near the centre of the town, and has on it the date 1707: it is not used as a market-house now. There are two bridges over the river, which close to the town is an inconsiderable brook. The church, which is a little removed from the town, is a good-sized building, consisting of nave, chancel, and side aisles, with a lofty brick tower at the west end. There is an Independent meeting-house. At the lower end of the town are a row of brick almshouses for six poor people, founded and endowed by Robert Rich, earl of Warwick, in the early part of the seventeenth century.

The parish comprehends an area of 1240 acres: it had, in 1831, 271 inhabited houses, and a population of 1526, of which more than a third was agricultural. The chief trade is in corn. The market is on Thursday.

The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry of Essex, of the yearly value of 5701., with a glebe-house.

There were in the parish, in 1833, a Lancasterian school, with 70 boys; a national school, with 64 children (rather more on Sunday); seven other day-schools, with 158 scholars; and one Sunday-school, with 100 children: to the Sunday-school a lending library is attached.

Romford is in the liberty of Havering atte Bower, on the Bourne brook: it is a great thoroughfare, being on the high road from London to Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich, Bury, Norwich, Yarmouth, and other large towns in Essex, Suffolk, and Norfolk; between 11 and 12 miles from London. The derivation of the name has been much disputed, some contending that it is derived from Roman ford, others from two Saxon words signifying 'broad ford.' This place, or some spot in the neighbourhood, is supposed to be the site of the Durolitum of the Itinerary of Anto

ninus.

The town consists almost entirely of one long wide street, near the centre of which is the market-house and town-hall, which was repaired in 1768 at the expense of the crown. The houses are tolerably good, and the street is paved and lighted. The chapel, situated at the entrance to the town from London, on the left hand, is a tolerably large building, erected in the early part of the fifteenth century: it is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and St. Edward the Confessor, and consists of a chancel, nave, and north aisle, with a square tower at the west end. In the east window is a figure of Edward the Confessor in stained glass, the arms of that king, and another coat of arms. The Independents have a meeting-house at Collier's Row, a hamlet of the parochial chapelry of Romford, about two miles north-west of the town; a house for the pastor and a small endowment are connected with it. There is also a Methodist meeting. An almshouse for five poor men was founded and well endowed by Roger Reed near the end of the fifteenth century. There were formerly cavalry barracks at the London entrance to the town: they were of wood, and have since been pulled down.

The parish comprenenas an area of 3340 acres, and had, in 1931, 766 inhabited houses, and a population of 4294, of which less than one-third is agricultural. The general market is on Wednesday: there is a market on Monday for calves, and on Tuesday for hogs. In spring and summer great numbers of suckling calves are brought to market from Suffolk and the dairy districts of Essex.

This parish, with those of Hornchurch and Havering, form the liberty of Havering atte Bower, the quarter sessions for which are held at Romford. Commissions for trying felons within this liberty may be obtained by a small payment to the crown, but no commission has been applied for for many years. (Lysons' Environs of London.)

The living is a chapelry originally included in the parish of Hornchurch, the limits of which were once coextensive with those of Havering liberty, but separated from it by act of parliament, A.D. 1658. The living is of the annual value of s007, with a glebe-house, in the patronage of New College, at Oxford: it is in the archdeaconry of Essex. There were, before the Reformation, a chantry and a small guild attached to Romford chapel, the lands of which were valued at 4/. 10s. 2d. per annum.

There were, in 1833, in the parish, one endowed dayschool with 121 scholars, six other day-schools with 172 scholars, and two Sunday-schools with 143 scholars.

Walden or Saffron Walden is in the hundred of Uttlesford, which occupies the north-western extremity of the County: it is near the Cam, and a little to the right of the road from London to Newmarket and Norwich, 42 miles rom London. It was conjectured by Doctor Stukely, but

