Ashdon

“ASHDON, a parish in the hundred of FRESHWELL, county of ESSEX, 3¾ miles (N. E. by E.) from Saffron Walden, containing, with the hamlet of Bartlow-End, 1014 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, in the archdeaconry of Colchester, and diocese of London, rated in the king's books at £28. 3. 4., and in the patronage of the Master and Fellows of Caius College, Cambridge. The church, dedicated to All Saints, has been repaired and new pewed within the last twenty years: at the east end of the south aisle is a building termed the Old Chancel. There are four large barrows, commonly called Bartlow Hills, in this parish, one of which, on being opened, was found to contain stone coffins and a number of iron chains similar to the curb of a bridle: they are supposed to be sepulchral monuments of the Danish chiefs killed at the battle of Assandune, or Ashdon, in which Edmund Ironside was defeated by Canute in 1016; but the more reputable historians refer this event to Ashingdon. Here is a charity school, with an endowment of £3 per annum.” [From Samuel Lewis A Topographical Dictionary of England  (1831) - copyright Mel Lockie 2016]

“BARTLOW-END, a hamlet in the parish of ASHDON, hundred of FRESHWELL, county of ESSEX, 2¾ miles (S. E.) from Linton, containing 212 inhabitants. It is supposed to have been formerly a distinct parish: in all temporal concerns it is included within the parish of Ashdon, and is in the jurisdiction of the magistracy for the county of Essex, but, as regards spiritual jurisdiction, it is considered to be in the parish of Bartlow, county of Cambridge, to which the inhabitants of this hamlet pay church rates, and resort to the parochial church there. Bartlow Hills are four noted hills supposed to have been thrown up by the Danes, as monumental memorials, after the sanguinary battle fought, in 1016, between Canute and Edmund Ironside, in which the latter was defeated.” [From Samuel Lewis A Topographical Dictionary of England (1831) - copyright Mel Lockie 2016]