Essex Walks: Ingatestone
Description & Map
Title: Ingatestone |
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Walk DescriptionThis is a pleasant walk in the countryside outside Ingatestone. It begins with a stroll along the banks of a tributary of the River Wid before taking you through fields to Margaretting Church, then across the Great Eastern Main Line. Then you will walk over farmland to Margaretting, before going through the water meadows, back under the railway and west towards Margeretting Tye, where there is a lovely welcoming pub if you should feel like taking a breather. The route back to the parking takes you through three of the ancient manors of Buttsbury, with some beautiful views across the Essex countryside. |
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Directions
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A. From the lay-by (1) the footpath leads off to the north east, over a footbridge. Once in the field, turn immediately right to follow the hedge to the edge of the
stream. Turn left to walk alongside the stream as it meanders roughly north east (2).
B. Continue until you come close to a facing hedge, and the land ahead slopes down into a ditch. Turn left here to walk roughly north west along the edge of the field.
For about 200 yards you will have a row of trees on your right (3), then just in front of a small copse called Spring Wood, cross through the gap in the trees to your
right and continue north-west, now with the trees on your left.
C. After another 200 yards (just before you get to the end of the wood) you will come to a waymarker directing you to turn right, so as to head north diagonally
across the field towards an oak tree (4). At the facing hedge, turn left following the hedge line then right to walk under the oak tree to a farm track.
Cross the farm track and continue walking north with a hedge on your right.
D. Carry on for about a quarter of a mile, until you come to the inlet for the small reservoir on your right (5). Follow the hedge line around the edge of the field and walk up a
slight slope to a farm track, and turn right.
E. After a few yards you will come to a level crossing on your left. On your right is a gate into St Margaret of Antioch, just past the old vicarage.
This is an interesting old church dating from the 12th century, although when we have visited it has not been possible to go inside.
F. Cross the level crossing and turn immediately right, towards the cottages. Walk along the lane for a few yards, between the cottages and some Leylandii,
and look for a waymarker beneath a silver birch tree, on the right. This points you diagonally across a field, heading north east.
Behind the facing hedge is a row of tall trees. Aim for a footbridge in the facing hedge, towards the easterly end of the row of trees (6).
G. Once over the footbridge, walk north with the hedge on your right, past the beautiful old wooden barns of Canterburys (7).
Cross the access road and continue north with a fence on your left, for about 50 yards. The footpath divides just here, in front of some trees.
Take the right fork, with the trees on your left (8).
H. Walk alongside the trees for about 100 yards then, in the corner of the field, turn sharp left through the bushes into a small copse.
Follow the path round to the right and as you come out into another field, aim for the stile and bridge just to the left of a dead tree (9).
I. Once over the brook, turn right walking south east through the water meadows, along the St Peter's Way. After about a third of a mile, as you approach the railway
embankment, you will see a wooden structure taking you up a slope then down some concrete steps to a pedestrian tunnel under the railway line.
Walk through the tunnel (10) and out the other side, then up the spiral steps.
J. At the top of the steps, walk right for a couple of paces past the overgrowth, and then turn right again to continue walking south east along the field
edge. This is a very good spot for blackberries in the late summer! Keep walking the full length of the field, then cross the footbridge over the River Wid (11).
K. At the south side of the bridge turn left immediately, walking north east along the river bank for about 400 yards. A few yards in front of the facing hedge, the
path turns right and then disappears through the hedge, over a stile and a footbridge. As you come out into the next field, walk south east along the hedge line to a
gate.
L. At the gate a muddy farm track goes off to the left, slightly uphill (12). This track takes you to the White Hart about quarter of a mile away. If you want to stop there (and it is very
pleasant in the summer with plenty of tables outside) go up the track, through the farmyard and along the road.
M. To continue the walk, keep going along the hedge line as it goes south, looking out for a stile in the hedge on your left (13). Cross over this and continue
south east through a small field, with a hedge on your left, to another stile which takes you onto Swan Lane.
Turn right on the road for about a hundred yards, then as the road turns left, continue straight ahead walking south west along the bridleway (14).
