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 5707., with a glebe-house.

more

There were in the parish, in 1833, a Lancasterian school, with 70 boys; a national school, with 64 children (rather 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 1831, 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 800l., 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 den, 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 3721. 188. 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 190,000. 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

many genteel families in the town. The chief trade is in barley and malt: the market is on Saturday. Walden is a municipal though not a parliamentary borough. By the Municipal Reform Act the corporation consists of a mayor, four aldermen, and twelve councillors. The borough is coextensive with the parish.

The living is a vicarage in the archdeaconry of Colchester, of the annual value of 2371, with a glebe-house. Lord Braybrooke is patron and impropriator.

There were in Walden in 1833 one infant school with 70 children: two national schools, containing 124 boys and 106 girls (with the addition of 10 boys on Sundays); a school for 25 boys and as many girls, chiefly supported by Lord Braybrooke; and six other day-schools with 212 children; and two Sunday-schools with 289 children.

Waltham Abbey, or Holy Cross, is in the half-hundred of Waltham, 12 miles from London, a little to the right of the road to Ware, Royston, and Huntingdon. It is on the river Lea (which is here separated into several channels, some of which flow through the town) near the junction of the Cobbin brook, which flows a short distance from the town on the east and south.

The first notice of Waltham occurs in the reign of Canute, whose standard-bearer, Tovi, founded here a religious house with two priests, probably secular canons of St. Augustine. The place derived sanctity and name (Holy Cross) from a cross with the figure of Christ upon it found at Montacute and transferred here, to which miraculous powers were ascribed. Harold, afterwards king of England, enlarged the foundation of Tovi, A.D. 1062, furnished it with ample endowments, increased the number of canons to 12, one of whom had the rank of dean, rebuilt the church, and established such a school of learning as the state of the age admitted. When the unfortunate Harold fell in the battle of Hastings, A.D. 1066, his body, which had been given up to his mother, was brought to Waltham for interment and his tomb erected. William the Conqueror treated the religious of Waltham harshly, and deprived them of their moveable valuables, but left their lands untouched or nearly so. In the reign of Henry II. (A.D. 1177) regular canons were substituted for seculars, the number enlarged to 16, the endowments of the establishment augmented, and the dignity of abbot conferred upon the head of it. Subsequent monarchs favoured the establishment: Henry III. frequently resided in the abbey, and granted to the inhabitants of the village the privilege of a market and a fair. Some accounts make the market more antient. In the reign of this king, A.D. 1242, the conventual church was again solemnly dedicated, the king and several of his nobles being present. The yearly revenues of the abbey at the dissolution were 10797. 128. Id. gross, or 9007. 4s. 3d. clear. The town consists principally of one main street, running nearly east and west. The church, formerly part of the conventual church, is on the north side of the main street, near the centre of the town. As the conventual church it was very extensive, consisting of nave, transept, choir, and chapels. At the intersection of the transept, which may still be traced, rose the great tower, which contained a ring of five bells. Part of this tower having fallen in, the remainder was blown up by underminers, and the whole choir, tower, transept, and cast chapel demolished. The nave and some adjacent chapels alone remained: the nave, with its side-aisles, forms the body of the present church. The extent of the original fabric may be estimated by the fact, that Harold's tomb, which was in the choir or in a chapel beyond it, stood about 120 feet eastward from the termination of the present building. The church is about 90 feet in length, and in breadth, including the side-aisles, 48 feet: it is in the Norman style, with round massive piers (some of which have indents of wave and zig-zag lines), dividing the nave from the side-aisles; semicircular arches, and zigzag enrichments. The great arch of the cross, now walled up, is a very fine one. Above the arches dividing the nave from the side-aisles are two other ranges or tiers of arches: those of the second tier correspond in width to those of the lower, but are not of equal height; the arches of the third ter are three to each arch of the lower tiers, with a window pierced in the middle arch of the three. The roof is mo1, and httle ornamented. The side aisles are surmounted galleries, erected about half a century ago. At the nd of the church is a heavy square embattled stone *6 foot high, bearing the date 1558. From the south I the church projects the Lady Chapel, now used as a

vestry and school-room, under which is a fine crypt. Another little chapel, at the south-east end of the church, is now a repository for rubbish. These chapels have some beautiful and well-executed portions in the Decorated English style. There are in the church various inserted windows of different dates. The font is apparently very antient, and there is a fine wooden screen. The building has been much injured and its beauty deformed by dilapidation and alterations, but it is still well worthy of attention. Exclusive of the nave of the abbey church, the remains of the abbey are but few. They consist of an entrancegateway, and bridge across an arm of the Lea, which bounds the enclosure of the abbey on the west side; some walls, and a few vaulted arches in a garden belonging to the abbey farm. The refectory is reported to have stood eastward of the church; and what is now the abbey farm is said to have been antiently the stables. The gateway is in a much later style of architecture than the church. In the gardens formerly belonging to the abbey, now occupied as a nurseryground, is a tulip tree, reported to be the largest in England. There are at Waltham Abbey meeting-houses for Baptists and Wesleyan Methodists.

