Its built-up area straddles the A12 trunk road and the Great Eastern Main Line railway.

Ingatestone appeared in Saxon times[1][2] on the Essex Great Road (now the A12) between the Roman towns of Londinium (London) and Camulodunum (Colchester).

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.

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.

[6] By the 18th century, Ingatestone had become a coaching centre; however, the advent of the railway saw its importance decrease, along with the traffic on the Essex Great Road.

The glacial deposits overlie London clay, which can be seen occasionally in the bed of the River Wid and its tributaries.

The sandy deposits to the north-east of Ingatestone are a contributory factor in the greater incidence of woodland and non-arable land in this area.

It largely retains its Tudor appearance, following restoration carried out between 1915 and 1937, and is set in formal gardens surrounded by eleven acres (4.5 hectares) 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.

The smallpox inoculator, Daniel Sutton, made his base on Ingatestone High Street in Brandiston House and carried out much of his work here.

The other park is the Fairfield, a historic site of village fairs, which is privately owned by the Petre family and leased to the parish council.

There are four places of worship in Ingatestone: Anglican, Roman Catholic, Elim Pentecostal, and United Reformed.

It provides direct access to East London, Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich, Harwich and Lowestoft; it also connects to the M25 motorway 7 miles (11 km) away.