Ingatestone Loop 19.04.2012

Having limited time today and with poor weather predicted, Marie and I decided to do a walk closer to home and settled for the Ingatestone Loop.
We started at Mountnessing Windmill.

Mountnessing Windmill is a grade II* listed post mill at Mountnessing, Essex, England which has been restored to working order.

Mountnessing Windmill was built in 1807, replacing an earlier mill. There are records of a windmill here since 1477. The mill was working until 1924, and it worked again in 1932-33.^[2]
In 1937, ownership of the mill passed from the Blencowe Estates to Mountnessing Parish Council. It was repaired as a memorial to King George VI, whose coronation was in that year.

The walk continues around the rear of the Mill and across a very muddy field full of Rapeseed.

On leaving this field we walked along a lane and then crossed over the A12 into Ingatestone.Through a housing estate to a crossing over the railway line. This crossing has now been closed to the public, a local said it was closed by the railway after the deaths of two girls some years ago.We had to climb over the fencing they had put up to stop people crossing so we could continue the walk.

 We continued along the path up to Ingatestone Hall.

Ingatestone Hall is a 16th-century manor house in Essex, England. It was built by Sir William Petre, and his descendants live in the House to this day.
Queen Elizabeth I of England spent several nights at the hall on her royal progress of 1561.
The Hall has two priest holes. Among the priests to have been at the hall was St. John Payne who was executed in 1582.
Ingatestone Hall is open to the public. It represented the exterior of Bleak House in the 2005 television adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel, and also appeared in an episode of the TV series Lovejoy.

We then diverted off the loop up to Ingatestone High street and St Edmund and St Mary Church.

We walked along the Ingatestone High Street and found a bakery come cafe that had a patio to the rear where we sat with the dogs for tea and cake.

 After the tea we double back on ourselves back down to Ingatestone Hall and along a track heading down towards Buttsbury. To our left we get a view of the rear of Ingatestone Hall.

Continuing along we have fine views to Buttsbury and St Marys at Buttsbury.

 

St. Mary's: the parish church of Buttsbury

Here we made a mistake,instead of crossing over the River Wid and up to St Marys, we continued around the field hoping to cut out the road section. However we made a error on the correct footpath and ended back up at Ingatestone Hall. So we took a road that lead us to a large house called Tilehurst House,Hall Lane Ingatestone.Back in the early 80's it was the des. res of Eugene Benewith worthy proprietor of the London Smoked Salmon Co. The Benewiths sold Tilehurst to an Iranian family (cement interests)and they used it only occasionally. That would have been around 1985.

                                                                    Tilehurst House

We now continue back on route across some fields and past Kitchen Wood,which was in full bloom of bluebells.

We come out onto another road and pass Westland Farm before continuing across another field towards the Church of St Giles Mountnessing.

 We then walked through the graveyard that lead up to the Church Of St Giles.

 Late C11 origin, altered in C13, C17 and early C19, restored in 1889. Mixed rubble with dressings of
limestone and Reigate stone, and red brick in English bond, roofed with handmade red brick tiles. The nave is of late C11 origin, but the only visible evidence is the use of Roman bricks and tiles in the NE quoin, and the re-use of indurated conglomerate in the C13 aisle walls; W end 1653. N and S aisles built in mid-C13, but N aisle re-faced and S aisle rebuilt in 1889. Belfry in W end of nave, C15. Chancel early C19. S porch and S organ-chamber 1889.

We followed the route across more extremely sticky muddy fields and roads towards Mountnessing and the water tower.

We now exit the field for a short walk back to Mountnessing to the Greene King Pub Prince Of Wales PH opposite the Windmill for a pint of IPA and a packet of pork scratchings. Its been a wet day with bouts of sunshine in-between but still a nice walk.

 

 During the days of horse and cart the pub was ideally located as a stopping point for travellers leaving London heading to Chelmsford, Colchester and the rest of East Anglia.