Mountnessing

Mountnessing
Mountnessing
Location within Essex
Interactive map of Mountnessing
Population1,437 (Parish, 2021)[1]
OS grid referenceTQ624971
Civil parish
  • Mountnessing
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBRENTWOOD
Postcode districtCM13, CM15
Dialling code01277
PoliceEssex
FireEssex
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament

Mountnessing is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Brentwood in Essex, England. It is situated to the north-east of Brentwood and south-west of Ingatestone. The main part of the village lies along the Roman Road between Brentwood and Ingatestone, which was formerly the A12 until the village was bypassed in the 1970s. The village is approximately equidistant between the two closest railway stations at Shenfield and Ingatestone. Its main attraction is Mountnessing Windmill. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 1,437.

History

Mountnessing is one of a number of villages on or near the river Wid to contain an old name, Ing. It is thought that this was the name of a large district that encompassed these places, found in the Domesday Book as Ginga or Inga, part of the Chelmsford Hundred. Its etymology is uncertain, but Eilert Ekwall has proposed the reconstructed Old English name *Gigingas or similar as the original name of the district. He connects this with OE gē (equivalent of Gothic gawi), meaning "district". Gawi is posited as the base of Gauingen in Germany, and is found in several personal names. Ekwall suggests *Gēga or *Giga as possible Essex-dialect personal names (derived from gē) from which *Gigingas (possibly "the people of Giga") may derive.[2][3][4]

In 1086, the two Ginga manors in the Domesday Book that correspond to Mountnessing were held by tenant-in-chief Ranulf brother of Ilger, who was also lord of the more valuable manor. In total there were 48 households, consisting of 16 villagers, 1 freeman, 23 smallholders, and 8 slaves, as well as 60 sheep and 7 cattle.[5] The land passed to the Mounteney family (named after a place called Montenay or Montigny in Normandy) and its name evolved to Gynge[s] Munteny by the 13th century, then Mounteneysynge ("Mounteney's Ing") in the 15th century.[6]

No church or priest is mentioned at either of the Mountnessing manors in the Domesday Book, but it seems to have become a parish shortly afterwards. Mountntessing's parish church is dedicated to St Giles and the oldest parts date back to the late 11th century.[7]

An Augustinian monastery called Thoby Priory was founded in the 12th century in the parish, on a site to the north-west of the modern village. The priory was suppressed in 1525. Some ruins of the priory buildings remain.[8]

The parish historically comprised numerous scattered hamlets within the rural area rather than having a dominant central village. The church and the 16th century manor house of Mountntessing Hall stand alongside each other, but with few other houses nearby.[9][10] A village gradually grew up along the Roman road which later became the A12, some 1.3 miles (2.1 km) north-west of the parish church. A landmark in the village is Mountnessing Windmill, built in 1807.[11]

The A12 now bypasses the village to the south-east. The village is now classed as part of the built up area of Ingatestone by the Office for National Statistics.[12]

Amenities

An annual village fete is held in July. In the Windmill field, there is a village hall, cricket pitch, football pitches and tennis courts.

The village has three pubs (The George and Dragon, The Plough and the Prince of Wales), a butcher's and a hairdressers.

There is a primary school, Mountnessing C of E, on Roman Road.

Governance

There are three tiers of local government covering Mountnessing, at parish (village), district, and county level: Mountnessing Village Council, Brentwood Borough Council, and Essex County Council. The parish council generally meets at St John's Hall on Church Close and has an office at the Village Hall on Roman Road.[13]

Mountnessing was an ancient parish in the Chelmsford Hundred of Essex. When elected parish and district councils were established in 1894, the parish was included in the Billericay Rural District. On the abolition of that rural district in 1934, Mountnessing was transferred to the Chelmsford Rural District. Further reforms in 1974 saw the parish become part of Brentwood district.[14][15]

Sport

The village is home to Mountnessing Cricket Club.

A short-lived greyhound racing track was opened during 1931, at Chain Bridge on the main London Road. The racing was independent (not affiliated to the sports governing body the National Greyhound Racing Club) and known as a flapping track, which was the nickname given to independent tracks.[16] Racing took place every Saturday at 3pm, but did not continue beyond 1932.[17]

References

  1. ^ "2021 Census Parish Profiles". NOMIS. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 31 March 2025. (To get individual parish data, use the query function on table PP002.)
  2. ^ Wall, Eilert (1923). English Place-Names in -ing. Lund: C. W. K. Gleerup. pp. 45–46.
  3. ^ Ekwall, Eilert (1960). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-Names (4th ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. p. 251.
  4. ^ Rippon, Stephen (2022). Territoriality and the Early Medieval Landscape: The Countryside of the East Saxon Kingdom. Boydell Press. pp. 171–172. ISBN 9781783276806. Retrieved 16 December 2025.
  5. ^ Powell-Smith, Anna. "Mountnessing". Open Domesday. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  6. ^ Ekwall (1960). p. 317
  7. ^ Historic England. "Church of St Giles (Grade I) (1208238)". National Heritage List for England.
  8. ^ Historic England. "Thoby Priory Ruins (Grade II) (1293183)". National Heritage List for England.
  9. ^ Historic England. "Mountnessing Hall and attached walls, railings and gates (Grade II) (1197325)". National Heritage List for England.
  10. ^ History of the Brentwood Borough Parishes (PDF). Brentwood: Brentwood Council. n.d.
  11. ^ Historic England. "Mountnessing Windmill (Grade II*) (1293205)". National Heritage List for England.
  12. ^ "Built Up Areas (December 2022) Boundaries". ONS Geography. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  13. ^ "Mountnessing Village Council". Retrieved 19 December 2025.
  14. ^ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 31 May 2023
  15. ^ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Names) Order 1973", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1973/551, retrieved 31 May 2023
  16. ^ Barnes, Julia (1988). Daily Mirror Greyhound Fact File, page 410. Ringpress Books. ISBN 0-948955-15-5.
  17. ^ "Brentwood (Chain Bridge)(". Greyhound Racing Times.

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