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Maldon

Maldon (môl'dun) [key], town (1991 pop. 14,754) and district, Essex, E England, on the Blackwater estuary. Maldon is a market town with iron foundries and other small industries. The 13th-century Church of All Saints has a unique triangular tower with a hexagonal spire, and the town hall dates from the 15th cent. Prehistoric traces have been found in the vicinity. A battle against Danish raiders was fought near Maldon in 991; the leader of the East Saxons, Byrhtnoth (or Brihtnoth), was killed. The battle was celebrated in one of the last Anglo-Saxon heroic poems, “The Battle of Maldon” (of unknown authorship).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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