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 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