Moving along, we saw the Youth Hostel as of now, another medieval building. It also had brick-reinforced sole plating to make sure the chipping wood doesn’t decompose too much. This building also showed similar features – it had oak studs, a bresummer and smaller windows. However it additionally has corner braces and richly carved dragon posts, as well as being situated next to High Street. We can also see overhanging jettys, creating more room. At the roof of the peg tiled building, we could see a room previously used as a malting room, with a sack hoist at the top to carry malt upstairs. The roof has been modernised and re-leaded. The building was previously plastered, as we can see evidence of nails. We also saw new windows and doors and also drainage pipes. The building was built on one burgage plot, however, the owner extended the building backwards approximately twenty two metres, very wisely. From the view from High Street, we can that the windows and doors have been plastered over. Considering this was on the High Street, there are possibilities the building might have been a shop, since there would have been a lot of visitors and in turn, money. To add to this, we saw expensive carving which would have obviously cost a lot of money. We can infer that the building had different uses; however there is insufficient visual evidence to make a claim. For a detailed view of the now Youth Hostel, refer to figure two.
Our next stop was on Castle Street. We saw a house which had oak studs, pargetting, peg tiled roofing and an overhanging jetty. However, upon second observation, we concluded that the house was not medieval, just built to the style. We knew this because for one, the oak studs were thin and very obviously manufactured. They were used for decorative purposes, and that only, not to support the house. The bottom half of the house is also brick, which wasn’t the style in those days. The pargetting is also too “new” and unrealistic to be considered medieval. This overall suggests that we need to be careful with visual evidence and examine with sense.
As we went along, we saw that the medieval houses were even in size – one burgage plot, suggesting that the owner might have been a labourer, and not rich, because it’s away from the High Street. Plots near the High Street would have cost more, due to the convenience of trade and navigation. We looked at a fairly typical house, drawn in figure three. The features are labelled in the map. We next got to Museum Street, which was curved, and from cross-referencing from written evidence; we can say that it was part of the inner bailey. We then had a look at the castle. We saw the building in ruins, situated on a hill, conveniently so – on coming enemies could be seen easily. It was obviously inside the inner bailey, and we saw that it was made of mortar flint. This is because the flint was cheap and it was needed in quantities. At the left of the castle was the basement. As we entered, we noticed a ridge – high on the walls. We can infer that the corbel was used to support the second floor. There were also holes, to provide room for a wooden stick for support. This “hole” is called corbel. The glaring evidence was a big pile of rock in the middle of the room – obviously a pillar. We can so suggest that the castle had at least one floor. Supporting this, we saw a watch tower, which from written evidence we can say was used to safeguard the town from attacks from Napoleon in the 19th century. We figured that since brick was visible due to some flints being removed, the watchtower was genuine, since it would have been wise to use brick, thus we would have been to careful not to be fooled by visual evidence. Obviously, the castle itself is medieval.
We then stopped at the Saffron Walden Parish Church. Appropriate, the church is the largest one in Essex. It was built to the gothic style and was built around 1475-1525. Due to its size, we can confirm that the town was rich, and the stained glass and the intricate carvings only added to that face. This is because it was hugely expensive to hire craftsmen. The carving work is called tracery, and we could see carved gargoyles at the top of the church. The church was made out of limestone to be precise. This was also very expensive, and not local, so the costs would have been very high. There is also part of knapped flint, which is smooth. The church itself is at the top of the town – which says that not only were the citizens rich, but also very religious. We also learned from written evidence that the market was held close to the church, which is why there was no room to expand the church. There was also a concentrated graveyard to boot.
As we walked to the market place, we saw that the Sun Inn had relief pargetting, which was interesting. As we entered the Market Square, we noticed the road called “The Cockpit”, which would suggest that cock fighting took place. The Eaden Lilley store is not medieval, as the roof isn’t peg tiled, it’s actually Georgian. Seeing as it was built over the market place, we can infer that the market was growing less and less important. We then saw the Town Hall, which had an overhanging jetty, oak studs and bresummers. There were also corner braces, but these were all manufactures and decorated. The stone pillars and limestone arches suggested that it wasn’t a medieval building. So, we cannot totally rely on visual evidence and must be careful. Walking from the market place, we saw street signs which suggest that there were specialised trading areas. We saw streets such as Butcher’s Row and Mercers Row. This suggested that Saffron Walden was a typical medieval town in that sense. A map of the market square is given as figure four.
As we made our way back, we saw that the church had a second row of windows – called clerestory domination. It should be noted the church was clearly visible from Gold Street, confirming its importance. In conclusion, Saffron Walden has a lot of visual evidence to suggest it was a medieval town, however, we need to be careful and cross-reference with written evidence to be sure.