without sufficient authority, that this was a Roman station. Its name is derived from two Saxon words, Weald, a wood, and ben, a valley: its epithet 'Saffron' is derived from the great quantity of that plant formerly cultivated in the neighbourhood: this cultivation has been long abandoned. At the period of the Domesday survey the lordship of Walden was possessed by a Norman, Geoffrey de Magnaville, one of the companions of the Conqueror. This nobleman erected at Walden a castle, which, judging from the remains of it, must have been of great strength. The remains occupy the highest part of the town, and consist of some parts of the walls and towers, built with flint bound together by a very hard cement. Geoffrey, the grandson of the founder of the castle, having deserted the party of Stephen for that of the Empress Maud, obtained of her permission to remove the market from the neighbouring town of Newport (now a village) to Walden. Having been however seized by Stephen, he could only obtain his freedom by the delivery of his castles, Walden being one of them, to the king. The same nobleman founded here in 1136 a Benedictine priory, which was some years later raised to the rank of an abbey: this abbey obtained several valuable benefactions, and had, at the time of the dissolution, a yearly revenue of 4067. 15s. 11d. gross, or 372l. 18s. 1d. clear. The site was granted to Sir Thomas Audley, lord chancellor, and the title of Lord Audley of Walden was conferred upon him. On the site and grounds of the monastery, enlarged by a subsequent addition of 200 acres, stand the present mansion and park of Audley End.

The town is irregularly laid out, and the houses are many of them of considerable antiquity. The church is a large and very elegant specimen of the late Perpendicular style. It has a nave and aisles, large south porch, and chancel and aisles. The clerestory windows of the nave are very large and of six lights; those of the chancel, which has a lower roof, are much smaller, and two in each arch. The eastern end of the nave is finished by two octagonal turrets with crocketted ogee heads. The windows of the aisles are very large, filling up the spaces close to the buttresses, and they are mostly square-headed. The tower has bold buttresses, crowned with octagonal turrets, and very long plain pinnacles. These pinnacles and the spire, which is of wood covered with lead, appear to be of later date than the church. The interior of this church is very fine, the piers being remarkably light and elegant.' Rickman's Essay on Gothic Architecture. Since the above extracted account was written the wooden spire has been replaced by one of stone more in character with the rest of the building. There are two places of worship for Calvinistic or Particular Baptists, and one for Arminian or General Baptists, and one each for Independents, Quakers, and Wesleyan Methodists. The town-hall is a neat building in the market-place, which is spacious. There are a cattle-market and a handsome range of almshouses lately built in the place of a former range founded and endowed by Edward VI. for 16 decayed housekeepers of each sex. There is also a neat building lately erected near the ruins of the castle for a museum, and for the meetings of a literary society established in the town. Audley House, or as it is usually termed, Audley End, the seat of Lord Braybrooke, is a noble mansion erected by the Earl of Suffolk, who in the time of James I., had inherited the estate of the Lord Chancellor Audley. The grounds are beautiful, and the Cam, which flows through them, though here an inconsiderable stream, expands so as to form a considerable sheet of water in front of the house. The mansion, originally more extensive than at present, is still one of the finest in the county; it is said to have cost at its erection 190,000l. The house contains some interesting portraits and other pictures. On a green near the town is a singular remain of antiquity called the Maze. It consists of a series of concentric circles with four outworks cut in the chalk, which here rises to the surface. Its origin and use are unknown: Dr. Stukely conjectures that it was a British cursus or place of exercise for the soldiery. A short distance from the town are the remains of an antient encampment of an oblong form called Pell Ditches or Repel Ditches. The south bank is 730 feet long, 20 high, and 50 broad at the base, and 6 or 8 wide at the top: the west bank is 588 feet long: both banks and ditches are extremely bold and well preserved.

The parish of Saffron Walden contains 7380 acres, and had in 1831 941 inhabited houses and a population of 4762, of which about one-fourth was agricultural: there are

Chelmsford and Colchester. This place was antiently known by the name of Seiddinchou; the origin of its present appellation, formerly written Many-Tree, is not know. It is a small place, irregularly laid out. The church chapel, built out of the ruins of a more antient one, wh stood on a site not far removed from that of the pr building, was formerly very small, but has been lately larged. There are meeting-houses for Independ. Quakers, and Methodists.

The parish, or rather the chapelry, by the return of! comprehended only 30 acres, and had 241 inhabited ho and a population of 1237, a very small proportion of wiwas agricultural. Manningtree appears to be the residen of an unusual proportion of genteel families. A conside able trade in malt is carried on; and corn, coal, deals, I and fish are imported. The market is on Thursday. The living is a perpetual curacy, united with the ty of Mistley (of which parish the chapelry of Manning: a dependency) and the vicarage of Bradfield. Th are of the yearly value of 6987., with a glebe-house. T are in the archdeaconry of Colchester.

