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Blue Plaques inSaffron Walden

Born in Great Yarmouth in 1914,Jack Cardiff’s career spannedthe development of cinemafrom silent film, throughearly experiments inTechnicolor to the productionsophistication of the late 20thcentury. He was best known for

his visionary colourcinematography, while working with

major directors such as Powell and Pressburger,Huston and Hitchcock, which was stronglyinfluenced by his deep knowledge of Old Masterpaintings.In the post war years, he made his reputation as the

cameraman for “A Matter of Life and Death”, “The RedShoes” and “Black Narcissus” and other big-budgetfilms followed, including “The African Queen” withKatherine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart, “War andPeace” with Audrey Hepburn and “The Prince and theShowgirl” with Laurence Olivier and Marilyn Monroe.He claimed to have discovered Sophia Loren and wasresponsible for her first screen test. As a director, his1960 adaptation of “Sons and Lovers” won sevenAcademy award nominations and a Golden Globeand he also directedMarianne Faithful in“Girl on a Motorcycle” inthis period. During the1970’s and 1980’s, hereturned tocinematography andworked on mainstreamcommercial films such as“Death on the Nile”, “TheDogs of War” and “Conanthe Destroyer”In 1995, he was

presented with a lifetimeachievement award bythe American Society of Cinematographers, awardedan OBE in 2000 and in 2001 received an HonoraryOscar for his contribution to the development ofcinema. Jack Cardiff retired to live in Saffron Waldenfrom 1995 to 2000 and took part in the first filmpresentation and interview organised by the newlyformed Saffron Screen Community Cinema in 2006.He died in 2009 aged 94.

4. GORDON JACOBComposer and arranger1 Audley Road CB11 3HW5. EDWARD BAWDENDesigner, printmaker and illustrator2 Park Lane Studio CB10 1DA6. JACK CARDIFFOscar winning film Cinematographer and Director7a High Street CB10 1AT

two existing plaques, see back cover

A. JOHN NEWMAN

B. WILLIAM CAMPLING

1. GABRIEL HARVEYC 16th poet and scholarSaffron Walden Laundry Office 13-17 Gold Street CB10 1EN 2. HENRY WINSTANLEYInventor and builder of the Eddystone LighthouseFormer Conservative Club5 Museum Street CB10 1JL3. GEORGE STACEY GIBSONBanker, philanthropist and botanistHill House, High Street CB10 1AA

William Campling was the High Constable of SaffronWalden Borough police, who was shot in the legs near The Eight Bells public house and died

from gangrene on November 9th1849, nine days after the attack. A local man,Benjamin Pettit, was arrested and tried but wasfound not guilty by the jury, despite a signedstatement given by Campling on his death-bed.

John Newman, a pewtererfrom Maidstone, was one of many non-conformists who were persecuted and killed during Queen Mary’s reign. A follower of John Bradford, who preached in Saffron Walden, he wasarrested in August 1555 on suspicion of being aProtestant and, after a summary conviction, wasburnt at the stake in the town

Funded by Uttlesford District Council and the SaffronWalden Initiative and supported by Saffron WaldenTown Council and the Tourist Information Centre

For more informationwww.visitsaffronwalden.gov.ukwww.swinitiative.org

Design: James Butler www.jamesbutlerdesign.co.uk

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The eldest son of a local rope-maker, Gabriel Harvey wasborn in Saffron Walden about1545, matriculated at Christ’sCollege Cambridge in 1566and was elected fellow ofPembroke Hall in 1570. Here

he formed a lasting friendshipwith Edmund Spenser, author of The

Fairie Queen and, as a poet on his own account,sought to become “epitaphed as the Inventour of theEnglish Hexameter”. Having become professor ofrhetoric in 1576, he was invited two years later todispute before Queen Elizabeth I on the occasion ofher visit to Sir Thomas Smith at Audley End House.Harvey’s reputation as a notable scholar and

inventive wordsmith was compromised by hisunbending and quarrelsome character. Two attemptsto be elected master of Trinity Hall were ultimatelyunsuccessful and he maintained a vitriolic literarycorrespondence with Thomas Nashe over severalyears. In the latter’spamphlet, “Have with You toSaffron Walden”, Harvey iscaricatured “as he is readie tolet fly upon Ajax” at thethought of Nashe’spublication. (Ajax being acommon Elizabethan pun on“a jacks”, which was slangfor toilet.)

Though better known as a resident of Littlebury,Henry Winstanley was born in Saffron Walden inMarch 1644. As a young man he worked at AudleyEnd, first as a porter and then as a secretary, beforeembarking on a grand tour of Europe which lastednearly five years and stimulated a strong interest inarchitecture. On his return, Winstanley made a fineset of engravings of Audley End House, which took

10 years to complete and, from 1679to 1701, held the position ofAudley End’s Clerk of Works, arole in which he earned therespect of Sir Christopher Wren.Winstanley was well known

in Essex for his fascinationwith mechanical and hydraulicgadgets and had a house built

for him at Littlebury which wasfilled with mechanisms of his own

design and construction. This “Essex House ofWonders” became a local landmark which attracted anumber of distinguished visitors and, in the 1690’s, healso opened a commercially successful MathematicalWater Theatre in London’s Piccadilly. Known as“Winstanley’s Water-works” it combined fireworks,perpetual fountains and ingenious automata.Henry Winstanley is most associated, however, with

the construction of the Eddystone lighthouse. Afterfailed attempts by others, he managed, despitecapture by a French privateer during the course of theworks, to erect an octagonal structure of wood andiron with glass lantern roomthat was completed inNovember 1698. The nextspring it was partiallyrebuilt on a grander scaleand, during the fiveoperational years ofWinstanley’s lighthouses, noships were wrecked on theEddystone. Tragedy struck,however, on the 27thNovember 1703, while hewas on an inspection visit. The tower was entirelydestroyed by the “Great Storm” during the night andits occupants were swept away. Two days later theWinchelsea ran into the rocks and all 21 crew perished.

