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Iver is a large civil parish in
Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...
, England. In addition to the central
clustered village A ''Haufendorf'' is an enclosed village with irregular plots of land and farms of greatly differing scale, usually surrounded by a stockade fence (German: ''Ortsetter''). They are typically found in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, whence the nam ...
, the parish includes the residential neighbourhoods of Iver Heath and Richings Park.


Geography, transport and economy

Part of the 43-square-mile Colne Valley regional park, with woods, lakes and land by the Grand Union Canal. Most of the open land is classified as Metropolitan Green Belt. Surrounding the Ivers are neighbouring villages and towns of
Fulmer Fulmer is a village and civil parish in south Buckinghamshire, England. The village has along most of its northern border a narrow green buffer from Gerrards Cross and is heavily wooded adjoining neighbouring villages of Iver Heath and Wexham. ...
, Denham, Gerrards Cross and Wexham. Also nearby are,
Langley Langley may refer to: People * Langley (surname), a common English surname, including a list of notable people with the name * Dawn Langley Simmons (1922–2000), English author and biographer * Elizabeth Langley (born 1933), Canadian perfor ...
and Slough in Berkshire and Uxbridge, Cowley, Yiewsley and West Drayton in Hillingdon. The Ivers are well connected, with public transport and motorway links. Nearest motorway links are Junction 15 and 16
M25 motorway The M25 or London Orbital Motorway is a major road encircling most of Greater London. The motorway is one of the most important roads in the UK and one of the busiest. Margaret Thatcher opened the final section in 1986, making the M25 the lon ...
, Junction 4 and 5
M4 motorway The M4, originally the London-South Wales Motorway, is a motorway in the United Kingdom running from west London to southwest Wales. The English section to the Severn Bridge was constructed between 1961 and 1971; the Welsh element was largely ...
, including the Thorney Interchange, whereby to the North of the Ivers is Junction 1
M40 motorway The M40 motorway links London, Oxford and Birmingham in England, a distance of approximately . The motorway is dual three lanes except for junction 1A to junction 3 (which is dual four lanes) a short section in-between the exit and entry slip-r ...
as well as the A40, which is parallel to the M40. With the
Great Western Main line The Great Western Main Line (GWML) is a main line railway in England that runs westwards from London Paddington to . It connects to other main lines such as those from Reading to Penzance and Swindon to Swansea. Opened in 1841, it was the or ...
and soon Crossrail (Elizabeth Line) passing through Iver, Richings Park and Thorney are less than from Iver railway station, with Langley railway station and Uxbridge tube station nearby. Two significant employers in the parish are the Ridgeway trading and warehousing estate in Richings Park and
Pinewood Studios Pinewood Studios is a British film and television studio located in the village of Iver Heath, England. It is approximately west of central London. The studio has been the base for many productions over the years from large-scale films to te ...
in Iver Heath.


History

In the Domesday Book of 1086 the whole area was recorded as ''Evreham'' or ''homestead by the brow of a hill'' and it was in the possession of a man called Robert Doiley. In 1351 the area was granted a Royal charter to hold a weekly market. This charter was confirmed 110 years later in 1461.


Iver

Iver village on the Uxbridge to
Langley Langley may refer to: People * Langley (surname), a common English surname, including a list of notable people with the name * Dawn Langley Simmons (1922–2000), English author and biographer * Elizabeth Langley (born 1933), Canadian perfor ...
road has a pre-''
Domesday Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
'' foundation and Neolithic pottery fragments and other artefacts have been discovered. The village church has shards of a
Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...
window, and elements dating from the 15th century, 16th century and 17th century can be seen. The village has numerous houses from the 16th and 17th centuries.


Iver Heath

Iver Heath is the location of Heatherden Hall, a
Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...
estate with spectacular grounds. It was purchased by Lt. Col.
Grant Morden Lieutenant Colonel Walter Grant Morden (20 July 1880 – 25 June 1932) was a Canadian-born British Conservative Party (UK), Unionist party politician and businessman, who served as Member of Parliament for Brentford and Chiswick (UK Parliame ...
, a Canadian financier, who transformed the mansion by adding a huge ballroom and Turkish bath. During the 1930s it became a retreat and private meeting place for politicians and diplomats. The agreement to form the Irish Free State was signed at Heatherden Hall. The Church of St Margaret was built in 1862. Iver Heath itself is centred on a triangle of roads. The village post office is on the Slough Road to the south, while a parade of shops used to be found along Church Road to the north. Slough Road and Church Road are connected by Bangors Road North to the east.


