Icklingham

Coordinates: 52°19′N 0°35′E / 52.31°N 00.59°E / 52.31; 00.59
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Icklingham
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBury St Edmunds
Postcode districtIP28
PoliceSuffolk
FireSuffolk
AmbulanceEast of England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Suffolk
52°19′N 0°35′E / 52.31°N 00.59°E / 52.31; 00.59
Icklingham Village Sign

Icklingham is a village and

A1101 road between Bury St Edmunds and Mildenhall in the north-west of the county. The area around the village, characterised by a sandy gravel-laden soil, is known as Breckland
, though an arm of the fen-like peat follows the River Lark past the village.

The village straddles the

All Saints Church, Icklingham, which is of Norman in origin and a Grade I listed building.[1]

The village is characterised by flint and pale brick cottages. There were two thriving

public houses
, including the magnificent thatched Red Lion, in the village, but they both closed. However, in October 2019, the Red Lion was re-opened as the Guinness Arms. A village shop no longer exists, and the village hall, the former School House, is now in private hands.

The village contains 11 listed buildings.[2]

The Guinness Arms pub, Icklingham
St James Church, Icklingham

History

The village may take its name from an

Angeln, which would give rise to kings of both East Anglia and Mercia
.

Icklingham has a

Roman Christian graveyard, and a lead receptacle, reputed to be a baptismal font, was found on the same site. It is now located in the British Museum
.

It was also one of the largest

Liverpool University over many years. The Black Ditches boundary ditch runs to the south of the village and is believed to be the most easterly of a series of early Anglo-Saxon defensive earthworks built across the Icknield Way
.

From 1808 to 1814 Icklingham was the site of a station in the

Admiralty in London to its naval ships in the port of Great Yarmouth. It has been said that on a clear day, a message could reach Great Yarmouth from The Admiralty in London, and receive a reply, in little more than 17 minutes. The horse-borne messenger would take three days at best.[3]

Natural environment

Icklingham is within the area known as

stone curlew
. The village is surrounded by the Breckland Farmland Site of Special Scientific Interest and close to the Breckland Forest SSSI, both of which cover large area of Breckland and are two of the largest SSSI areas in England.

The Icknield Way Path passes through the village on its 110-mile journey from Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire to Knettishall Heath in Suffolk. The Icknield Way Trail, a multi-user route for walkers, horse riders and off-road cyclists also passes through the village. In the first half of the 19th century, great bustards were occasionally seen around Icklingham before they became extinct in the British Isles.[4]

A number of smaller SSSI areas are found in the Icklingham area. These include Berner's Heath, the largest area of heather heathland in Breckland at 149.6 hectares (369.7 acres),[5] and Deadman's Grave, a grassland heath area of 126.3 hectares (312.1 acres), both of which are north of the village.[6] Cavenham-Icklingham Heaths, to the south-east of the village, is 418.8 hectares (1,034.9 acres) in area and includes a number of woodland habitats.[7] All contain rare species such as Rosser's sac spider (Clubiona rosserae) and the soldier-fly (Odontomyia angulata) as well as stone curlew and plant species such as Breckland wild thyme (Thymus serpyllum) and spring speedwell (Veronica verna).[6][7]

See also

References

  1. ^ Historic England. "Church of All Saints, Icklingham (1351332)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  2. ^ "Listed Buildings in England".
  3. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 21 October 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. ^ "List of birds rarely and occasionally met with in Suffolk | British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  5. ^ Berner's Heath, Icklingham Archived 4 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine, SSSI citation, Natural England. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
  6. ^ a b Deadman's Grave, Icklingham Archived 4 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine, SSSI citation, Natural England. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
  7. ^ a b Cavenham-Icklingham Heaths Archived 4 May 2015 at the Wayback Machine, SSSI citation, Natural England. Retrieved 2013-01-26.

External links

Media related to Icklingham at Wikimedia Commons

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