82 THE BOOK OF HERBS 



town accounts of Cambridge show that in 1 53 1 Saffron 

 was grown there ; and at Barnwell in the next parish 

 the prior of Barnwell had ten acres. 



Some old wills, too, throw some light on the subject. 

 In the will of Alyce Sheyne of Sawstone, in 1527, "a 

 rood of Saffron" is left to her son. In 1530 (1533 ?) 

 John Rede, also of Sawstone, leaves his godson a " rood 

 of Saffron in Church Field," and William Hockison of 

 Sawstone, bequeathed in 1 53 1, "to Joan, my wife, a 

 rood of Saffron, and to my maid, Marger, and my son, 

 John, half an acre." As may be easily inferred from 

 these legacies. Saffron was very largely grown at 

 Sawstone, and the two adjoining parishes, as well as at 

 Saffron Walden. The first man to introduce it into 

 Saffron Walden to be cultivated on a really large scale 

 was Thomas Smith, Secretary of State to Edward VI., 

 and in 1565, it was grown in abundance. In 1557 

 Turner speaks of Saffron-growing, as if this was very 

 general, but it must be remembered that he started life 

 in Essex, farmed successively in Suffolk and Norfolk, 

 and returned to his native county to a farm at Fairstead, 

 and having never moved very far from the special home 

 of the industry, he naturally took as an ordinary pro- 

 ceeding, what would have been very unusual in other 

 parts of the country. It can never have been very 

 widely cultivated ; for Turner, whose " Herbal " gives 

 an immense deal of information, and who wrote when 

 the industry was in full swing, omits all mention of 

 Saffron, though he speaks of, and evidently knew 

 Meadow Saffron. 



This is a strong sign that cultivation must have been 

 confined to certain localities, chiefly in the eastern 

 counties, though in the west it was grown at Hereford 

 and surrounding districts to a very considerable extent. 

 I do not mean to imply that none was grown in neigh- 

 bouring counties, but the evidence is not easy to get, 



