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.
Saffron Walden and the Struggle for Democracy
The English Civil War, which divided England between the supporters of Charles I and those of Parliament in the middle of the 17th century, ground to a temporary conclusion in the twelve months following the Parliamentary army’s victory at the battle of Naseby on 14 June 1645


