RETTENDON, a parish in the hundred of CHELMSFORD, county of ESSEX, 4 miles (N. N. W.) from Rayleigh, containing 580 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry of Essex, and diocese of London, rated in the king's books at £32. 6. 3., and in the patronage of the Bishop of Ely. The church is dedicated to All Saints. The river Crouch is here navigable for barges. A school for twenty poor children was endowed by James Humphrey, Esq. Here is an ancient farm-house, formerly the residence of the Bishops of Ely.