The church was in effect the village, and the church was simply the mausoleum of the Dessant family, the owners of the place.

Essant Hill as a name had been rather a problem to the archaeologists, there being no hill: the ground was quite level.

The explanation at last admitted was that Essant Hill was a corruption of D'Essantville.
It seemed probable that the population had greatly diminished; because, although the church was of great antiquity, there was space still for interments in the yard.

A yew tree of immense size stood in one corner, and was by tradition associated with the fortunes of the family.

Though the old trunk was much decayed, yet there were still green and flourishing shoots; so that the superstitious elders said the luck of the house was returning.
Within, the walls of the church were covered with marble slabs, and the space was reduced by the tombs of the Dessants, one with a recumbent figure; there were two brasses level with the pavement, and in the chancel hung the faded hatchments of the dead.