The parish of Waltham Abbey is extensive, comprehending 11,870 acres: it had, in 1831, 760 inhabited houses, and a population of 4104; but of these 344 houses and 1902 inhabitants were in the three hamlets of Holyfield, Sewardstone, and Upshire; leaving for that part of the parish which contains the town 416 houses and 2202 inhabitants: only a small proportion of the population of the town division is agricultural; but the greater part of the population of the hamlets is so. The powder-mills belonging to government employ many hands: many are engaged in the printing of silk handkerchiefs, and some in the manufacture of pins: some also, though not in the town division, are engaged in throwing and spinning silk. The market is on Tuesday.

The living is a donative curacy, in the peculiar jurisdietion of the bishop of London: it is of the annual value of 2371. There is an almshouse for eight poor widows.

There were in the year 1833 one infant school, with 135 children: three day-schools, viz., one endowed for 20 boys and 20 girls, one national school for 60 girls, and a school with 24 boys at High Beach, besides many small private day-schools; one evening-school, supported by voluntary contributions, with 42 boys; and four Sunday-schools, with

310 children.

Witham is in the hundred of Witham, and on the high road from London to Norwich by Ipswich, 38 miles from London. It is on Pod's Brook, just above the junction of that stream with the Blackwater.

This town is generally reputed to have been built by Edward the Elder, but it is questionable if that prince did more than restore a place that bears marks of having been a Roman station. On Cheping Hill or Chipping Hill are the remains of a circular camp, with a double vallum. A quantity of Roman bricks are worked up in the tower and body of the church, and one or two Roman coins were discovered in levelling the fortifications of the above-mentioned camp. From these indications it has been supposed that Witham was the Canonium of Antoninus, which is placed by others near Kelvedon.

The town consists of two portions: the larger portion consists of one main street along the high road and a short street or two branching from it: the other portion, in which is the church, is situated half a mile to the north of the principal part, on Cheping Hill, mentioned above. There is no kind of manufacture carried on; but the trade of the place arises from the wants of the neighbourhood, and its situation on a great public thoroughfare. Several genteel families reside in the town; and a mineral spring, Witham Spa, attracted some years since, and perhaps still attracts, visiters in the summer. The church is a tolerably large building, containing some antient monuments. There are places of worship for Independents, Baptists, Quakers, and Catholics; and several almshouses, but none very extensive or richly endowed.

The parish comprehends an area of 3280 acres; and had. in 1831, 552 inhabited houses, and a population of 2735, of which less than a fifth was agricultural. The market is on Tuesday.

The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Colchester. of the yearly value of 4737., with a glebe-house, in the gift of the bishop of London.

There were, in 1833, fifteen day-schools with 361 children; two boarding-schools with 40 girls; and one Sundayschool with 200 children, and a lending library attached. Of the day-schools, one (for 100 boys and 50 girls) is partly supported by an endowment; another (for 70 girls) partly by voluntary contributions.

Faulkbourn hall, not far from Witham, is an antient manor-house, different parts of which have been erected at very different periods. A tower gateway of curious architecture is supposed to be as old as the time of Stephen. Beside the above market-towns, there are several villages which are of sufficient importance to call for notice. The following were formerly market-towns, and some of them still retain their place as market-towns in many of our common maps:-Great Bardfield, Brentwood, Dedham, Harlow, Hatfield, Horndon, Ingatestone, Leigh, Thaxted, and Rayleigh.

Great Bardfield is in the half hundred of Froshwell or Freshwell, on the south bank of the Pant or Blackwater, over which it has a strong brick bridge. In the south aisle of the church are some coats of mail, &c., said to have belonged to the Lumley family. The population, in 1831, was 1029, about half of them agricultural. The market has been long given up.

Brentwood is on the road to Chelmsford and Colchester, 18 miles from London and 11 from Chelmsford. Some Roman antiquities have been found in the neighbourhood. The assizes for the county were formerly held here. The place consists chiefly of one main street along the high road, with irregular and mean houses: from its situation on a great thoroughfare, it has many public-houses and inns. There are the remains of the old prison and town-hall, the tenants of which are bound to put them in repair if ever the assizes should be held in the place again. There is an antient chapel in the town (for Brentwood is only a chapelry in the parish of South Weald, and the living a perpetual curacy, worth 1247. a year, with a glebe-house, in the archdeaconry of Essex), founded about the year 1227, by the prior of the monastery of St. Osyth, for the tenants of a manor belonging to that monastery: this chapel is a small building, dedicated to St. Thomas à Becket, of whom it contains a rude image carved in wood. There is an endowed school: races are held in the neighbourhood; and at Warley, not far off, are cavalry barracks. The area of the chapelry is 730 acres: the population, in 1831, was 1642. The market has not been discontinued many years. There are two yearly fairs, at which a great number of cattle are usually sold: it is one of the fairs from which the farmers of the hundreds' obtain their live stock.