N. Keep to the bridleway for about 250 yards, until you come to a footpath crossroads (15). Turn left to go south into a field and cross the field diagonally.
O. On the far side, come out of the field via a wooden gate in front of Fristling Hall. Walk past the telegraph pole to a stile between two paddocks (16).
Walk between the fences until you come out into a huge field, with some stunning views across to the west (17)
P. The path through this field is not always clear, but if you keep fairly close to the line of the telegraph poles, this will take you to a stile through the hedge
into the next field (18). From the far side of the hedge, bear left to go south, straight across this field to the right side of a black barn (19).
Q. As you pass the black barn you come onto the Ramsey Tyrrells farm track. Turn left along this track. After 100 yards it bends to the right, then 250 yards later
bends to the left. After this left turn there is another farm track off to the right with low sign saying Imphy Hall (20). Turn along here, heading roughly south west.
R. Keep walking along this track as it turns to the right and passes Imphy Hall (21). There is a gate just before the Hall itself, with a stile to the left of it.
The Hall and outbuildings are lovely - spare a thought for the chap who looks after the Leylandii: keeping them in that condition must be a full time job!
S. Continue along the track for a little over half a mile (22), until it turns sharp right. A few yards past this bend, cross over the stile on the left
into a field, and walk around the field edge with the hedge on your right.
As you come close to Stock Lane you will see a gate and stile on the right (23), go through these and turn left to the roadside.
T. At the lane, turn right to walk down hill to the bridge, (24) and the parking.
History
Ingatestone
Ingatestone is on the old Roman Road between Colchester and London, and probably grew up around a large pudding stone - the name means 'the meadow by the stone', in Anglo Saxon. Puddingstones are made up of rounded flint pebbles and river sediment, and so look like plum pudding! Ancient glaciers tore up chunks of this conglomerate from river beds and carried them south, leaving them behind when the glaciers melted. In East Anglia these boulders took on a special significance because there were no other big rocky outcrops around. Puddingstones became early waymarkers - they can be found at the site of fords and ancient lane crossings, and are said denote a special point or line of earth energy. From megalithic times onwards, they held a sacred significance and were often built into the walls of ancient churches. The Ingatestone puddingstone still exists but has at some point been divided into 3 pieces. These can still be seen, on either side of the junction of Fryerning Lane with the High Street, with the remaining piece in the St Edmund and St Mary's churchyard. Nowadays Ingatestone is a busy commuter village, notable for the large number of independent retailers still thriving in the High Street.
Church of St Margaret of Antioch, Margaretting
The oldest parts of this church were built in the 12 century, with several features dating from the 15th century including the wooden tower with shingled spire and belfry. The church itself is about a mile from the
village, near Margaretting Hall. Although in Medieval times it was not uncommon for churches to be built more for the convenience of the gentry than commoners,
some interesting questions have been raised by the discovery of Roman bricks during a restoration in the 19th century. These might indicate an even older structure
once existed; possibly pre-Christian. Pope Augustine instructed his missionaries, wherever possible, to convert pagan temples into churches rather than construct
new ones, and Essex evangelists like St Cedd and St Dunstan took him at his word. There seems to be a ley line runs through the site of the church, running roughly
east-north-east from the puddingstones in Ingatestone towards Margaretting Tye, and this may indicate the site was sacred in ancient times, perhaps explaining why the
Church is located so far from the village.
Fristling Hall
Fristling (sometimes spelled Ferstlyng, or Thursting) Hall was one of the seven manors of Buttsbury. Although its origins are Saxon - the deeds of the farm are said to go back to around 900AD - it gets its name from Norman occupants, Geoffrey and Godfrey de Fristling. At the time of the Norman Conquest, 1066, it was owned by St Mary's Abbey, Barking.
