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Icklingham is a village and civil parish in the
West Suffolk West Suffolk may refer to the following places in Suffolk, England: * West Suffolk (county), a county until 1974 * West Suffolk District, a local government district established in 2019 * West Suffolk (UK Parliament constituency), an electoral dist ...
district of
Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
in eastern England. It is located about north-west of
Bury St Edmunds Bury St Edmunds (), commonly referred to locally as Bury, is a historic market town, market, cathedral town and civil parish in Suffolk, England.OS Explorer map 211: Bury St.Edmunds and Stowmarket Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – ...
, south-east of Mildenhall and south-west of Thetford in Norfolk. The village is on the
A1101 A11, A 11 or A-11 may refer to: Military * Aero A.11, a Czechoslovakian bomber produced before World War II * Consolidated A-11, an attack version of the Consolidated P-30 fighter plane of the 1930s * HMS A11, HMS ''A11'', an A-class submarine of ...
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 Breckland in Norfolk and Suffolk is a 39,433 hectare Special Protection Area (SPA) under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. The SPA partly overlaps the 7,544 hectare Breckland Special Area of Conservation. As a la ...
, though an arm of the fen-like peat follows the River Lark past the village. The village straddles the
River Lark The River Lark is a river in England that crosses the border between Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. It is a tributary of the River Great Ouse, and was extended when that river was re-routed as part of drainage improvements. It is thought to have be ...
, a tributary to the Great Ouse. It was once navigable up to Bury St Edmunds, with locks installed; these are now redundant, the remains of at least one lock being visible near Icklingham. The river is the reason for the siting of Icklingham's most prominent industry, the local flour mill. There are two churches in the village: St. James, and
All Saints Church, Icklingham All Saints' Church is a redundant church, redundant Anglican church in the village of Icklingham, Suffolk, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I Listed building#England and Wales, listed b ...
, which is of Norman in origin and a Grade I listed building. 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.


History

The village may take its name from an Iron Age tribe, the Iceni, who lived in the area and there are the remains of a Roman settlement to the south-east; alternatively
Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...
''Iclingaham'' "home of the Iclingas" appears to derive from the royal house descended from Icel of Angeln, which would give rise to kings of both
East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...
and Mercia. Icklingham has a Roman Christian graveyard, and a lead receptacle, reputed to be a
baptismal font A baptismal font is an article of church furniture used for baptism. Aspersion and affusion fonts The fonts of many Christian denominations are for baptisms using a non-immersive method, such as aspersion (sprinkling) or affusion (pouring). ...
, was found on the same site. It is now located in the British Museum. It was also one of the largest
Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...
settlements in the area and can demonstrate nearby occupation to Neolithic times, through research carried out by 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 shutter telegraph chain which connected the
Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral * Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings *Admiralty, Tr ...
in London to its naval ships in the port of
Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...
. 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.


Natural environment

Icklingham is within the area known as
Breckland Breckland in Norfolk and Suffolk is a 39,433 hectare Special Protection Area (SPA) under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. The SPA partly overlaps the 7,544 hectare Breckland Special Area of Conservation. As a la ...
, an area of sandy heaths and forests. This area has a number of important natural habitats, including for the protected 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. Th
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. 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 ,Berner's Heath, Icklingham
, SSSI citation, Natural England. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
and Deadman's Grave, a grassland heath area of , both of which are north of the village.Deadman's Grave, Icklingham
, SSSI citation, Natural England. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
Cavenham-Icklingham Heaths, to the south-east of the village, is in area and includes a number of woodland habitats.Cavenham-Icklingham Heaths
, SSSI citation, Natural England. Retrieved 2013-01-26.
All contain rare species such as Rosser's sac spider ('' Clubiona rosserae'') and the soldier-fly (''
Odontomyia angulata ''Odontomyia angulata'', also called the orange-horned green colonel, is a European species of soldier fly. Distribution Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, England, Estonia, Finla ...
'') as well as stone curlew and plant species such as Breckland wild thyme ('' Thymus serpyllum'') and spring speedwell (''
Veronica verna ''Veronica verna'' is a species of flowering plant belonging to the family Plantaginaceae. Its native range is Morocco, Europe to Southwestern Siberia and Himalaya The Himalayas, or Himalaya (; ; ), is a mountain range in Asia, separatin ...
'').


See also

*
List of Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Suffolk Suffolk is a county in East Anglia. It is bounded by Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west, Essex to the south and the North Sea to the east. With an area of , it is the eighth largest county in England, and in mid-2016 the populati ...


References


External links

{{authority control Villages in Suffolk Forest Heath Civil parishes in Suffolk