The chapelry contained, in 1833, one national containing 223 children; and one Sunday-school, children.

Mistley is adjacent to Harwich. Mistley Hall of the Rigby family, is on a pleasant eminence in 1 of gardens and plantations elegantly laid out. Out of the Stour is a quay with warehouses, at which able trade in corn, malt, and coal is carried on. 7 long to the proprietor of the mansion.

Ongar, distinguished as Chipping Ongar from parish of the same name (High Ongar), is in O dred, near the right or west bank of the Rod left or east bank of the Cripsey brook, just ab tion of these two streams: it is 21 miles fro... Woodford bridge, Chigwell, and Abridge; Epping.

A castle was built here by Richard de 1. principal nobles of the time of Henry II.: on the summit of a lofty artificial mound. T become very ruinous, was, in the time of pulled down, and a brick house was built b of the place on the site of the keep. Th molished in 1744, and a large summer-bo architecture, built in its room. The moal the keep, and other earthworks of the The sides of the mound are plani shrubs.

The town chiefly consists of one tending from the bridge over the slope and along the brow of a h in a central situation, is a sm dows are remarkably small. of a castle. The church con of the daughters of Oliver have been worked into the Roman buildings are churchyard. The to Camulodunum passed this way Romford and an antient

The area of the parish is 1570 acres; the number of in habited houses by the census of 1831 was 243, the population (including that of the liberty of Lee, in East Tilbury parish, Barstable hundred), 1248. The population had greatly increased before the census, owing to the number of labourers employed in brick-making. The market is on Thursday, and is chiefly for the sale of corn; it is much frequented: there is one yearly fair.

The living is a vicarage of the yearly value of 1607., with a glebe-house: it is in the archdeaconry of Essex.

There were in 1833 eight day-schools, with 138 scholars, 20 of whom (boys) were educated from the proceeds of an endowment; and two Sunday-schools, with 202 children.

There are two villages near this town which also bear the name of Thurrock: Little Thurrock, to the east of the town (population 302), and West Thurrock, to the west of the town (population 804). The chalk-quarries of Purfleet are in the parish of West Thurrock. In Little Thurrock parish, and in Chadwell parish, which adjoins it, are some remarkable caverns or holes in the chalk, to which tradition has assigned the name of Cunobelin's gold-mines. It has been conjectured that they were granaries of the antient Britons. They are also called 'Dane holes,' from having been used by those invaders as lurking-places or receptacles for plunder.

Halsted is in Hinckford hundred, on the north-cast bank of the river Colne, and on the road from London by Bury to Norwich, 464 miles from London, and 17 from Chelmsford. It is supposed that a market was established here in the Saxon times: a hill at the upper end of the town, on which for several centuries it was held, retains the name of Cheping hill.

The town stands on the slope of a gravelly eminence, rising from the river, and consists of the main street along the Norwich road, and some other streets. The church is near the centre of the town. It is a large edifice, capable of accommodating 1200 persons, and consisting of a nave, chancel, and side-aisles, chiefly in the Perpendicular English style: the chancel is in the Decorated style, with a good window of five lights, and others of two lights. There is a tower at the west end surmounted by a wooden spire, the third that has been erected on the same tower, two previous ones having been destroyed by lightning. There are places of worship for Independents, Baptists, and Quakers. There is a house of correction at Halsted.

The parish comprehends an area of 6230 acres; and had, in 1831, 989 inhabited houses, and 4637 inhabitants: about three-eighths of the population was agricultural. The silk manufacture is carried on to a considerable extent: the manufacture of baize and other light woollens has been discontinued. There is a market on Friday, one of the principal in the county for corn and occasionally for cattle and other live stock. Some hops are grown round the

town.

The living is a vicarage, of the yearly value of 3907., with a glebe-house, in the gift of the bishop of London: the minor canons of St. Paul's are the impropriators. There was a college of priests at Halsted before the Reformation; the foundation was for eight, but it is doubtful there was ever the full number. The revenue at the dissolution was 267. 5s. 8d. per annum gross, or 231. 16s. 5d. clear.

