{{infobox England place with map| |Place= Ingatestone |MapX= 149 |MapY= 204 |Population = 3,400 |District= Brentwood |County= Essex |Region= East_of_England |Parish= Ingatestone_and_Fryerning |DistrictType= Borough |Ceremonial= Essex |Traditional= Essex |Constituency= Brentwood and Ongar |PostalTown= INGATESTONE |PostCode= CM4 |DiallingCode= 01277 |GridReference= TQ645995 |Police= Essex_Police |Euro= East of England }} '''Ingatestone''' is a Village in Essex, England, with a population of about 3400 people. To the immediate north lies the village of Fryerning, and the two form the Civil_parish of Ingatestone_and_Fryerning. Ingatestone sits within an area of Green_belt land, twenty miles north-east of London. The built-up area is largely situated between the A12 and the Great_Eastern_Railway. Today it is a commuter village. Due to its rural yet well-serviced setting, the demographic is a mixture of young and old, skilled and unskilled, with a lure for the commercial and agricultural worker. ==History== Ingatestone was established in Saxon times on the Essex Great Road (A12) that runs between the two Roman towns of London and Colchester. The name (originally ''Ging ad Petram'') means ''settlement at the stone''. Stone is not prevalent in the local geology, making the village stone - deposited by glacial action - unusual for the area. The stone can still be seen, split into three stones, one by the west door of the church and one each side of the entrance to Fryerning Lane. By the time of the Domesday_Book in 1086, Ingatestone (''Inga'') was listed as a settlement of 430 acres and a dozen peasants ''belonging always to St. Mary at Berking'' (Barking). By the 18th_century Ingatestone had become a major coaching town, although the coming of the railway saw a decline in business along the Essex Great Road, and Ingatestone again became a village. During the 20th_century Ingatestone again grew as commuters moved to the area attracted by the surrounding countryside. ==Places of interest== Ingatestone_Hall has been the home of the Petre family since the 16th_century, who chose the location due to the similarity of the village's Latin name with their own. The Hall is today open as a tourist attraction, and inside is a range of antique furniture, paintings, and other historical artefacts. Queen Elizabeth I spent several nights at the Hall on Her Royal_Progress of 1561, and the Petre family reside their to this day. The Hall largely retains its Tudor appearance following restoration carried out between 1915 and 1937, and is set in formal gardens surrounded by 11 acres of grounds. St. John Payne, one of the Forty_Martyrs_of_England_and_Wales, resided at Ingatestone Hall in the late 16th century as chaplain and steward for Lady Petre. He was martyred at Chelmsford in 1582. The great Smallpox inoculator, Daniel_Sutton, made his base on Ingatestone High_Street in Brandiston House, and carried out much of his work here. The Anglican Church dates from the 11th_century, but was extensively modified in the 17th_century. The Tower is the dominant feature of the building. This is described by Simon_Jenkins in his book ''England's Thousand Best Churches'' (published 1999) as 'magnificent, a unified Perpendicular composition of red brick with black Tudor Diapering. Strong angled buttresses rise to a heavy bettlemented crown, the bell openings plain.' ==Education== There are three schools - infants, junior and the secondary school, Anglo European. The Anglo_European_School is a self-governing state school for boys and girls of all abilities, with 1277 students aged 11 to 19. It was the first state school in Britain to offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma and the first to become a Language_College. ==Communication== The M25_motorway is 10 minutes away and the A12 provides access to London, Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich and Norwich. Ingatestone_railway_station also gives access to these same towns. The service to London is hourly off-peak, and more frequent during rush-hour. The Victorian station is unusual in having been built in a Tudor style of red bricks with black diapering. ==Society== There is a thriving Community Association at which there are both bowls and tennis clubs. Ingatestone also has cricket and football teams. In addition there are a range of clubs and societies covering such diverse interests as history, photography, bridge and opera. There are two village parks, Seymour Field (formerly Ministry of Transport Field, having been donated to the village after the construction of the A12 bypass), and the Fairfield (historic site of village fairs, and still privately owned by the Petre family). There are four churches within Ingatestone - Anglican, Catholic, Elim Pentecostal, and United_Reformed_Church (URC). ==Commerce== There are over one hundred shops and businesses in Ingatestone. Amongst the retail outlets are two small supermarkets, a baker, a butcher, a chemist, an ironmonger, an electrical shop, several clothes shops and hairdressers, a garden centre, several estate agents, two banks, a Post Office, and several specialist shops. Of particular note is the only Highland clothing and supplies shop in southern England. There is a restaurant named Fifty One, after its street address number in the High Street. The building has a culinary tradition dating back to the time of Elizabeth I, and was formerly known as Little Hammonds, and prior to that as The Haunt. The restaurant is claimed to be one of the most haunted places in Essex. There are four public houses along the High Street, although originally there were several more. The Star Inn is the oldest, and dates back to the 15th century. It is tiny in size, with low-beamed ceilings and a huge open log fire. Attached to the beams are berets, helmets and ceremonial hats from various military divisions, alongside other old novelty headwear. Stocks Bar (formerly The Anchor) on the corner of Stock Lane has more of a wine bar appearance. The remaining pubs, The Bell and the Crown, are of a conventional old fashioned style, without the quirkiness of The Star Inn. The businesses represented include accountants, Solicitors, insurance, architects, information technology, engineering, chartered surveyors and education. Ingatestone used to have a large employers in the printing and wheat industries, but both businesses have relocated elsewhere due to the high costs and limited space available in the village. ==Local government== The Civil_parish for the area is governed by Ingatestone_and_Fryerning_Parish_Council. The village lies within the Brentwood borough, although in earlier times the parish was part of Chelmsford borough. ==Geology== Ingatestone just to the north of the southernmost limit of glaciation in the British Isles. Surface deposits over much of the area consist of Boulder_clay and it is only in the north-east of the area that there are more sandy deposits, though still of glacial origin. These glacial deposits overlie London_clay. London clay may actually be seen occasionally in the bed of the River Wid and its tributaries. The geology of the area is responsible for the landscape and the character of farming in surrounding area. Crop farming is the typical use of boulder clay lands. The sandy deposits to the north-east of Ingatestone help explain the greater incidence of woodland and non-arable land in this area. ==See also== *Ingatestone_Hall ==External links== *Ingatestone and Fryerning Parish Council *Anglian Church of St Edmund and St Mary *Ingatestone Elim Pentecostal Church *Anglo European School *Ingatestone Musical and Operetta Group *The Megalithic Portal and Megalith Map Ingatestone Standing Stones *MilestonesWeb Milestone on B1002 Ingatestone High Street *Rotary Club of Ingatestone *Ingatestone - White's Directory of Essex, 1848 Category:Villages_in_Essex Category:Brentwood