St. Giles' Church is a church in

Ickenham Ickenham is an area in Greater London, forming the eastern part of Uxbridge and within the London Borough of Hillingdon. While no major historical events have taken place in Ickenham, settlements dating back to the Roman occupation of Britain ...

, within the

London Borough of Hillingdon The London Borough of Hillingdon () is the largest and westernmost borough in West London, England. It was formed from the districts of Hayes and Harlington, Ruislip-Northwood, Uxbridge, and Yiewsley and West Drayton in the ceremonial county ...

in England. The church is located in the centre of Ickenham, at the intersection of Swakeleys Road and Long Lane. The oldest parts of the church, the nave and chancel, date back to 1335. Other extensions have been added over the years. Inside the church, several memorials exist to the prominent families of Ickenham.

History

Ickenham appears in the ''

Domesday Book 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 ...

'' under the name "Ticheham", although there is no mention of a church. One did exist in the nearby parish of

Harefield Harefield is a village in the London Borough of Hillingdon, England, northwest of Charing Cross near Greater London's boundary with Buckinghamshire to the west and Hertfordshire to the north. The population at the 2011 Census was 7,399. Haref ...

and it is believed that residents of Ickenham travelled there for church services.Bowlt 1996, p.34 The original

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-typ ...

and

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. ...

of St Giles' church have been dated to 1335 while the nave was extended west in 1959. The bell turret was built in the 15th century and a north aisle added in 1575. William Say contributed the cost of the bricks for the north aisle, though he expected to be repaid eventually. Pews were incorporated into the aisle for Say's family, when it was common for worshippers to stand or kneel in church. Say made his will in March 1582, shortly before his death, in which he indicated his wish to be buried within the aisle. He also suggested that the debt the parishioners held could be reduced by 3 s and 4 d for each burial of a member of his household. Say is remembered in the church by a brass memorial showing himself, his wife Isabel and their two children. His son Robert died in 1584 and has a brass memorial, of him alone. A memorial to Robert Clayton, the baby son of Sir Robert and Dame Martha Clayton, is on a windowsill within the church, in the shape of a sleeping baby. He was buried within the chapel for the manor of Swakeleys in the north aisle. The boy had died a few hours after his birth in August 1665 at

Swakeleys House Swakeleys House is a Grade I-listed 17th-century mansion in Ickenham, London Borough of Hillingdon, built in 1638 for the future Lord Mayor of London, Sir Edmund Wright. Originally the home of the lords of the manor of Swakeleys, writer Samuel ...

, where his parents were staying as guests of Lady Harrington. Sir Robert was an

alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members ...

of London but the couple were staying in Ickenham to escape the Great Plague; he later became

Lord Mayor of London The Lord Mayor of London is the mayor of the City of London and the leader of the City of London Corporation. Within the City, the Lord Mayor is accorded precedence over all individuals except the sovereign and retains various traditional pow ...

in 1679. The nephew of Sir Robert Vyner, Thomas Vyner, was buried in the Swakeleys chapel in 1907, despite his having died in Rome. By 1914, the chapel for Swakeleys had become full, and the church authorities decided to clear it by burying the coffins in the graveyard. The memorial to Robert Clayton was moved from his coffin to the windowsill at this point. A doorway leading from the old chapel into the main church was built in 1918. Within the church is a plaque honouring the men of the village who died in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, which is listed by the Church of England as a Grade II. The altar rail is dedicated to those of the church's youth fellowship who died during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. Their names are remembered on a nearby plaque. A further memorial to members of the fellowship killed in the war is the Book of Remembrance. The

Middlesex Regiment The Middlesex Regiment (Duke of Cambridge's Own) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1966. The regiment was formed, as the Duke of Cambridge's Own (Middlesex Regiment), in 1881 as part of the Childers R ...

and

Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting w ...

is commemorated by two stained glass windows in the south aisle of the church. The church celebrated its 650th anniversary in the 1980s by forming a covenant with the United Reformed Church, also in Ickenham on Swakeleys Road.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * Bowlt, Eileen. M. (1996) ''Ickenham & Harefield Past''. London: Historical Publications * Bowlt, Eileen. M. (2007) ''Around Ruislip, Eastcote, Northwood, Ickenham & Harefield''. Stroud: Sutton Publishing

External links

St Giles' Church, IckenhamPhotograph circa 1965 – Francis Frith
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ickenham, Saint Giles Church of England church buildings in the London Borough of Hillingdon Diocese of London History of the London Borough of Hillingdon 14th-century church buildings in England