1915 Saffron Walden by-election 1915 Saffron Walden by-election The Saffron Walden by-election, 1915 was a parliamentary by-election held for the House of Commons constituency of Saffron Walden in Essex on 13 February 1915. The by-election was caused by the resignation of the sitting Liberal MP, Cecil Beck. Beck had been appointed a Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, one of the formal titles held by government Whips and under the Parliamentary rules of the day had to resign and fight a by-election. Beck was re-selected to fight the seat by his local Liberal Association and as the wartime truce between the political parties was in
St Mary the Virgin, Saffron Walden John Wastell the master mason who was building King's College Chapel in the nearby city of Cambridge. In 1769 the church was damaged by lightning. The repairs, carried out in the 1790s removed many medieval features but saved the building which was in a dilapidated state. The spire was added in 1832 to replace an older "lantern" tower to a design of Thomas Rickman and Henry Hutchinson. Thomas Cornell, progenitor of the American family bearing his name, was baptized in the church around 1592. St Mary the Virgin, Saffron Walden St Mary the Virgin is the parish church of Saffron