, 1967) - in 1400 there were drapers, tanners, fishmongers, cordwainers (cobblers), clothiers, butchers, poultry sellers and chapmans/mercerers (general goods). The corn market was held in the central open area of the market-place. King Street became the new southern limit to the remaining open market-place. Cross Street was shifted eastwards as its original line was encroached upon and the Market Hill area was infilled.
Five small trenches excavated on the Market Row/Hill Street site (ESMR 1932-3) to the south of the 13th century market-place discovered a series of stone surfaces probably belonging to the market-place. In the 14th century the southern part of the market-place was built over; two building units were identified marked by timber slots and low clay banks, presumably to support sill-beams. In the 15th or 16th century a framed and jettied house was constructed to the east of the excavations. <14>
The built-up area (TL 5375 3851)
Post-medieval Saffron Walden appears to have grown quite slowly. In the 16th to 18th centuries its growth appears to have taken the form of infilling and the sub-division of plots within the medieval core rather than expansion outwards. The distribution of 16th century Listed Buildings shows that the southern end of the High Street and Gold Street may have been first built over in that period. The 17th and 18th century buildings are widely distributed throughout the town, but it was not until the 19th century that the town expanded beyond its medieval enclosure. Following the building of the railway in 1865, the area around the station to the south of the medieval town became a focus of manufacturing activity. However it was only in the late 20th century that the south-western and south-eastern corners of the town enclosure were built on.
Within the medieval core post-medieval development took the form of the refurbishment or replacement of individual buildings, the sub-division of plots and the infilling of remaining open spaces. The excavations at Market Row/Hill Street (ESMR 1933) showed that the River Slade had been culverted in the town centre by c.1700, its valley levelled-up and buildings began to be built over it.<14> |
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| Monument Type(s) |
TOWN (Dated 1066AD to 1539AD)
TOWN DEFENCES (Dated 1066AD to 1539AD)
TOWN DEFENCES (Dated 1066AD to 1539AD)
TOWN DEFENCES (Dated 1066AD to 1539AD)
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| Monument Class(es) |
DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE
EARTHWORK
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Period
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1066AD to 1539AD Medieval
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| Status |
Not Known |
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| Administration Area |
SAFFRON WALDEN, UTTLESFORD, ESSEX |
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National Grid Reference
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Square: TL53NW
Ref: 537385 |
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| Finds |
None listed
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| Events |
None listed
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Sources
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Aerial Photo : RC8-I-207 (unknown)
Photograph : TL53-010 (unknown) 7 frames
Aerial Photo : GD 46 (unknown) Dated : 1951
Desc Text : SMR Form (unknown) Dated : 1960s to
Aerial Photo : AXL 59 (unknown) Dated : 1969
Aerial Photo : BBP 24-28 (unknown) Dated : 1970
Desc Text : SMR (Petchey, MR) Dated : 1976
Photograph : TL53-010 (Eddy, MR) Dated : 1980
Excavation report : Saffron Walden:excavations and research 1972-80 (Bassett, SR) No 45, pp15-27 Dated : 1982
Desc Text : Historic Towns in Essex (Eddy, MR with Petchey, MR) pp82-85 Dated : 1983
Desc Text : Historic Towns in Essex: An Archaeological Survey (Eddy, MR with Petchey, MR) pp82-85 Dated : 1983
Aerial Photo : 95-3,4,5,6,7,8 (Rogers, P) Dated : 1988
Aerial Photo : CP/97/45/18 (Tyler, Sue) Dated : 1997
Desc Text : Saffron Walden Historic Town Assessment Report (Medlycott, Maria) Dated : 1999
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