Maldon is a town on the Blackwater estuary in Essex, England. It is the seat of the Maldon district and starting point of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. The name comes from Mael meaning 'meeting place' and dun meaning 'hill', so translated as "meeting place on the hill". East Saxons settled the area in the fifth century and the area to the south is still known as the Dengie peninsula after the Dæningas. It became a significant Saxon port with a hythe or Quayside. From 958 there was a royal mint issuing coins for the late Anglo-Saxon and early Norman kings. Maldon is known throughout the country and in many parts of the world as the foremost modern-day centre for Thames sailing barges. The badge of Maldon District itself is a Thames sailing barge. Every year around New Year's Day, the town holds the charitable Maldon mud race where competitors race across the Blackwater estuary at low tide, along the bank and back through the water. Maldon features in H. G. Wells' 'War of the Worlds'. Maldon Crystal Sea Salt is made using crystals harvested along the beds of the River Blackwater. Maldon possesses the driest climate for any town in the country. For centuries Maldon, along with Colchester, was one of the chief towns of Essex. There were three ancient churches in the town-St Peter's (of which only the tower survives), St Mary's (the tower of which shows Norman work with Roman materials) and Maldon parish church (All Saints combined with St Peter's) which dates from Saxon times (about 1056) and is reputed to be the only parish church in England with a triangular tower. All Saints stands in the centre of the town. Visitors should make a point of seeing the Washington Window which is located in the D'Arcy Chapel. This window was donated by the town of Malden, Massachusetts, to commemorate the life of Rev Laurence Washington who was the great-great grandfather of George Washington, first President of the United States of America. Laurence Washington was a loyalist clergyman, ejected from his living and buried somewhere in the churchyard in 1652. A record of his entry in the burial register may be found on the adjacent wall. A book listing the donors is on the window ledge.