Bridge End Gardens, Saffron Walden, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest:   

An early Victorian town garden which was leased by the Borough Council in 1918 and opened as a public pleasure ground.

DESCRIPTION

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

Bridge End Gardens are set on the north-west edge of the town of Saffron Walden. They cover an area of about 3 hectares, bounded to the north-east and north-west by farmland, to the south-east by playing fields and the football club, and to the south-west by allotments and town buildings which sit on Bridge Street. The generally level site has a slight fall to the south-east towards the course of the Slade stream which flows close to the south-east boundary.

 REFERENCES

Gardeners' Chronicle, (August 1885), p 155

Country Life, 33 (11 January 1913), pp 58-61

G Jekyll and L Weaver, Gardens for Small Country Houses (1913), pp 33-36

W H Matthews, Mazes and Labyrinths (1970), p 138, pls 121, 122

C J Knight and R F Scaife, Bridge End Gardens, (Uttlesford District Council report 1983)

Bridge End Gardens: Historic landscape survey and restoration management plan, (Liz Lake Associates 1999)

Maps

Survey of Saffron Walden, 1828 (T/M 141), (Essex Record Office)

Draft town plan of Saffron Walden, 1829 (D/DQy 25), (Essex Record Office)

Tithe map for Saffron Walden parish, 1842 (D/CT 378), (Essex Record Office)

OS 1st edition 1:500 town map, 1877

OS 6" to 1 mile: 1st edition published 1877

2nd edition published 1896

OS 25" to 1 mile: 1st edition published 1877

2nd edition published 1897

Archival items

A small collection of material relating to Bridge End Gardens is held at the Essex Record Office.

Description written: November 2000

Edited: September 2001