Post-medieval village, Ingatestone (EHER 5377)

The character of Ingatestone developed from a small village in the medieval period (see EHER 5376) to a post-medieval thoroughfare. The village was a halting-point on the journey to London for the cattle market and provided travellers with lodgings in inns; at one point as many as 27 were in the town. The construction of the railway in the 1840s led to a decline in Ingatestone's fortunes with the loss of much through traffic.

Ingatestone village area. A plan of the village dated 1600-1601 gives a clear indication of house plans and facades. <1> <2> Copy of 1600-1601 map in EHER. <2> Ingatestone is sited 23 miles from London which made it an obvious point for a staging-post for postal and carrier services. Daniel Defoe (1724-1726) noted that Ingatestone, Chelmsford and Brentwood were 'large thoroughfare towns, full of good inns, and chiefly maintained by the excessive multitude of carriers and passengers, which are constantly passing this way to London, with droves of cattle, provisions and manufactures..'. In the eighteenth century Ingatestone market specialised in cattle, which were brought from as far afield as Wales to be sold to London dealers. Although the cattle market ceased in the beginning of the nineteenth century, the village still remained an important halting-point on the journey to London for both the cattle and poultry trade. The construction of the railway in the 1840s led to a decline in Ingatestone's fortunes with the loss of much through traffic, although the arrival of the motor car following the First World War did much to amend this. The A12 by-pass was built in 1960. The extent of the built-up area in the post-medieval period is derived from the cartographic evidence. The Walker map of 1600-1601 shows Ingatestone at the beginning of the post-medieval period consisting of linear development along both sides of the main road with further housing along Stock Lane including the Petre almshouses and the market as a widening of the main road. By 1770 a new market-place had been laid out at right-angles to the High Street, roughly opposite Star Lane (see below). The role of the village as a staging-post is reflected by the number of inns in the town, at one stage there were twenty-seven in total, the largest of which had stabling for up to sixty horses. The 1874 1st edn. OS map shows further ribbon development along the High Street. <3> <4> A nonintrusive description of 51 High Street, Ingatestone. Described as a long-jetty hall house a common construction early in the 16th century. <5>