I had been writing features for the Weekly News for almost four years when the Editor, the late Gordon Richards, asked me if I would be interested in a new series called Down Your Street

Today, the 25th October 2025 saw St Mary’s Church in Saffron Walden hosting an event starting in the market square consisting of a reimagining of the debates of 1647 which took place in the Town.

Read about the various aspects of the active historical community in Saffron Walden & surrounding villages. The latest edition of the Saffron Walden Historical Journal (No 50 – Autumn 2025) is now on sale (£5) at the Saffron Walden Tourist Information Centre, Harts bookshop, the Town Museum and the Saffron Walden Historical Society. Articles in this issue include: Shelley Fausset

IN THE SPRING of 1647 soldiers of the Parliamentary Army met on the streets and in St. Mary’s Church, Saffron Walden, to elect ‘Agitators’ to present grievances that later developed into far-reaching political demands. Nearly 400 years later a few of their representatives will be seen once again on the same streets.

The study of place names requires a knowledge of ancient languages, which discourages contribution by the amateur. Not so with field names, for which the knowledge of local historians can provide vital clues to interpretation.

Reproduction of a book about US Air Force Fighter tactics developed to counter light flak during World War Two operations,

This article brings together some of my reading and offers some suggestions as to the purpose of the Battle Ditches and a possible candidate for the driving force behind such a large undertaking. It should be said that the earthworks are most probably part of the town enclosure, but throughout the article they will be called the Battle Ditches.

Almost everything people know about Dick Turpin and highwaymen is myth. The historical truth is much nastier, more brutal and bloody. Who was this notorious highwayman and why did he become so famous?

One of the most illustrious specimens to be displayed in Saffron Walden’s museum was the famous elephant. Yet it was very nearly sent away without being unpacked. It arrived in the country in 1834, together with a large number of other southern African animals and birds, as a response to a letter written by Hannibal Dunn, one of the founder members of the Saffron Walden Natural History Society, to his brother Robert then living at Algoa Bay in the Eastern Cape of South Africa.

Henry Winstanley of Saffron Walden was an ‘engineer’ in both the late mediaeval and the modern sense of the word. Working with pumps, automata, clockwork and fireworks he created wonders which were mechanical, theatrical and hydraulic.

GEORGE STACEY GIBSON was in many ways the quintessential Victorian philanthropist. Very little happened in Saffron Walden without his knowledge. As the town’s banker, Gibson had his finger in many pies. He was a Councillor and then Alderman for 24 years, and was twice elected Mayor.