Ingatestone Hall
A Tudor brick manor house in Essex, still the home of the Petre family, with oak-panelled rooms open on summer afternoons and ten acres of gardens.
Have only individual sections read aloud
About the museum
Ingatestone Hall stands on land that belonged to Barking Abbey until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. William Petre, a lawyer who worked for Henry VIII's minister Thomas Cromwell and visited monastic houses to record their possessions, took a lease on the manor and bought it from the Crown in 1539. He pulled down the old steward's house and built the brick mansion that survives in large part today, which a surveyor described in 1566 as very fair, large and stately. It was an advanced building for its time and one of the earliest houses to have piped water and flushing drains.
After Petre's death his son moved to Thorndon Hall near Brentwood, which became the main family seat for about three hundred years, and Ingatestone served as a retreat or a home for a widow or heir. In the eighteenth century the west wing with the Great Hall was demolished, windows were modernised and the house was divided into apartments. After Thorndon Hall burned in 1876 and the 16th Lord Petre was killed in the First World War, the family moved back in 1919, and his widow set about restoring the Tudor appearance of the building, with the first phase finished in 1922.
During the Second World War the Hall housed a school, and from the 1950s until the late 1970s the north wing was let to Essex County Council for the Record Office. The Petre family, now in its fifteenth generation of ownership, still lives in the Hall and has opened it for visits and hire since 1992. Visitors can see eight principal rooms with paintings, furniture and memorabilia, and ten acres of gardens with lawns, a walled garden and a stew pond.
Highlights
- Tudor brick house built by Sir William Petre in the 1540s
- Eight principal rooms with paintings, furniture and family memorabilia
- Home of the same family for fifteen generations
- Ten acres of gardens with walled garden and stew pond
- Tudor chimneys, crow-step gables and oak-panelled rooms
- Early piped water supply and drains
Permanent exhibition
- The Tudor house – Eight principal rooms with paintings, furniture and memorabilia collected by the Petre family over the centuries.
- Founded
- 1992
Admission & discounts
| Adults | £10.50 |
|---|---|
| Reduced | £8.40Pensioners |
| Children & teens | £5.25free up to age 4 · Children aged 5 to 16; under 5s are free. |
| Seniors | £8.40Pensioners. |
| Groups | –Guided tours for groups are charged per tour: £190 for up to 25 people, £250 for 26 to 50 people and £325 for 51 to 75 people (2026 prices). |
The prices are those published for 2026, and prices may differ for special events. Unaccompanied children are not admitted.
Accessibility
- Partially wheelchair accessible
- Elevator: no information
- Accessible restroom: no information
- Accessible parking: no information
- Service dogs welcome
- Tactile models & exhibits: no information
- Sign language tours: no information
- Easy-to-read materials: no information
- Audio description: no information
The house cannot offer ideal access because it is a sixteenth-century building: there is no access to the upper floor. Most of the grounds are accessible, but there are some steep slopes and soft surfaces. The house is about a 200 metre walk from the car park. Dogs are not allowed in the house or grounds except guide dogs.
Kids & families
| Kids’ admission | free up to age 4 |
|---|
Children aged 5 to 16 pay a reduced price and under 5s are free, but unaccompanied children are not admitted. School parties are welcomed on pre-booked days when the house is not open to the public.
Getting there & parking
By public transit
Ingatestone station
Ingatestone station is on the main line between London Liverpool Street and Chelmsford, with hourly trains in both directions and a journey of 35 minutes from Liverpool Street. The Hall is ¾ mile from the station. Bus 351 runs from Brentwood and Chelmsford to Ingatestone High Street; the Hall is ¾ mile from the bus stop. There is a taxi office but no rank at the station.
By car
Free parking · 200 m to the entrance
Free parking is in the Meadow Car Park, where picnics are allowed; the house is about 200 metres from the car park.
Ingatestone lies off the A12 between Brentwood and Chelmsford (junction 28 of the M25); from the London end of the High Street take Station Lane, cross the level crossing and continue for half a mile. The postcode CM4 9NR is logged incorrectly in some satnav systems, and the Hall advises using CM4 9NS instead. Helicopters can land next to the grounds by prior arrangement.
Get directionsAmenities & dining
- Café
- Museum shop
Teas and light lunches are served in the Summer Parlour whenever the house is open without pre-booking. The shop sells gifts and souvenirs. Picnics are permitted in the Meadow Car Park.
Events & venue rental
- Spaces for rent
- Private parties
- Corporate events
- Weddings / ceremonies
The public rooms and grounds can be hired for receptions, dinners, weddings and civil partnerships, conferences, plays and concerts, exhibitions and fairs, and filming. Craft fairs and exhibitions have attracted up to 1,500 visitors a day. The premises are licensed for live music and alcohol, and no fixed scale of fees is published.
Inquiries & detailsPlan your visit
| Guided tours | yes · approx. 1.5 hrs |
|---|---|
| School programs | yes |
| Photography | Photography is not permitted inside the house. |
| Good to know | Guided tours for parties are available by prior arrangement throughout the year, including mornings and evenings on open days, and take about 1½ hours for groups of up to 25 people. Schools can book a day visit with a talk and tour of the house and grounds and project work; only one school party is admitted on any day, with a maximum of 60 children. Unaccompanied children are not admitted to public openings. |
