ELSTREE, or IDLESTREE, a parish in the hundred
of CASHIO, or liberty of ST-ALBANS, county of
HERTFORD, 3 miles (N. by "W.) from Edgware, contaming
309 inhabitants. The living is a discharged
rectory, in the archdeaconry of St. Alban's, and diocese
of London, rated in the king's books at £8, and
in the patronage of the Crown. The church, dedicated
to St. Nicholas, was enlarged and new seated in 1824,
and received an addition of one hundred and ninety sittings,
of which one hundred and sixty-four are free, at
an expense of more than £900, of which sum, £250
was granted by the Incorporated Society for enlarging
churches and chapels; it is said to have been first
erected out of the ruins of the ancient city Suttoniadm,
the site and foundations of which are still visible about
one mile to the southward. The village stands upon
the spot where the old Watling-street crosses from
Middlesex into Hertfordshire, and is partly in four
parishes, viz. Aldenham, Edgware, Elstree, and Whitchurch.
There is a bequest of £5 a year from Robert
Warren, for apprenticing one poor child. A National
school was established in 1813.