Ingatestone & Fryerning Parish Council was formed in 1895, following the passing of the Local Government Act in 1894. The Act created civil parishes, separating them from the church, giving them surprisingly few duties but many and wide-ranging powers to work for the benefit of their communities. Ingatestone & Fryerning Parish Council got to work straight away to acquire land for allotments in 1895 and a cemetery at Fryerning in 1899.
Boundary changes in 1972 meant that the Parish became part of the Brentwood District, rather than Chelmsford, and Ingatestone & Fryerning Parish Council is the largest of the nine parishes within the Borough of Brentwood.
The modern parish council is a corporate body with the power to raise money by taxation (the precept). It is an elected tier of local government and has an important role to play in representing the interests of the community it serves to improve quality of life.
Ingatestone & Fryerning Parish Council has twelve elected members who took office in May 2019 and subsequently co-opted the additional three positions. The Council’s responsibilities include:
Its income is made up mainly from the precept, burial fees, hall and field hires. We have also been successful in recent years in obtaining capital grants for specific projects.
Its office at Suite 2, 4 The Limes, Ingatestone, Essex, CM4 0BE is run by four part time staff; a Parish Clerk who is also the Responsible Financial Officer, an Assistant Clerk who is responsible for cemetery management, a Communications and Projects Clerk and a Parish Caretaker.
Chairs of the parish council
| Dates | Chair |
| 1895 – 1913 | H G M Conybeare |
| 1913 – 1931 | C T Sidgwick |
| 1931 – 1933 | A R Wilson |
| 1933 – 1937 | P Green |
| 1937 – 1952 | F N Disney |
| 1952 – 1955 | E N Warder |
| 1955 – 1964 | F N Disney |
| 1964 – 1969 | E J Parmenter |
| 1969 – 1984 | E N Warder |
| 1984 – 1987 | R C Sturmer |
| 1987 – 1988 | L R Day |
| 1988 – 1990 | C R Dale |
| 1990 – 1994 | J Lutkins |
| 1994 – 2001 | P B Baggott |
| 2001 – 2003 | B Tytherleigh |
| 2003 – 2011 | C R Dale |
| 2011 – 2016 | L Boyce |
| 2016 – | P Jeater |
