MALDON, a municipal and parliamentary borough and seaport town of Essex, England, is situated on an acclivity rising from the south side of the Blackwater, 44 miles east-north-east of London and 16 south-west from Colchester. It consists principally of one main street with several cross streets at right angles. The church of All Saints, dating from 1056, is a spacious edifice consisting of chancel, nave, and aisles, with a triangular tower at the west end surmounted by an hexagonal spire. The church was restored in 1867, and new windows were added in 1877. St Mary’s Church is also of very early origin, and was restored in the 17th century. The other public buildings are the grammar school, founded in 1547; the town-hall, formerly D’Arcy’s tower, built in the reign of Henry VI.; and the public-hall, 1859. There are manufactures of crystallized salt, as well as breweries, iron foundries, and some shipping. The population of the municipal borough (3508 acres) in 1871 was 5586, and in 1881 it was 5476. That of the parliamentary borough (5177 acres) in the same years was ’ 7151 and 7128....
Maldon, which is a very ancient town, is supposed to have received its name, meaning “cross hill,” from a cross at one time erected on the eminence. From remains found in the neighbourhood there is no doubt that the place was of some importance in the time of the Romans, but the supposition that it was Camulodunum is not sufficiently established. On the western side of the town there are also traces of a large camp, but whether the work is of Roman, Saxon, or Danish origin it is impossible to say. The oldest historical mention of the town is in 913, when Edward the Elder •encamped neär it to impede the progress of the Danes. The town received its first charter from Henry II., and in 1553 it was incorporated by Queen Mary. From the time of Edwaχ - d III. it returned two members to parliament, but since 1867 only one member.
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