The White Hart Inn, Margaretting Tye
The White Hart Inn is a lovely country pub in the tiny hamlet of Margaretting Tye, with plenty of tables outside for thirsty walkers. The pub is about 250 years old, and is on a slight rise, known locally as Tigers Island. The 'Island' derived from the fact that when the river Wid flooded and the waters rose, it never quite reached as high as the pub. The 'Tigers' were the railway builders, who got dressed up to visit the pub each weekend, and were known to be fierce fighters!
Ramsey Tyrrells
Ramsey Tyrrells can be traced back to Norman times. Perhaps its most famous occupant was Sir Walter Tyrrell, who killed King William II (William Rufus) whilst hunting in the New Forest, in the year 1100. After the killing, fearing that he would be tried for murder, Sir Walter fled to France. In fact, all parties agreed that the killing was an accident, and it seems the new King, Henry I, was so well disposed to Sir Walter that he granted him 2 manors in the Buttsbury area, one of which was the manor of Ramsey. The change of name to Ramsey Tyrrells occurred at some point in the mid-13th Century. An account of King William's death, and Sir Walter Tyrrell's role in the affair, was written shortly after the event by William of Malmesbury, as follows:
"After dinner [the King] went into the forest, attended by few persons... [Walter Tirel] alone had remained with him, while the others, employed in the chase, were dispersed as chance directed. The sun was now declining, when the king, drawing his bow and letting fly an arrow, slightly wounded a stag which passed before him; and, keenly gazing, followed it, still running, a long time with his eyes, holding up his hand to keep off the power of the sun's rays. At this instant Walter [attempted] to transfix another stag... [but] unknowingly, and without power to prevent it, O gracious God! pierced [the king's] breast with a fatal arrow. On receiving the wound the king uttered not a word; but breaking off the shaft of the weapon where it projected from his body, and then falling upon the wound, he accelerated his death. Walter immediately ran up, but as he found him senseless and speechless he leaped swiftly upon his horse, and escaped by spurring him to his utmost speed. Indeed there was none to pursue him, some conniving at his flight, others pitying him, and all intent on other matters. Some began to fortify their dwellings, others to plunder, and the rest to look out for a new king."
Imphy Hall
Imphy Hall is one of the older manors of Buttsbury, being mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086.
The name 'Imphy' originates from the Olde English pre-7th century word 'imphaga' meaning a defensive wall made of saplings, or an enclosure created by trees.
In 1190 Richard I granted Imphy to the Benedictine Priory and Nunnery of Ickleton in Cambridgeshire, and it remained in the Nunnery's possession for 350 years
until the dissolution of the monasteries by Henry VIII. There was even a small Nunnery there at that time.
There are some suggestions that there also used to be a village of Imphy which was 'cleared' during the period of the Enclosure Acts, when tenants had their common
grazing rights removed, and were forced to move elsewhere in search of work. The current building, a 17th century timber framed house, is a Grade II listed building.
Margaretting
The following is taken from Revd. Alfred Suckling's book, "Memorials of the antiquities and architecture, family history and heraldry of the County of Essex" (John Weale, London, 1845). The author, a Suffolk man by origin, became Stipendiary Curate of Margaretting in 1834.
"Had this little village received a translation instead of an inversion of its Saxon impounds, its appellation at the present day might have sounded less harshly to our ears. Ging Margaret (as it is written in Domesday Book) signifying literally the Meadow of Margaret. As the church is dedicated to a female saint of that name, and the greater part of the parish lies on the banks of the little river which flows onwards towards Chelmsford, no derivation can be more accurately defined, or more justly applied, yet St. Margaret's Meadow must be allowed to be a more euphonical, as well as a more intelligible appellation, than that which it at present bears of Margareting. It is a straggling village, extending along and in great part bisected by the London and Chelmsford road, for above three miles; while breadth, which varies much, is in no part of a similar magnitude. The soil may certainly be considered fertile, though of a deep and clayey quality, and its surface is agreeably diversified by gentle swells and undulations. The purity of its air may he demonstrated from the age and rigour of it inhabitants, many of whom are at this day (Jan. 1834) verging fast towards ninety years and in the enjoyment of their mental and corporeal faculties in a degree very unusual at such an advanced period of life."
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