Mangrove is a hamlet, partly in Offley and partly in Lilley parishes; Mangrove Green is on the S. outskirts of Putteridge Bury Park, on the Bedfordshire border.  The nearest station to the latter is Luton (Beds).

Maple Cross, a hamlet 21/2 miles S.W. from Rickmansworth, is near the river Chess.  It lies between Mill End and West Hyde, on the road to Uxbridge.

MARAN, or MIMRAM, river. (See Introduction.)

Marford, Old and New, are hamlets on the river Lea.  The latter adjoins the E. side of Wheathampstead village; the former lies 1/4 mile farther E.; the cress-beds, the hand-bridge over the river, and some dilapidated cottages render it a picturesque spot.  On the opposite side of the road from Hatfield to Wheathampstead lies The Devil’s Dyke, a long, narrow gorge most beautifully wooded.  It is a favourite haunt of the nightingale, as the writer can testify.

MARKET or MARKYATE STREET (31/2 miles S.W. from Luton, Beds) is a village on the high road from St. Albans to Dunstable.  The church, a little N. from the village, in Cell Park, is small and uninteresting, with a chancel added in 1892.  The mansion called Markyate Cell, a little farther N., is old, and occupies the site of the old Benedictine nunnery built by Geoffrey de Gorham, sixteenth Abbot of St. Albans, at the instigation of Roger the Monk, the church of which was consecrated in 1145.  Cowper the poet was at school in the village, at the house of Dr. Pitman.

MARLOWES is a suburb of Hemel Hempstead (q.v.).

Marsh Moor lies between Hatfield Park and Mimms Park.  It is a hamlet in the parish of North Mimms, 2 miles S. from Hatfield.

Marston Gate is little more than the station (L.&N.W.R.) for Long Marston, 1 mile S. It is nearly the extreme W. point of the county.

Mayden Croft, or Maiden Croft, is near the source of the river Hiz, with the hamlet of Gosmore adjoining (S.E.).  Some remains of a moat may be traced, which are supposed to mark the site of a nunnery.  The manor is ancient; in the time of Edward III. it belonged to Sir Robert Nevill, Kt.

MEESDON (61/2 miles N.E. from Buntingford) has a very ancient flint church, probably erected in the thirteenth century, but restored in 1877.  The S. porch is Jacobean.  The pavement of the Sacrarium is a mosaic of many coloured, vitrified tiles; it is almost unique in the county and is undoubtedly of great age.  There is also in the chancel a curious monument and inscription to Robert Young, gent. (d. 1626).  Most of the population are to be found at Meesdon Green, 1/2 mile W. from the church.

On Metley Hill, between the Icknield Way and the village of Wallington, may be seen Bush Barrow, one of the many ancient mounds in the county concerning which so little is known.

Micklefield Green (1/2 mile E. from Sarratt Church) is near the river Chess and the Bucks border.  The nearest station is Chorley Wood (Met.  R.) 2 miles S.W.  The district is varied and undulating.