saffron
walden
historical society

Featured image for “New Henry Winstanley Book Launched”
December 4, 2024 • posted in News

New Henry Winstanley Book Launched

Successful book signing on 3rd December 2024 by Martin Rose. A recently published new biography of Henry Winstanley, the Saffron Walden engineer, engraver, lighthouse-builder and theatrical entrepreneur was launched on 3rd December 2024 at the Old Sun Inn, Church Street, Saffron Walden . As Douglas Kent (owner of the Sun Inn) said, the Winstanley family were known to have associations
Read More
Featured image for “Site of the Battle of Assandun, 1016”
November 14, 2024 • posted in Articles

Site of the Battle of Assandun, 1016

The Battle of Assandun was the event which eventually gave Cnut the Crown of England.
Read More
Featured image for “Remembrance Day Parade and Related Posts”
November 10, 2024 • posted in News

Remembrance Day Parade and Related Posts

Sunday 10th November saw the annual Remembrance Day Parade, which took place at the top of the High Street by the War Memorial. The Society has a number of posts and articles relating to both World War I and World War II.
Read More
Featured image for “Impact of the American air bases during World War Two in East Anglia”
November 8, 2024 • posted in Articles

Impact of the American air bases during World War Two in East Anglia

In 1939 there were only 1,700,000 people living in East Anglia. The main industry continued to be centred around agriculture, but the East Anglian economy was in a poor state in the pre-war period.
Read More
Featured image for “Thomas Netter of Walden: Diplomat, Carmelite and Theologian (c.1372–1430)”
November 8, 2024 • posted in Recommended Reading

Thomas Netter of Walden: Diplomat, Carmelite and Theologian (c.1372–1430)

Thomas Netter was born in Saffron Walden and spent his early years in the town before entering the church, and becoming a diplomat and confessor for King Henry V
Read More
Featured image for “Recent Archaeology in Saffron Walden Town Centre”
November 8, 2024 • posted in Articles

Recent Archaeology in Saffron Walden Town Centre

Saffron Walden has one of the best preserved historic centres in Essex.
Read More
Featured image for “The Railway through Audley End: Lord Braybrooke, W G Gibson and the Line to Cambridge, by Martin Rose”
November 6, 2024 • posted in SWHS Publications

The Railway through Audley End: Lord Braybrooke, W G Gibson and the Line to Cambridge, by Martin Rose

SWHS Publications no 7 (2024), design by Nick Crawley. ISBN 978-1873669-23-5, 64 pages, price £6.00 Why do all fast trains stop at Audley End? Why does the line disappear into the Chalk through two tunnels whose only function is to hide it from the windows of Audley End? Whose is the showy heraldry on the Littlebury tunnel portal? And why
Read More
Featured image for “Wimbish and Thunderley – the development of settlement in a boulder-clay landscape”
November 4, 2024 • posted in Articles

Wimbish and Thunderley – the development of settlement in a boulder-clay landscape

Thunderley and Wimbish since the Conquest, landholding and agricultural change in NW Essex
Read More
Featured image for “Sir William Waad, Lieutenant of the Tower, and the Gunpowder Plot”
November 2, 2024 • posted in Recommended Reading

Sir William Waad, Lieutenant of the Tower, and the Gunpowder Plot

When Sir William Waad became Lieutenant of the Tower of London in August 1605, only three months before the Gunpowder Plot, it was the culmination of a lifetime of service to the Crown
Read More