LAYSTON, a parish in Royston district, Herts; ¾ of a mile E of Buntingford r. station. It was known, at Domesday, as Ichetone; it had a village which, for some time, was a market town; and it now contains part of the town of Buntingford. Post town, Buntingford. Acres, 2, 208. Real property, £4, 777. Pop. in 1851, 1, 220; in 1861, 998. Houses, 223. The decrease of pop. arose from the demolition or abandonment of dwelling houses, and from reduction of the number of inmates in Buntingford workhouse. The manor belongs to W. Butt, Esq. The living is a vicarage, united with the p. curacy of Buntingford, in the diocese of Rochester. Value, £300. Patron, W. Butt, Esq. The church is a plain building, with a tower; contains several tablets and monuments; and is used only in the summer months, and for marriages.

(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))