Church of Our Lady of Compassion

The Church of Our Lady of Compassion, located on Castle Street in Saffron Walden, was originally a stable built in the 18th century and largely rebuilt in 1907. The building features a timber frame with weatherboarding and a rendered plinth. Its main roof and the roof of the baptistery are half hipped and covered with red clay plain tiles, while the aisle and vestry have slate roofs. Old brick walls are incorporated at the northwest corner. The church has five bays, with the eastern bay now serving as a vestry; it was formerly two storeys, but the floor has been removed. An open timber cupola with a leaded ogee roof and a decorative iron finial is present. There is a 20th-century internal stack at the eastern end, and the south aisle includes a baptistery at the western end, along with a brick porch added in 1907. An eastern extension with a monopitch roof was added in the later 20th century. The roof structure features queen posts, and the frame includes jowled posts and straight through braces, although it has been much altered and is partly missing, with plaster infill. A later ceiling is present at collar level. The south side has a range of three 2-light timber casement clerestory windows with leaded lights, with the easternmost window featuring a cross casement. There is a similar 2-light casement on the north side, and other later 20th-century casements can be found throughout the building. The church was converted from the stables of The Close in 1907.