Church of St Mary the Virgin

St Mary the Virgin stands in the heart of Saffron Walden, a market town in Essex. The church is the largest non-cathedral church in the county, stretching 183 feet long with a spire reaching 193 feet. A Grade I listed building, it has watched over the town since the 12th century. The first stone church replaced an earlier wooden structure recorded in 1130. The present building mostly dates from a rebuilding between 1250 and 1258. The church’s Perpendicular-style rebuilding began around 1450, with master mason John Wastell overseeing the later stages. Wastell also worked on King’s College Chapel in Cambridge, linking the two buildings. Lightning struck the church in 1769, and repairs in the 1790s removed many medieval features while saving the structure. The current spire was added in 1832, replacing an older lantern tower designed by Thomas Rickman and Henry Hutchinson. Inside, visitors find a grand nave and aisles shaped by centuries of change. The churchyard holds the grave of Rab Butler, the Conservative politician who shaped the Education Act 1944. A baptismal record from around 1592 links the church to Thomas Cornell, whose family later became prominent in America. The towering spire dominates the skyline, a reminder of the church’s long history and its place in the town’s life.