Richings Park

Richings Park was once the estate of
Lord Bathurst Earl Bathurst, of Bathurst in the County of Sussex, is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. The medieval English word was Botehurst, thought to date at least from the 13th century. Bote is the origination of Battle, although the family m ...
. Richings Park mansion, very briefly the home of
RAF Bomber Command RAF Bomber Command controlled the Royal Air Force's bomber forces from 1936 to 1968. Along with the United States Army Air Forces, it played the central role in the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II. From 1942 onward, the British bo ...
, was destroyed during World War II, and its site is now a residential area with its own shopping facilities. The cellars of the house are still visible in fields now overlooking the M4.


Black Park Country Park & Langley Park Country Park

Black Park Black Park is a country park in Wexham, Buckinghamshire, England to the north of the A412 road. It is managed by Buckinghamshire Council, formerly County Council. It has an area of , of which two separate areas totalling have been designated a ...
adjoins the Pinewood Studio complex. It has a lake that extends over . Due to its proximity to Pinewood Studios, Black Park was used for outdoor sequences in some of
Hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as w ...
's ''
Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...
'' films, a number of ''
Carry On Carry On may refer to: * ''Carry On'' (franchise), a British comedy media franchise *Carry-on luggage or hand luggage, luggage that is carried into the passenger compartment * ''Carry On'' (film), a 1927 British silent film * ''Carry On'' (novel), ...
'' films, the Gerry Anderson Sci Fi series
UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...
and in the 1964 James Bond film '' Goldfinger''. To the south, Black Park is separated from
Langley Park Langley Park may refer to places in: __NOTOC__ Australia * Langley Park, Perth, an open space in the central business district of Perth England * Langley Park, Buckinghamshire, England, a stately home built by Stiff Leadbetter (1705–1766) * Lang ...
by the A412 / Uxbridge Road. Langley Park covers 130 acres (0.53 km2) and is known for its rhododendron and azalea-filled Temple Gardens. There's also a viewpoint whereby Windsor Castle can be seen in the midst.


Pinewood Studios

Pinewood Studios is a major British
film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the production ...
to the immediate west of the developed land of Iver Heath, which is in all other respects residential. The studios have hosted many productions from blockbuster films to UK television shows, commercials and pop music promos. The Superman and James Bond film franchises have used the film studios which provides tours of its museum. Pinewood was built on the estate of Heatherden Hall, a large, attractive Victorian house with spectacular grounds. The Pinewood estate had previously been purchased by Lt. Col. Grant Morden, a Canadian financier and MP for Brentford and Chiswick. He spent a fortune transforming the mansion into a showpiece home, adding refinements such as a huge
ballroom A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces, especially historic man ...
, a Turkish bath and an indoor squash court. Due to its seclusion, the house was used as a discreet meeting place for high-ranking politicians and diplomats. Here the agreement for the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed. When Grant Morden died in 1934 the estate was purchased at auction by Charles Boot, who had recently inherited a large construction firm from his father, Henry Boot, who died in 1931. Within twelve months Charles had formed a partnership with
J. Arthur Rank Joseph Arthur Rank, 1st Baron Rank (22 December 1888 – 29 March 1972) was a British industrialist who was head and founder of the Rank Organisation. Family business Rank was born on 22 or 23 December 1888 at Kingston upon Hull in England into ...
, who transformed the mansion into the office building for a
film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the production ...
complex. He based his new studios on the latest Hollywood designs of that era. Charles Boot named the complex Pinewood Film Studios, a reference to the many pine trees in the area. The entrance to the studio is on Pinewood Road.


Activities and facilities


Iver Heath Drama Club

Established by John Hargreaves in 1948, the Iver Heath Drama Club contributed to the construction of the current village hall. The group puts on plays and pantomimes. In 2008, it celebrated 60 years by performing ''The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe''.Iver Heath Drama Club
/ref> As of May 2014, the club has over 40 regularly active members who are aged between six and eighty years of age. The club is run by volunteers using a not-for-profit charitable framework and is funded entirely by profits from shows, membership fees and donations. The members come from the Iver area and are from a wide array of backgrounds and abilities. In March 2014 Matthew Streuli, the then Vice-Chairman of the club, was presented with a Runner-up Community Champion Award by the Chairman of South Bucks District Council, Councillor Santokh Chhokar. Since 2008, Pinewood has been the club's main sponsor. Pinewood Studios Group has helped with rent and co-funded the 60th birthday pantomime '' Jack and the Beanstalk'', which played to over 300 people in January 2009. It was co-sponsored by South Bucks District Council. The 2014 Pantomime was Cinderella which over the course of six shows was seen by almost 500 people.


The Evreham Sports Centre

The Sports Centre is based in Iver, which is in the south of the District. The centre is run by Greenwich Leisure Limited. Facilities include a multi purpose sports hall, dance studio, lounge (with adjoining kitchen), sunbed, outdoor floodlit synthetic surface pitch, grass soccer pitches and a changing facility and fitness suite with equipment including a nautilus tread climber. The fitness suite contains pieces of equipment designed to be accessible to those persons with limited mobility.


