Ingatestone is a village and former civil parish in Essex, England, with a population of 5,365 inhabitants according to the 2011 census. Just north lies the village of Fryerning, the two forming now the parish of Ingatestone and Fryerning. Ingatestone lies in the Metropolitan Green Belt 20 miles (32 km) north-east of London. Its built-up area straddles the A12 trunk road and the Great Eastern Main Railway Line. It has become an affluent commuter village, seen as one of the UK's best places to live by the Sunday Times in 2020. History Ingatestone appeared in Saxon times on the Essex Great Road (now the A12) between the Roman towns of Londinium (London) and Camulodunum (Colchester). The name means "Ing at the Stone", the suffix distinguishing it from nearby settlements that also formed part of the manor of Ing. It is first recorded in 1283 as Gynges atte Ston. It appears as "Inge atte Stone" in 1433. Stone is not prevalent in the local geology. The village stone, deposited by glacial action, is unusual for the area. A large Sarsen stone can still be seen, split into three, with one piece by the west door of the St Edmund and St Mary's parish church and one each side of the entrance to Fryerning Lane. Ingatestone belonged to Barking Abbey from about 950 CE until the Dissolution of the Monasteries, when it was purchased from the Crown by Sir William Petre. Petre, originally a lawyer from Devon, had risen to become the Secretary of State to Henry VIII. He built a large courtyard house, Ingatestone Hall, as his home in the village, along with almshouses which still exist today as private cottages in Stock Lane. By the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, Fryerning and Ingatestone (Inga) were assigned to the Hundred of Chelmsford, as part of the land of St Mary of Barking with a value of 60 shillings (£3), held by Robert Gernon in demesne. By the 18th century Ingatestone had become a coaching centre, but the advent of the railway saw its importance decrease, along with the traffic on the Essex Great Road. By 1881 the parish had a population of 926 and on 24 March 1889, the parishes of Ingatestone and Fryerning merged to form Ingatestone and Fryerning, encompassing an area of almost . Ingatestone grew further in the 20th century as commuters moved in, attracted by