ESSENDON, a parish in the hundred and county of
HERTFORD, 3 miles (E.) from Bishop's Hatfield, containing
595 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, with
Bayford, in the archdeaconry of Huntingdon, and diocese
of Lincoln, rated in the king's books at £18. The
Marquis of Salisbury was patron in 1790. The church
is dedicated to St. Mary. There is a National school
supported by subscription, in which thirty boys and
twenty-six girls are instructed; also an infant school
on the National plan, for boys and girls, supported in
the same manner. A branch of the river Lea bounds
the north side of the parish.