Mountnessing
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 and. Its main attraction is Mountnessing Windmill. At the 2021 census the parish had a population of 1,437.
History
Mountnessing is one of several adjoining places that were historically known as "Inga" or "Ginga", coming from the Old English term gegingas meaning "people of the district". They appear to have all formed part of a single territory in Saxon times. The territory gradually fragmented into smaller manors and parishes, which took various prefixes and suffixes to distinguish them.At the Domesday Book of 1086 there were several estates or manors listed as Inga or Ginga in the Chelmsford Hundred of Essex. The manors are not otherwise distinguished by name in the Domesday Book itself, but historians have deduced that the two Ginga manors owned by Ranulf brother of Ilger correspond to Mountnessing. These manors subsequently passed to the Mounteney family, who likely took their name from somewhere in France called Montenay or Montigny, possibly Montigny in Normandy. The family's lands in Essex therefore became known as Mounteneys' Ing, which became the modern name Mountnessing.
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.
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.
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. A village gradually grew up along the Roman road which later became the A12, some north-west of the parish church. A landmark in the village is Mountnessing Windmill, built in 1807.
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.
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, 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, 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.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.
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 and known as a flapping track, which was the nickname given to independent tracks. Racing took place every Saturday at 3pm, but did not continue beyond 1932.