The Modern Antiquarian. Stone Circles, Ancient Sites, Neolithic Monuments, Ancient Monuments, Prehistoric Sites, Megalithic MysteriesThe Modern Antiquarian

Ingatestone

Christianised Site

Miscellaneous

The names Ingatestone and Fryerning probably have a common origin which may go back to the earliest days of the Saxon settlement of Essex, perhaps in the 6th century AD. Generally, place names including 'ing' are thought to refer to groups or tribes of Saxon settlers who had crossed the North Sea to colonise Britain.

Historians have suggested that Ingatestone and Fryerning refer to a Saxon leader called Giga whose group settled in the area of these villages.

Ingatestone got its name from Giga's people with 'stone' added to it. The stone stood once in the modern recreation ground by the church, and is now in three pieces, one by the south door of the church and two on either side of the entry to Fryerning Lane.

If it is asked what a stone should give its name to a village, it should be remembered that there are no big stones to be found in this part of Essex; a stone left by the Ice Age about three feet high and three feet round is quite rare enough to be used to distinguish the village where it lay from the other 'ing' villages.
Posted by Killer
17th June 2002ce

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