Evreham Adult Learning Centre

Adjacent to the Sports Centre on the border of Iver Heath and Iver, this facility is a former secondary school which hosts independent and Council-run events and courses. These include Zumba, Slimming World, Pottery, Guitar and Woodwork. The venue also hosts the Tiny Toes Nursery and a Youth Centre.


Demography


Notable people

* Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, member of the British royal family, lived at Coppins, Iver (1935–1972). * Prince Michael of Kent, Edward's younger brother, was born in Iver. * Princess Victoria (1868–1935), daughter of Edward VII, lived in Iver 1925–1935. * Matty Cash, is an English football player who grew up in the village. He currently is playing football for
Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
. * Linford Christie, is a British sprinter who lived in Iver. *
Charles Richard Fairey Sir Charles Richard Fairey MBE FRAeS (5 May 1887 – 30 September 1956), also known as Richard Fairey, was an English aircraft manufacturer. Early life Charles Fairey was born on 5 May 1887 in Hendon, Middlesex and educated at the Merchant Ta ...
Founder of Fairey aviation, the Fairey factory based in West London creators of the
Swordfish Swordfish (''Xiphias gladius''), also known as broadbills in some countries, are large, highly migratory predatory fish characterized by a long, flat, pointed bill. They are a popular sport fish of the billfish category, though elusive. Swordfis ...
. The family lived at Woodlands aka Elk Meadows in Iver Heath. *
John Fairey John Stephen Fairey FRAeS (21 April 1935 – 8 July 2009) was an English aviator. Early life Fairey was the second son of Sir Charles Richard Fairey, founder of the Fairey Aviation Company. He was educated at Eton and Magdalene College, Cambri ...
(1935–2009), aviator son of
Charles Fairey Sir Charles Richard Fairey MBE FRAeS (5 May 1887 – 30 September 1956), also known as Richard Fairey, was an English aircraft manufacturer. Early life Charles Fairey was born on 5 May 1887 in Hendon, Middlesex and educated at the Merchant ...
(founder of the Fairey Aviation Company), was born in Iver. * Chris Finnegan (1944–2009) British professional boxer of Irish descent born in Iver. *
Kevin Finnegan Kevin Finnegan (18 April 1948 – 23 October 2008) was an English boxer. Finnegan's older brother Chris was an Olympic gold medalist and also a professional boxer. Early in his career when Kevin was still an amateur he was banned for 18 mont ...
(1948–2008) British professional boxer of Irish descent born in Iver. *
James Gambier Admiral of the Fleet James Gambier, 1st Baron Gambier, (13 October 1756 – 19 April 1833) was a Royal Navy officer. After seeing action at the capture of Charleston during the American Revolutionary War, he saw action again, as captain of the ...
(1756–1833), notorious
admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in some navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force, and is above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet, ...
of the Royal Navy, lived in Iver, his gardener invented the modern day pansy * Julian Haviland (born 1930), former Political Editor of both
ITN Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based television production company. It is made up of two divisions: Broadcast News and ITN Productions. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, N ...
and '' The Times'' newspaper, was born in Iver Heath. * Sid James (1913–1976) South African-born British actor and comedian. Lived at Delaford Park, Iver. * Daniel Johnson (born 26 August 1957) is a British journalist who is the founding editor of ''Standpoint'', lived in Iver. * Luke Oliver Johnson (born 2 February 1962), is a British serial entrepreneur, best known for his involvement with Pizza Express. He is a former chairman of the
Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...
and Channel 4. Lived in Iver. * Paul Bede Johnson CBE (born 2 November 1928) is an English journalist, historian, speechwriter and author. While associated with the political left in his early career, he is now a conservative popular historian. Lived in Iver. * Brian Muir, sculptor of Darth Vader's helmet and armour and the
Stormtrooper Stormtrooper or storm trooper may refer to: Military *Stormtroopers (Imperial Germany), specialist soldier of the German Army in World War I *'' Sturmabteilung'' (SA) or Storm Detachment, a paramilitary organization of the German Nazi Party *8th I ...
armour in ''
Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'', lives in Iver. * John Nash (1893–1977), painter of landscape and still-life, grew up in Iver. * Paul Nash, WW1 and WW2 War Artist older brother of John Nash, buried in Langley in family plot. * David Seaman Former England goalkeeper lived in Iver. * Martin Secker (1882-1978) London publisher who rose to prominence in the 1920s and 30s, lived at Bridgefoot House, Iver. * Oli White (born 26 January 1995), is an English YouTuber, actor and author, born in Iver.


See also

* List of civil parishes in England


References


External links


Iver Parish Council
{{authority control Villages in Buckinghamshire Civil parishes in Buckinghamshire