Stansted_Mountfitchet is one of the largest parishes in the County of Essex. It derives from the Manors of Stansted and Bentfield Bury. Bentfield Bury remains as a small village to the north west of the town, on the way to the Manuden. The eastern most village is Burton End, which in recent years has been in the shadow, to the east, of the airport, by which the name Stansted, is now most well known.

Stansted has Anglo-Saxon roots, meaning stoney place. Stansted Mountfitchet dates backs to an Iron Age settlement, where a castle was subsequently built in the 12th century by the Normans. The owners adopted the name Montfitchet, from the Normandy town of Montfiquet.

The population of the Stansted estate continued to grow, through the 17th and 18th centuries, with agriculture serving the market towns of Essex and Hertfordshire. Examples of the buildings of this period still remain, such as the Elizabethan Stansted Hall, now used for Education, and many cottage style buildings offering Accommodation

Stansted Mountfitchet continued to expand with the arrival of the railway with its station central to the village. The surrounding countryside has attracted commuters, and the building of the M11, through, the eastern part of the parish, with its junction at Birchanger Green, has stimulated the significance of Transport. Development continues as the East-West A120 road, is upgraded, south of the town.

Property businesses continue to florish. Although residents, still like to refer to Stansted Mountfitchet as a village, it is difficult to regard it as less than a town. Here, only its centre is referred to as 'the old village'

This category also includes the countryside west of the town that forms the boundary with Hertsfordshire, including the villages of Farnham, Farnham Green and Hazel End. To the south of the A120, is the Hertfordshire market town of Bishop's_Stortford. For localities south and east of Birchanger Green, and the A120 eastward, see the District Council of Uttlesford. The next locality to the east is Takeley.