Walden Castle a large force surprised him while he was out hunting, and threatened to hang him in chains over the castle gate. Henry II ordered the castle, with the keep probably still unfinished, to be slighted in 1157. Saffron Walden's streets are shaped by the outline of the castle bailey. Only the ruined core of the castle remains, with most of the stones stolen over the intervening centuries; the castle is a scheduled monument and a Grade I listed building. Walden Castle Walden Castle was a medieval castle in Essex, England, built during the Anarchy of the 12th century. Only the
Saffron Walden More than 40 maltings stood in the town by the end of the century. The trade was less lucrative than saffron, but the town continued to grow through the 19th century, and had a cattle market, corn exchange and other civic buildings. During this time Quakers became active. The influential Gibsons – one of the founding families of Barclays Bank – aided the construction of several public buildings that remain today, such as the museum and town hall. In the 1900s the Saffron Walden branch railway line from Audley End station, on the mainline from London to Cambridge, was extended