St Mary the Virgin, Saffron Walden St Mary the Virgin, Saffron Walden St Mary the Virgin is the parish church of Saffron Walden, Essex. It is the largest non-cathedral church in Essex with an overall length of and the spire, high, which is the tallest in Essex. It was designated as a Grade I listed building in 1951. A Norman church was recorded in 1130, which in turn had replaced an earlier wooden structure. The building as it currently stands dates predominantly from a rebuilding between 1250 and 1258, with a further rebuilding in the Perpendicular style begun in about 1450, the latter stages supervised by
Olive Cook In 1954, Cook married the photographer Edwin Smith. In 1962, they moved to Saffron Walden, firstly to a tall house on the corner of Audley Road and East Street, and later into the Coach House at the Vineyards on Windmill Hill. Cook died from cancer on 2 May 2002 at Saffron Walden Community Hospital, Saffron Walden. Collected information about Olive Cook on The Golden Fleece website. Olive Cook Olive Muriel Cook (20 February 1912 – 2 May 2002), was a British writer and artist, who published county guides, as well as writing various books accompanied by the work of her