A member of the notable Quaker family of SaffronWalden, whose wealth was accumulated throughbrewing, banking, and land ownership, George Stacey

Gibson was born in the town in July1818 and died in April 1893 aftera lifetime of public service,scholarship and philanthropy.As well as being a towncouncillor and alderman for24 years and twice electedMayor, he was also treasurerof the local British Schools for

45 years, Vice-Chairman of theBoard of Guardians, and Chairman

of the Management Committee of the Saffron WaldenHospital. He played a prominent part in bringing therailway to Saffron Walden, took a keen interest in theearly development of electric light and photographyand as a distinguished botanist, was the author of the“Flora of Essex” which remained the standard work onthe subject for many years.The Saffron Walden and North Essex Bank, of which

he was the founder, proved to be a profitable businessventure and, after his death in 1896, was joined withothers to form Barclay’s Bank. Gibson’s imposingpremises, built in 1874 to the design of Eden Nesfield,house the current local branch of Barclay’s and themain façade containscarved bas-reliefs ofstorks, taken from thefamily’s coat of arms.As a local philanthropist,there was hardly anyinstitution that did notbenefit from George StaceyGibson’s generosity and,on his death he left asubstantial estate of£342,456, equivalent to£25m today. This was distributed to the hospital, themuseum, the literary society, the Grammar School, theBritish Schools, the Friends’ School, the trainingcollege for female teachers, and the alms houses, aswell as worthy causes outside the town. Building usesmay have changed, but the physical legacy of theseinstitutions is still a very visible reminder of hiscontribution to the history of Saffron Walden.

Born in London in 1895, Gordon Jacob was educatedat Dulwich College before enlisting in the Artillery atthe outbreak of the First World War. In 1917, he wastaken prisoner and was one of only 60 men whosurvived the conflict out of a battalion of 800men.With the return of peacetime, he gained a place at theRoyal College of Music to study composition, theoryand conducting and, during his student years,

published the popular William ByrdSuite and arrangement of RalphVaughan Williams’ EnglishFolk Song Suite for fullorchestra. From 1924 until his

retirement in 1966, Jacobtaught at the Royal College ofMusic, where his personal

teaching skills and influentialbooks on orchestration were highly

regarded and Imogen Holst and Malcolm Arnoldwere among his pupils. He became a Fellow in 1946and, throughout his career, also maintained a prolificoutput of original compositions and arrangements.These included concertos, ballet scores for Sadler’sWells, two symphonies, and works for wind band.The height of Gordon Jacob’s reputation was in the

1950’s, during which his Music for a Festival wasplayed at the opening of the Royal Festival Hall andhis arrangements of the National Anthem andHandel’s Zadok the Priest featured prominently in theQueen’s Coronation. Although in the 1960’s, hismelodic conservatismfell out of fashion in thiscountry, his workscontinued to be warmlyappreciated abroad. Helived in Saffron Waldenfrom 1959 to 1984 withhis second wife,Margaret, where hecontributed greatly to themusical life of the townand was awarded a CBEin 1968.

Born at Braintree in 1903, Edward Bawden waseducated at the Friends’ School, Saffron Walden, and

the Cambridge School of Art beforewinning a scholarship to theRoyal College of Art. Here, EricRavilious was a fellowstudent and their talent wasrecognised by a commissionto paint a large mural atMorley College, London from1928-9. By 1930, Bawden was

producing illustrations forLondon Transport, Westminster

Bank, Twinings and Shell-Mex and in the early 1930’ssome of his most innovative work was commissionedby Fortnum and Mason and Imperial Airways. Following marriage in 1932, Bawden moved to BrickHouse at Great Bardfield, Essex. In addition to hiscommercial work, which included the design ofblock-printed wallpapers in collaboration with JohnAldridge, he also developed his watercolourtechnique by painting local rural scenes. During theSecond World War he served as an official war artist,initially with the British army in France and then inthe Middle East and Iraq.Returning to north-west Essex, Bawden was a key

figure in the Great Bardfield group of artists that livedin and around thevillage. Though diversein style, they shared alove of figurative art,print-making andillustration andmounted a series of“open house”exhibitions during the1950’s which attractedwide press attentionand visitors. After thedeath of his wifeCharlotte in 1970,Bawden moved to Saffron Walden where hecontinued to work until his death at the age of eighty-six. He was awarded a CBE in 1946, appointed RoyalDesigner for Industry (RSA) in 1949 and elected aRoyal Academician in 1956. The Fry Art Gallery inChurch Street Saffron Walden holds a substantialbody of his work in its permanent collection.

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The lives of the Saffron Waldenresidents commemorated by thetown’s first six blue plaques spanfrom the mid-16th to the beginning ofthe 21st century and are marked by adiversity of achievement that rangesfrom the creative arts to scholarship,invention, banking and philanthropy.