Walden School (Saffron Walden) Walden School (Saffron Walden) Walden School (previously known as Friends' School) was a Quaker independent school located in Saffron Walden, Essex, situated approximately 12 miles south of the city of Cambridge, England. The school was co-educational and accommodated children between the ages of three and 18 (boarders and day pupils). The school closed at the end of the 2017 summer term. Friends' School, Saffron Walden was founded as part of the Quakers' Clerkenwell workhouse in London in 1703, 50 years after George Fox. From September 2016 the school changed its name to Walden School. On 11 May 2017 it was
Saffron Walden a number of others had departed for the Massachusetts Bay Colony as part of the Great Migration. Saffron Walden was at the centre of the Eastern Association during the English Civil War. While the town was the headquarters of the New Model Army, Lieutenant-General of Horse, Oliver Cromwell paid a 19-day visit in May 1647, taking part in debates to seek a settlement between Parliament and the army. He is thought to have stayed at the "Sun Inn". By the end of the 18th century saffron was no longer in demand and the industry was replaced by malt and barley.