LAYSTON, a parish in the hundred ofEDWiNSTREE,
county of HERTFORD, half of a mile (N. N. E.) from Buntingford,
containing 1014 inhabitants. The living is a
vicarage, with the perpetual curacy of Buntingford, in
the archdeaconry of Middlesex, and diocese of London,
rated in the king's books at £14. 16. 8., and in the patronage
of William Butt, Esq. The church, dedicated to
St. Bartholomew, is situated in the fields, about half a
mile eastward from the town of Buntingford, in the
centre of the site of the ancient village of Layston,
which has totally disappeared; it is used only for the
solemnization of marriages, the parishioners resorting
to the chapel at Buntingford, on account of its greater
convenience. There are two small endowments, one by
Esdras Bland in 1668, and the other by Lady Jane
Barkham in 1653, for the instruction of poor children.
(See Buntingford).