HORNDON-ON-THE-HILL, a village and a parish in Orsett district, Essex. The village stands on a hill, 1¼ mile NW of Stanford-le-Hope r. station, and 2 ENE of Orsett; has a fine prospect along the Thames to London and to the sea; is an ancient place; was formerly a market town; and has now a post office, ‡ under Romford, London E, and a fair on 29 June.—The parish comprises 2, 634 acres. Real property, £3, 734. Pop., 522. Houses, 101. The property is much subdivided. A farm bears the name of Saffron Gardens, from the former cultivation of saffron. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Rochester. Value, £210. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of St. Pauls. The church has a wooden tower, and is good. There are a national school, an alms house, and charities £10.

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