Saffron Walden silver maces were bought by the corporation in 1549 to commemorate the granting of a new town charter by Edward VI. This purchase is recorded in the town's Guild of Holy Trinity accounts and reads, ""For 2 new maces, weying 18 ownces one quarter and half at 8s. the ownce 7l.7s"". The 12th-century Walden Castle, built or expanded by Geoffrey de Mandeville, the first Earl of Essex, is in ruins. After the medieval period, the castle fell into disuse and much of the flint was taken and used in the construction of local houses and the wall surrounding the Audley
King's Walden King's Walden King's Walden is a civil parish in the English county of Hertfordshire. The name includes an apostrophe, but this is often omitted. The main settlement is now Breachwood Green, and there are also the hamlets of King's Walden, Ley Green, Darleyhall, Lye Hill, Wandon End, Wandon Green and Winch Hill. At the south of the parish there is Lawrence End Park. In 1086, the community of "Waldenei" contained 53 households, which was considered very large when compared to other Domesday era settlements in the ancient hundred of Hitchin. King's Walden lies in the centre of the parish, near