There were in Halsted, according to the returns made to parlament for 1833, ten infant or dame schools, with 150 scholars; four day-schools, one supported by voluntary contributions, containing 40 children, and three others with 100 children; and four Sunday-schools, with 695 scholars. There is a grammar-school, founded by Dame Mary Ramsey, for 40 poor children of Halsted and Colne Engaine (a neighbouring parish), which is not distinctly mentioned in

the return.

At a house in this parish is a Greek inscription, brought from a village near Smyrna, where it was erected one hundred and fifty years before Christ, to the honour of Crato, a musician.' (Beauties of England and Wales, 1803.)

Near Halsted are the remains of the antient manorhouse of Stansted Hall.

Manningtree is in the hundred of Tendring, on the æstuary of the Stour, 60 miles from London, through

The parish, or rather the chapelry, by the return of 1831, comprehended only 30 acres, and had 241 inhabited houses, and a population of 1237, a very small proportion of which was agricultural. Manningtree appears to be the residence of an unusual proportion of genteel families. A considerable trade in malt is carried on; and corn, coal, deals, iron, and fish are imported. The market is on Thursday.

The living is a perpetual curacy, united with the rectory of Mistley (of which parish the chapelry of Manningtree is a dependency) and the vicarage of Bradfield. The whole are of the yearly value of 6987., with a glebe-house. They are in the archdeaconry of Colchester.

The chapelry contained, in 1833, one national school, containing 223 children; and one Sunday-school, with 60 children.

Mistley is adjacent to Harwich. Mistley Hall, the seat of the Rigby family, is on a pleasant eminence in the midst of gardens and plantations elegantly laid out. On the bank of the Stour is a quay with warehouses, at which considerable trade in corn, malt, and coal is carried on. These belong to the proprietor of the mansion.

Ongar, distinguished as Chipping Ongar from another parish of the same name (High Ongar), is in Ongar hundred, near the right or west bank of the Roding, and the left or east bank of the Cripsey brook, just above the junction of these two streams: it is 21 miles from London by Woodford bridge, Chigwell, and Abridge; or 24 miles by Epping.

A castle was built here by Richard de Lucy, one of the principal nobles of the time of Henry II.: the keep stood on the summit of a lofty artificial mound. The castle having become very ruinous, was, in the time of Queen Elizabeth, pulled down, and a brick house was built by the then owner of the place on the site of the keep. This house was demolished in 1744, and a large summer-house, of castellated architecture, built in its room. The moat which surrounded the keep, and other earthworks of the castle, still remain. The sides of the mound are planted with trees and shrubs.

The town chiefly consists of one long and wide street, extending from the bridge over the Cripsey brook, up the slope and along the brow of a hill. The church, which is in a central situation, is a small neat structure: the windows are remarkably small, so as to resemble the loop-holes of a castle. The church contains a monument of Jane, one of the daughters of Oliver Cromwell. Many Roman bricks have been worked into the building, and the foundations of Roman buildings are said to have been dug up in the churchyard. The principal road from Londinium (London) to Camulodunum (Colchester) is supposed by some to have passed this way, though others make it pass near or through Romford and Chelmsford. The town is within the area of an antient entrenchment, which may still be traced on its different sides. It was antiently called Ongar ad Castrum, perhaps with reference to this entrenchment. There is an İndependent meeting-house,

The area of the parish is 480 acres: the number of inhabited houses in 1831 was 134, and the population 798, of which a small proportion is agricultural. The market is on Saturday.

The living is a rectory in the archdeaconry of Essex, of the yearly value of 1277., with a glebe-house.

There were in 1833 nine boarding or day-schools, with 140 scholars; and two Sunday-schools, containing 95 children. One of the day-schools is endowed.

High Ongar, which is on the other side of the Roding, is a much larger parish than Chipping Ongar, and had, in 1831, a population of 1205, chiefly agricultural.

Rochford is in Rochford hundred, on the Broomhill river, which is navigable to within about a mile of the town, 40 miles from London through Romford, Brentwood, and Billericay. The town consists principally of two streets running one into the other in the form of the letter T: the houses are ill built: the market-house, which is of timber, stands