town and district, administrative and historic county of Essex, England. The town site, on the south side of the Blackwater estuary, was occupied in prehistoric times, and a burgh was established there by the Saxons. A battle, commemorated in an Old English poem, was fought between the English and the victorious Danes in the area in 991. Maldon remained a royal town, and Henry II granted its first charter in 1171. Several medieval buildings survive. The district encompasses a largely rural area surrounding the Blackwater estuary and extending south to the estuary of the River Crouch. Area 138 square miles (358 square km). Pop. (2001) town, 20,731; district, 59,433.