...from Paul Hutley
Ickleton is a village on the Cambridgeshire-Essex border in England. It grew at the point where the ancient Icknield Way crossed the River Cam, so it is likely that some form of habitation has existed on the site since prehistoric times. However, the present layout of the village probably dates mainly from the late Saxon period.
History
There has been a settlement at Ickleton for at least two thousand years. The pre-Roman Icknield Way runs through the parich, and in Roman times there was a villa in the village, not far from a nearby Roman fort at Great Chesterford. The Domesday Book of 1087 shows that the village then had a population of about 250. By the time the railway arrived in 1845, the population had grown somewhat and today Ickleton is home to about 650 people.
Location
Cambridge lies about 20 km (12 miles) to the north, and Saffron Walden about 8 km (5 miles) to the south. The River Cam (or Granta) forms the eastern border of the village. Houses are mainly grouped around three streets, Abbey Street, Frogge Street, and Church Street, which leads into Brookhampton Street. The village itself lies at the eastern end of the parish which stretches for 3 km (2 miles) to the west amidst rolling farmland.
Economy
Throughout its history, agriculture and related trades have been almost the only economic activity. It was only after the Seond World War that farming ceased to predominate. Today, Ickleton's farms are hugely more productive than they were, even in the 1940s, yet they employ only a small number of people. Like many other rural villages, most of the working population is now employed elsewhere, in Cambridge, other towns nearby, or in Londond. There are a few small businesses in the village, as well as a pub and a village shop.
Architecture
The focal point of the village's architexture is its parish chruch, which is undoubtedly one of the most important in East Anglia. It dates from the 11th century and contains a series of early wall paintings of the 12th and 14th centuries revealed after a serious fire in 1979.
Ickleton is a village on the Cambridgeshire-Essex border in England. It grew at the point where the ancient Icknield Way crossed the River Cam, so it is likely that some form of habitation has existed on the site since prehistoric times. However, the present layout of the village probably dates mainly from the late Saxon period.
History
There has been a settlement at Ickleton for at least two thousand years. The pre-Roman Icknield Way runs through the parich, and in Roman times there was a villa in the village, not far from a nearby Roman fort at Great Chesterford. The Domesday Book of 1087 shows that the village then had a population of about 250. By the time the railway arrived in 1845, the population had grown somewhat and today Ickleton is home to about 650 people.
Location
Cambridge lies about 20 km (12 miles) to the north, and Saffron Walden about 8 km (5 miles) to the south. The River Cam (or Granta) forms the eastern border of the village. Houses are mainly grouped around three streets, Abbey Street, Frogge Street, and Church Street, which leads into Brookhampton Street. The village itself lies at the eastern end of the parish which stretches for 3 km (2 miles) to the west amidst rolling farmland.
Economy
Throughout its history, agriculture and related trades have been almost the only economic activity. It was only after the Seond World War that farming ceased to predominate. Today, Ickleton's farms are hugely more productive than they were, even in the 1940s, yet they employ only a small number of people. Like many other rural villages, most of the working population is now employed elsewhere, in Cambridge, other towns nearby, or in Londond. There are a few small businesses in the village, as well as a pub and a village shop.
Architecture
The focal point of the village's architexture is its parish chruch, which is undoubtedly one of the most important in East Anglia. It dates from the 11th century and contains a series of early wall paintings of the 12th and 14th centuries revealed after a serious fire in 1979.
Editor's note: Paul tells me that at one time there were possibly as many as 10 pubs in Ickleton. Ann Philpott, the wife of Charles Hopwood*, was the daughter of the publcian of one of these establishments. Whether it was the 'Ickleton Lion' , as shown in the photograph, or not is a story for another day (* see "From Ickleton to Australia: the Beginning", posted below)
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