 The civil parish was formed in 1889 by merging the ancient parishes of Ingatestone and Fryerning.The two parishes were oddly shaped, with the parish of Fryerning running from the north-west to the south-east of Ingatestone, bisecting the other parish.Unusually, most of the village of Ingatestone was in the parish of Fryerning, and therefore not in the parish of Ingatestone.