Milepost Between Numbers 74 And 76

This is an early 19th-century milestone located between numbers 74 and 76 on the High Street in Ingatestone. It is made of cast iron and has a triangular shape. One side is embossed with the distance to Chelmsford (6 miles), another displays the distance to Brentwood (5 miles), and the back, facing southeast, is embossed with 'Ingatestone'. The route from Shenfield to Ingatestone was one of the earliest in Essex to be made a turnpike road in 1695, and milestones were required by law from the 1760s. This particular design in cast iron was introduced in 1819 by the Essex Trust, at the suggestion of Lewis Majendie, to avoid the recurring expense of recutting inscriptions on limestone and improve clarity. A previous milestone at this location is recorded in Cary's 1790 map.