Saffron Walden is one of the finest medieval market towns in England, its crooked timber-framed buildings and winding streets remarkably well-preserved. The town takes its name from the saffron crocus once cultivated here, commemorated in the church and on the town crest. The magnificent perpendicular church is one of the largest in Essex, while the turf maze on the common is the largest in England. Audley End House, a Jacobean mansion, sits just outside the town in beautiful parkland designed by Capability Brown.