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
Saffron Walden also represented. As of 2015, the mayor is Heather Asker of Residents for Uttlesford and the Acting Town Clerk is Malcolm White. The town is divided into three wards: Audley – named after Audley End House – represents the western area of Saffron Walden including Audley End; Castle takes its name from Saffron Walden Castle and includes Little Walden and the large rural area north of the town; Shire (formerly Plantation) represents the southern area of the town. The town's MP, for its eponymous Westminster constituency, was Sir Alan Haselhurst from a by-election in 1977 until his retirement at the