Ickwell
Ickwell | |
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Bedfordshire and Luton | |
Ambulance | East of England |
Ickwell is a small, rural village in the Central Bedfordshire district of the county of Bedfordshire, England about 6.5 miles (10 km) south-east of the county town of Bedford.
The 2011 census shows its population as 298.[1]
Ickwell is part of the civil parish of Northill.
The village is known for its maypole and for being the birthplace of Thomas Tompion, the "Father of English Clockmaking".
History
Ickwell is not mentioned in
The manor of Ickwell (or Ickwell Bury) was part of the Barony of Eaton, with the other lands in Bedfordshire of Eudo, son of Hubert. Before 1284, it was given by William Hobcote to the prior of the
Ickwell Bury
Ickwell Green
Cricket has been played on Ickwell Green for more than one hundred and twenty years, and Ickwell Green Cricket Club is one of the oldest such clubs in Bedfordshire.[4]
Ickwell is the birthplace of the English master clockmaker and watchmaker Thomas Tompion (c. 1639–1713), whose family cottage stands on Caldecote Road.[5] Tompion was the son of a local blacksmith, another Thomas Tompion, and is believed to have worked at Ickwell as a blacksmith, but to have left by 1665 when his father died and the smithy was taken on by his younger brother, James.[6]
All parts of the parish of Northill share a war memorial, which is at Ickwell Green and takes the form of a stone cross made of Portland stone bearing a bronze sword of sacrifice, designed by the architect Sir Reginald Blomfield.
Ickwell May Day
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/35/Ickwell-Maypole05.jpg/220px-Ickwell-Maypole05.jpg)
The Ickwell May Day festival, first documented in the
References
- Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
- ^ Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas; National Archives; CP40/689, year: 1433; image at: http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT1/H6/CP40no689/aCP40no689fronts/IMG_0669.htm ; plaintiff: John Smyth, county margin: Beds; where the defendant lives;
- ^ a b Bedfordshire County Council: Ickwell Archived 2009-07-19 at the Wayback Machine at bedfordshire.gov.uk (accessed 27 April 2008)
- ^ Home page Archived 2008-09-06 at the Wayback Machine of Ickwell Green Cricket Club at ickwell.play-cricket.com (accessed 26 April 2008)
- ^ Historic England. "TOMPION'S COTTAGE (1113898)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
- Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(Oxford University Press, 2004)
- ^ Ickwell May Day History at northill-parish.info (accessed 26 April 2008)
- ^ Ickwell May Day at encyclopedia.com (accessed 26 April 2008)
External links
Media related to Ickwell at Wikimedia Commons
- Ickwell pages at the Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service
- Ickwell location map at British-towns.net