the Saffron Walden Herts & Essex Building Society has a record of more
than 150 years of service to the community. It has assets in excess of £400
million and 12 branch offices serving the community in Cambridgeshire, Essex,
Hertfordshire, Suffolk and London.
As a mutual
organisation, the Society does not have shareholders, but exists for the benefit
of its members. This means we are able to offer high quality, good value mortgage
and loans services.
Our Service
As a local Society, we understand the needs of local people and are able to
respond more quickly and with greater understanding than many othe r societies.
Don't make a move without talking to us first.
Enquiries
All our branch offices deal with mortgage applications from enquiry to offer.
Our managers and staff are experienced at helping people through the house
buying/home improvement process.
the Saffron Walden Herts & Essex Building Society has a record of more
than 150 years of service to the community as a traditional building society.
During that time it has grown into a wellrespected local society with assets
in excess of £400 million and a network of branches throughout Essex,
Hertfordshire and Suffolk as well as many agencies in the region.
Society history
It is known
that the re was a Building Society in Saffron Walden in 1847, however the only
remaining record of this is a bank passbook now in the County Record Office.
In January
1849 the 'Saffron Walden Second Building Society' was founded by the Revd
John Marten, who became its first Secretary. He was Minister of Hill Street
Baptist Church, and also Manager of the Gas Company. the first Chairman was
Joseph Durrant, a builder with premises in King Street.
By 1857
this Society had become the Saffron Walden Second Benefit Building and Investment
Society on the Permanent Plan. the Directors in the ir report for that year
remarked on the 'very large amount of money lent' £1, 730
Steady
and unspectacular growth followed, with assets reaching £37,000 by 1900.
At this time the Society was being operated from a solicitor's office, but
in 1930 it purchased its own premises in Limetree Passage in Saffron Walden.
Assets
had reached £300,000 by 1948 and the £1 million mark was reached
in 1959. In 1965 the Society moved to premises in Market Place (which it vacated
in 1984) and total assets reached £2 million. In 1968 it took over the small Saffron Walden & Essex Mechanics Permanent Building Society and
the following year the first Branch office was opened at Haverhill.
In 1972
the Royston & District Building Society transferred its engagements to
the Society and by the end of 1978 the Society, the n known as the Saffron
Walden & District Building Society, had assets of more than £21
million and four offices.
In 1979
came a merger with the London and Essex Building Society and the change of
name to Saffron Walden & Essex. This merger, togethe r with the more substantial
growth that had been taking place for some years, led to the need for new
and larger premises. In 1981 the Society had the opportunity of purchasing
the redundant Cattle Market site in Saffron Walden on which its current headquarters,
Saffron House, was built.
the Society
opened for business in its new office with its own "inhouse" computer
system on the 16th January 1984 and in March of the same year the Duke of
Norfolk, who the n was the President of the Building Societies Association,
officially opened the building.
In April
1989 the Society merged with the Herts & Essex Building Society, based
in Bishop's Stortford, which consolidated the Society's position within the area. the Society's name was changed to the Saffron Walden Herts & Essex
Building Society a name it has kept until the present day.
