Walden School (Saffron Walden) announced that Walden School would close at the end of the 2016-17 school year. 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
Saffron Walden market place. This was demolished in 1847 to make way for a corn exchange. In the 16th–17th centuries the saffron crocus ("Crocus sativus") was widely grown, thanks to the town's favourable soil and climate. The flower was valuable, as the extract from the stigmas was used in medicines, as a condiment, in perfume, as an aphrodisiac, and as an expensive yellow dye. The industry gave Walden its name. The town and surrounding area, like much of East Anglia, was strongly Puritan during the 17th century. The population was influenced by the missionary John Eliot. By 1640, Samuel Bass's family and