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PLACE NAMES
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Ickenham
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Ickenham is an area centred on an old village in Greater London, part of the London Borough of Hillingdon.
While no major historical events have taken place in Ickenham, settlements dating back to the Roman occupation of Britain have been discovered during archaeological surveys, and the area appears in the Domesday Book. Buildings from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries remain standing and have been restored in recent years.
The village was originally split into four manors, which became two: Ickenham and Swakeleys. The old manorial home of Swakeleys, a 17th-century Jacobean mansion Swakeleys House still stands, and much of the Swakeleys estate was sold for housing in the 1920s. Ickenham's manorial home, Manor Farm, now forms part of Long Lane Farm. A military station, RAF West Ruislip, was opened in 1917. Its final use was for the Navy Exchange of the U.S. Naval Activities, United Kingdom command between 1975 and 2006.
According to the 1901 Census, Ickenham at that time had a population of 329, which by the 2001 Census had reached 9,933, although census figures show a marked population decline during the 1960s and 1970s. By the 2011 Census, the population had reached 10,387. When Ickenham obtained a railway station on the Metropolitan Railway's line between Harrow and Uxbridge, it brought with it a rail link to London. A great deal of residential development commenced in the village and it gradually became part of the London commuter belt. Ickenham expanded with the sale and development of much of the Swakeleys estate in 1922 and became part of what was later termed "Metro-land".
Ickenham appears in the Domesday Book three times under the name "Ticheham".
The Domesday Book describes the land as being predominantly flat and composed of London clay with the exception of alluvium along the banks of the River Pinn. Of the few archaeological surveys of Ickenham carried out, one in 1994 by the Museum of London found a system of Roman fields, dating back to the 1st and 2nd centuries along with pottery fragments. Research suggest that the area may have been abandoned for a period following the departure of the Romans from Britain around AD 410.
The Pynchester Moat is a Scheduled Ancient Monument on the River Pinn just east of Copthall Road West. Although usually dry in the summer months, the moat surrounding the location of a manor house can still be seen. Excavations of the site between 1966 and 1969 found pottery and an oven dating back to the 14th or 15th century. It is believed the manor house at the centre of the moat was "Pynchester", a building owned by the Hastings family in the 16th century.
The moat is a point of interest on the Celandine Route, a 12-mile (19 km) walk along the River Pinn from Pinner to the Grand Union Canal at Cowley.
Built between 1629 and 1638 for Sir Edmund Wright, Swakeleys House replaced an existing structure dating back to the 14th century. In later years the Foreign & Commonwealth Office Sports Association bought the house, followed by the London Postal Region Sports Club. Cricket matches between the club and local teams from Ickenham and Uxbridge were played within the grounds. The house was bought by three local residents in the 1980s and restored, whereupon it was leased to Bristol-Myers Squibb for 25 years. Since the expiry of the lease in 2009, the house has been open to the public for one day a year as part of Open House London.
The biennial Ickenham Festival has taken place in the town since 1976, originally with the aim of highlighting the variety of societies and groups in the area. The festival normally centres on a charity gala day in June, when various groups including Scouts, church groups and schools parade through the town, finishing with a large fete in the grounds of Swakeleys House. Fireworks mark the end of the festival in the evening. The festival Gala moved to the grounds of Vyners School in 2014 after a dispute with the owner of Swakeleys House.
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