Dedham is in Lexden hundred, on the south bank of the river Stour, just on the right hand of the road to Ipswich and Norwich, about 58 miles from London. In the reign of Richard II. this place was famous as one of the seats of the clothing trade. It is situated in a picturesque valley, and is a small place, consisting chiefly of one street. The church is a large building in the Perpendicular style of English architecture; it has a fine tower at the west end with octagonal turrets crowned with rich pinnacles. There is a bridge over the Stour. The population of the parish, in 1931, was 1770, about half agricultural: many genteel families reside in the place. There is an endowed free graminar school for 40 boys; and an English school, partly endowed, with more than 60 scholars; and a number of private schools. The living is a vicarage worth 1707. per annum, with a glebe-house: the rectorial tithes form the foundation of a lectureship connected with the church. The Rev. W. Burkitt, author of a well-known commentary on the New Testament, was lecturer here.

Harlow is in the half hundred of Harlow, just beside the road by Newmarket to Norwich, rather more than 23 miles from town. The village is about a mile from the river Stort. It was formerly the seat of a large woollen manufacture and of a considerable trade. The church is in a central situation, and is of tolerable size: it was originally in the form of a cross, with a central tower rising from the intersection of the transepts: this church was much injured by fire in 1711, and upon its restoration a cupola was substituted for the tower: the church is adorned with much painted glass. There is a place of worship for Baptists, several almshouses, and a charity school.

At Harlow Bury, a mile north of the village, is a large antient chapel, used as a barn or farm-office. It has a fine P. C., No. 598.

semicircular-headed door, the shafts of which have smal. capitals like those of the Galilee at Durham. There are some small windows with round heads and others with pointed heads.

The parish of Harlow contains 4490 acres, and had in 1831 a population of 2101, above half agricultural. There are three considerable fairs in the year for horses and cattle; the second, held on Harlowbush Common, two or three miles south of the village, is the most frequented: horses for all purposes, black cattle and other live stock, and wool, are brought for sale, and the fair attracts a concourse of people for fifteen or twenty miles round, and even from the metropolis. The living is a vicarage, of the yearly value of 3831., with a glebe-house, in the archdeaconry of London.

A large sum of money (80007.), bequeathed by Mr. Geo. Fawbert, has been vested in trustees for the establishment of a day school and library at Harlow, and for apprenticing or otherwise advancing in the world those educated at the school.

Hatfield is in the half hundred of Harlow, on the road from London by Harlow to Dunmow, 30 miles from town: it is on the Pincey brook, which flows into the Stort. This place was formerly part of the royal demesne, from which circumstance it obtained one of its distinguishing epithets, Hatfield Regis: its other designation of Hatfield Broad Oak it obtained from a large oak supposed to have flourished here in the Saxon times. A portion of this tree (if we may trust the accuracy of Mr. Arthur Young's statement) was yet remaining in Hatfield Forest, a mile or two north of the town, when that gentleman published his agricultural survey of Essex, in which an engraving of this venerable tree is given. Aubrey de Vere founded, A.D. 1135, a Bene dictine priory at Hatfield, supposed to have been at first a cell of the abbey of St. Melanius Redonensis, at Rennes or Rédon, in Bretagne, but subsequently rendered independent. The possessions of this priory at the suppression were estimated at the yearly value of 1577. 3s. 2d. gross, or 1227. 138. 2d. clear. The parish, which is very large, had in 1831 a population of 1825, chiefly agricultural. The church has a western tower and a large porch in the Per pendicular style, and other parts are of a character betoken ing a more antient date. The Methodists have a place of worship. The living is a vicarage, worth 2107. a year, with a glebe-house, in the archdeaconry of Middlesex.

Horndon, distinguished from two other parishes of the same name by the epithet on the hill,' is in Barstable hundred, and is situated, as its name imports, on an eminence, from whence there is a fine view. The church is in the middle of the town; it has a stone tower, embattled The parish had in 1831 a population of 511, chiefly agri cultural. The market, when Morant published his history of Essex (1768), was very small; it has been since given up. There is one fair in the year, chiefly for wool. It is 27 miles from London through Brentwood.

Ingatestone is in the hundred of Chelmsford, and on the road from London to Chelmsford, 23 miles from London. It is supposed to have derived its name from a Roman milliary stone, and from the Saxon word Ing, a meadow; thus, Ingatte-stone. The village, which extends into the adjoining parish of Fryerning, consists of a long street along the high road, and a smaller street running out of this to the southeast. From its situation on so great a thoroughfare it abounds with inns. It had formerly a large cattle market, but this is now discontinued: there is a large cattle fair. The church is in the middle of the town, and contains several monuments of the Petre family. There is an almshouse and an Independent meeting-house. Ingatestone Hall, a little way south of the town, was once the seat of the Petre family: it is a very antient and irregular pile. The grounds are well stored with fish-ponds, and the whole was formerly surrounded by a park. The population of the parish, which is small, was in 1831 789, chiefly agricul tural; to these we may add perhaps 300 for that part of the village which is in Fryerning parish. It may be observed that the syllable Ing (or Ging, which appears to be a variety of it), which enters into the name Ingatestone, is found in the names of several other parishes or manors in this neighbourhood, as Fryern-ing, Margarett-ing, Mountneysing, Ginges-joiberd (commonly called Buttsbury), Ingrave or Ging-ralph, and Trestl-ing or Thrustl-ing; to which we may add Bark-ing.

VOL. X.-E