Thaxted is a town in the Essex countryside. Despite its small feel and rural character, the town and its surrounding villages are bursting with culture. Various town organisations put together a calendar of musical events, which take place throughout the year. Stallholders set up shop in Town Street on Fridays - market day.

Understand

Thaxted Guildhall, in the town centre

Thaxted sits between the larger towns of Saffron Walden and Great Dunmow. The town's existence is recorded in the Domesday Book, and according to the parish council, it expanded rapidly in the 1300s, becoming a centre for the cutlery trade. A Guild of Clothiers was thought to have been founded in 1583, when the town may have been a centre for weaving.

Composer Gustav Holst lived in the town, in the building now known as "The Manse". He first visited Thaxted in 1913 and later moved there, befriending the town's Christian Socialist vicar Reverend Conrad Noel. Holst founded the town's Whitsun Festival during the First World War, in 1916. The town lends its name to his composition "Thaxted" - part of the "Jupiter" movement in Holst's 1917 suite The Planets. In 1921, a poem by Sir Cecil Spring Rice was set to the tune "Thaxted", to create the song "I Vow to Thee, My Country".

The Great Bardfield Artists lived and stayed in the nearby village of Great Bardfield - among them John Aldridge, Edward Bawden, Eric Ravilious, and Sheila Robinson. Their work and styles are celebrated in the Fry Art Gallery, Saffron Walden.

Get in

By car

Local roads connects Thaxted with the surrounding towns and villages, including Saffron Walden, Great Dunmow and Stansted Mountfitchet. Major roads nearby include:

• the M11 (London - Cambridge) - via junction 8 (Stansted Airport), or via junction 10 (Duxford) from the north;
• the A11 - from Newmarket and Norwich;
• the A120 - from Stansted Airport, Braintree and Colchester.

By bus

Bus routes include:

• 314 - Great Dunmow and Saffron Walden;
• 316 - Saffron Walden and Stansted Airport.

By air

• 1 London Stansted Airport (STN ^IATA) is approximately 6 mi (9.7 km) from Thaxted, with bus and road connections to the town.

By train

There are no railway stations in Thaxted. Nearby railway stations are a short drive away from Thaxted:

• 2 Elsenham railway station - local services by Greater Anglia;
• 3 Stansted Mountfitchet railway station - local services by Greater Anglia and Stansted Express fast trains towards Bishop's Stortford, Harlow and London;
• 4 Newport railway station - local services by Greater Anglia;
• 5 Audley End railway station - local and fast trains by Greater Anglia, with connections to London, Cambridge, Ely and Norwich.

Get around

Thaxted is a small town with most attractions within walking distance of local car parks. Countryside footpaths and rural roads connect Thaxted with nearby villages.

See

• 1 Thaxted Guildhall, Thaxted Guildhall, Town Street, CM6 2LA, guildhall@thaxted.co.uk. Open on event and exhibition days. Built sometime between 1462 and 1475 according to tree ring evidence, Thaxted Guildhall is the town's historic civic meeting place. The Guildhall is open for local craft exhibitions and events throughout the year. (updated Jun 2023)
• 2 John Webb's Mill (Thaxted Windmill), 19 Bolford Street, Thaxted, CM6 2PY. Dating back to 1804, John Webb's Mill was originally built to satisfy the demand for flour in the early-19th century. Restoration work and events in the outside lawn are run by volunteers. (updated Jun 2023)
• 3 Thaxted Parish Church (St John the Baptist with Our Lady and St Laurence), Thaxted Parish Church, Watling Street, CM6 2PE. One of Essex's largest churches, Thaxted Parish Church stands on the top of the hill where the town is built. Construction began in 1340 and the building was finished in 1510. Christian socialist Reverend Conrad Noel, the "Red Vicar", was appointed to the living of Thaxted in 1910 and remained vicar there until his death in 1942. He controversially hung the red flag and the flag of Sinn Féin alongside the English flag at the church in 1921, which led to the Battle of the Flags - demonstrations and unrest in the town. A bust of Reverend Noel features in the building. There are two organs in the church. The older of the two was built by Henry Lincoln in 1820 for St John's Chapel in London's Bedford Row. It was moved to Thaxted in 1858. (updated Jun 2023)

Do

• 1 Thaxted Morris Men Weekend (Weekend of Dance), Various venues. Annually, usually early-June. Thaxted Morris Men was founded in 1911 by the "Red Vicar" Conrad Noel. It is one of the earliest revival Morris Dance sides in England. Their Weekend of Dance takes place early in the summer, when the town welcomes sides from across the country. (updated Jun 2023)
• 2 Thaxted Festival, Various venues, ☏ +44 1371 831421, music@thaxtedfestival.co.uk. June and July. A classical, jazz, folk and orchestral music festival which takes place in the summer, with one-off additional concerts year-round. Thaxted Festival's origins lie in the 1916 Whitsun Festival which Gustav Holst set up. BBC Classical Music Magazine has named Thaxted Festival one of the UK's best. (updated Jun 2023)

Buy

• 1 Gifted, Recorders House, 17 Town Street, CM6 2LD, ☏ +44 1371 830891. Gift shop. (updated Jun 2023)
• 2 Vintage Style Living, 22 Town Street, CM6 2LA. Homeware, novelty gifts and a curated collection of unique vintage finds. (updated Jun 2023)
• 3 Thaxted Market. Fridays 7am-2pm. A traditional English market with fruit and veg stalls, groceries, wet fish, cheese, bread, household items and European specialities. (updated Jun 2023)

Eat

• 1 The Maypole, The Maypole, 31 Mill End, CM6 2LT, ☏ +44 1371 831599. The Maypole Thaxted is a traditional English pub. A collection of cask ales, lagers, wines, cocktails and spirits is on the menu alongside Sunday roasts, a seasonal menu with food made with local ingredients, and occasional entertainment. (updated Jun 2023)
• 2 The Star, The Star, Mill End, CM6 2LT, ☏ +44 1371 238118. Locally sourced food, ales on tap, and entertainment on event days. (updated Jun 2023)

Go next

• Saffron Walden - a historic market town near Thaxted, complete with a historic house and gardens at Audley End, market, concert hall (at Saffron Hall), shops and restaurants
• Cambridge is a world-famous university city, less than an hour's drive from Thaxted
• Colchester - which lays claim to Britain's first city