Iken: Difference between revisions
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Iken was part of Sudbourne Hall Estate. It was comprised largely of tenant farms and cottages for farm workers. The owners of the estate valued the area more for shooting than farming, and a decoy pond was built at Iken in the eighteenth century. Only a handful of new houses have been built in the village since the break up of the Estate, and no council houses have ever been built. |
Iken was part of Sudbourne Hall Estate. It was comprised largely of tenant farms and cottages for farm workers. The owners of the estate valued the area more for shooting than farming, and a decoy pond was built at Iken in the eighteenth century. Only a handful of new houses have been built in the village since the break up of the Estate, and no council houses have ever been built. |
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In the pre-railway era Iken Cliff was a commercial area used for transporting coal and wheat, and there was a public house near the shore. Flat barges used to sit on the mud at low tide and goods were moved in wheelbarrows. |
In the pre-railway era Iken Cliff was a commercial area used for transporting coal and wheat, and there was a public house near the shore. Flat barges used to sit on the mud at low tide and goods were moved in wheelbarrows. The last heathland around Iken Cliff was ploughed up after the second world war. |
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The population reached a peak of 380 in 1840, steadily declining to around 100. |
The population reached a peak of 380 in 1840, steadily declining to around 100. |
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Revision as of 10:03, 16 August 2020
| Iken | |
|---|---|
 St Botolph's Church, Iken | |
  Iken Location within Suffolk | |
| Population | 101 (2011)[1] |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Woodbridge |
| Postcode district | IP12 |
| UK Parliament | |
Iken is a small village and civil parish in the sandlands of the English county of Suffolk, an area formerly of heathland and sheep pasture. To its West is Tunstall Forest, created since the 1920's by the Forestry Commission and now part of the Sandlings Forest.
It is near the estuary of the River Alde on the North Sea coast and is located south east of Snape and due north of Orford.
Iken was part of Sudbourne Hall Estate. It was comprised largely of tenant farms and cottages for farm workers. The owners of the estate valued the area more for shooting than farming, and a decoy pond was built at Iken in the eighteenth century. Only a handful of new houses have been built in the village since the break up of the Estate, and no council houses have ever been built.
In the pre-railway era Iken Cliff was a commercial area used for transporting coal and wheat, and there was a public house near the shore. Flat barges used to sit on the mud at low tide and goods were moved in wheelbarrows. The last heathland around Iken Cliff was ploughed up after the second world war.
The population reached a peak of 380 in 1840, steadily declining to around 100.
During World War 2 most of Iken and the neighbouring village of Sudbourne were used as a battle training area in advance of the D-Day landings in June 1944. The inhabitants were relocated returning sometime after the war finished.[2]
Benjamin Britten set his opera The Little Sweep in Iken Hall, then the home of Margery Spring Rice, who was one of the founders of the Aldeburgh Festival.
St Botolph’s Church
The Anchorage, formerly an island in what was a marsh at the edge of the estuary, is the most likely site of Saint Botolph's Abbey, Ikenhoe. During excavations in 1977 Dr Stanley West discovered part of a large stone Saxon cross incorporated into the wall of St Botolph's Church tower. The Cross was carved with the heads of dogs and wolves, symbols which were traditionally recognised as St Botolph's emblems during the Middle Ages and therefore it is thought that the cross may originally have been a memorial to him.
The Church is Grade II listed; it is the only listed building in the village.[3] At the time of the most recent amendment to the listing (1984), the church was still burnt out. The nave is the oldest part, dating from before 1200. The chancel fell into disuse after the Reformation, and was in ruins by the 18th century. It was rebuilt in 1853. The tower is 15th century. The church suffered a devastating fire in 1968, caused by sparks from a bonfire.[4] It is one of 18 churches in the Wilford Benefice Group of Churches.[5]
Features inside the church include a war memorial in the Church to the ten men of the village who died in WWI, an Orthodox icon to St Botolph, and a 15th century octagonal font.
Julian Tennyson, (1915-1945), writer and historian, most famous for his writings on his home county of Suffolk, is commemorated by a headstone in the churchyard of St Botolph's.
The former rectory next door, now the Anchorage, was sold to a private individual after the second world war, and as a result of a conveyancing mistake, access to the church was greatly restricted by the new owner.
Governance
There is a parish council.[6]
Iken was brought to national attention, in the aftermath of the fire, by the decision of the renowned judge, Sir Robert Megarry, to conduct a hearing in person at Iken, partly to take evidence from a witness who was unable to travel to London and partly to conduct a mock funeral in order to test a disputed right of way.[7] The result of that litigation had the effect of requiring the materials for the rebuilding of the church in by foot.
Buildings
There are two former pubs in the village: the Anchor [8] and the Boot [9] both of which closed in the 19th century.
There was also a poorhouse established in the early nineteenth century.
- ^ "Civil Parish population 2011". Retrieved 16 September 2015.
- ^ Simper, Robert (1995). Rivers Alde,Ore and Blythe. UK: Creekside Publishing. p. 56. ISBN 0 9519927 3 2.
- ^ "National Heritage List entry 1198033". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
- ^ "Suffolk Churches: Iken". www.suffolkchurches.co.uk. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
- ^ "St Botolph's Iken". www.achurchnearyou.com. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
- ^ "Iken Parish Council". www.parish-council.com. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
- ^ St Edmundsbury and Ipswich Diocesan Board of Finance v Clark [1973] 3 All ER 902 and St Edmundsbury and Ipswich Diocesan Board of Finance v Clark (No. 2) [1975] 1 All ER 772.
- ^ "Suffolk CAMRA pub 1449". suffolk.camra.org.uk. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
- ^ "Suffolk CAMRA pub 4515". suffolk.camra.org.uk. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
External links
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