Ickford
Encyclopedia
Ickford is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale
district of Buckinghamshire
, England
. It is on the boundary with Oxfordshire
, about 4 miles (6.4 km) west of the market town
of Thame
.
The River Thame
forms both the southern boundary of the parish and Ickford's part of the county boundary with Oxfordshire. A stream that is a tributary of the Thame bounds the parish to the west and north.
is derived from Old English meaning "Icca's ford". The Domesday Book
of 1086 records it as Iforde. From the 12th to the 14th centuries it evolved through Ycford, Hicford, Hitford, Ikeford and Ickeforde before later reaching its present form.
held four hides
of land at Ickford. Crispin was linked with Wallingford Castle
, and through him the manor
of Ickford became part of the honour
of Wallingford. In the 13th century the Appleton family were the lower lords of this manor. It is not recorded who held this manor before the Norman Conquest of England
.
It is recorded that before the Conquest a second manor at Ickford was held by Ulf, a man of Harold Godwinson
. The Domesday Book records Robert, Count of Mortain
as holding this second manor, with the Benedictine
Grestain Abbey
as his mesne lord
. By 1359 Wilmington Priory in Sussex
, an English cell of the abbey, was the mesne lord. By 1377 William de Montacute, 2nd Earl of Salisbury, who had succeeded to some of the de Mortain lands, was Ickford's overlord.
Towards the end of the 12th century Bartholomew de Ickford was the lower lord of one of Ickford's manors, apparently that belonging to Grestain Abbey. By the time his great-grandson John held the manor in 1302-03, the family carried the surname "atte Water". William atte Water died in 1313, by which time the family held both manors and they seem to have been merged.
Members of the Appleton and Ickford families granted lands at Ickford to Godstow Abbey in Oxfordshire and the Priory of St Frideswide, Oxford
. In the 14th century the atte Water family gave land to Bisham Priory in Berkshire
. Bradwell Priory
also claimed the atte Waters had granted it land at Ickford. In the 16th century the Bisham Priory lands passed to Thomas Tipping, who from 1585 held the "manors of Great and Little Ickford". Thomas's great-grandson Sir Thomas Tipping
, who inherited the estate in 1627, was a moderate Parliamentarian
in the English Civil War
. His son, also Thomas Tipping
, inherited the estate in 1693 and was created a baronet
in 1698. In 1703 he obtained an Act of Parliament that allowed him to sell the estate.
of Saint Nicholas
dates from the late 12th and early 13th century and has a Norman
bell tower
with a saddleback roof. The chancel
includes a large stone monument to the first Thomas Tipping, who died in 1595 or 1601. Some of the stained glass
windows are 20th century work by Ninian Comper
. The church is a Grade I listed building.
The west tower has three bells. The treble was cast in about 1599, possibly by George Appowell of Buckingham
. Ellis I Knight of Reading, Berkshire
cast the tenor in 1623. George Chandler of Drayton Parslow
cast the youngest of the main bells in 1716. There is also a Sanctus bell, cast by William Taylor's Oxford
foundry in 1847.
The Puritan
Calybute Downing
held the living of the parish from 1632 but it was then conferred on Gilbert Sheldon
in 1636. Sheldon already held the living of Hackney
, received that of Oddington, Oxfordshire
at about the same time as Ickford, and at some time also that of Newington, Oxfordshire
. After the Restoration of the Monarchy, Sheldon was consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury
in 1663. St. Nicholas' is now part of the Benefice of Worminghall
with Ickford, Oakley
and Shabbington
.
Wood. In that century the bridge was variously recorded as Wodebrugge or Widebrugge. County boundary stones
set into the present bridge of three stone arches suggest that it was completed in 1685.
The recusant
dramatic poet William Joyner lived at Ickford in the 17th century.
The village hall
was designed by the architects Dale and Son
of Oxford and built in 1946. The building is of five bays
separated by arches vaulting from the floor. Its extensive roof and almost all of its walls are hung with wooden shingles
, possibly in response to the shortage of many types of building material after the Second World War
. The hall was built entirely by a small party of volunteers from the parish: an achievement commemorated by a painting over the fireplace in the hall.
, the Rising Sun. A second pub, the Royal Oak, ceased trading in about 2000. Ickford has also a village shop
and post office
.
Ickford Combined School is a community
primary school for children between four and eleven years old and has about 115 pupils. The school also serves the adjoining parishes of Worminghall
and Shabbington
. The school was opened in September 1906 and has a sports hall, which was opened in February 2006. There is a pre-school and an After School Club at the school.
Much of the parish is agricultural but being close to Oxford
and junction 8A of the M40
Ickford is increasingly a commuter village.
For more than 50 years an annual tug of war
with neighbouring Tiddington
has been hald each summer across the River Thame
. It is the duty of the soaked losing team to buy the victors beer.
Aylesbury Vale
The Aylesbury Vale is a large area of flat land mostly in Buckinghamshire, England. Its boundary is marked by Milton Keynes to the north, Leighton Buzzard and the Chiltern Hills to the east and south, Thame to the south and Bicester and Brackley to the west.The vale is named after Aylesbury, the...
district of Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is on the boundary with Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, about 4 miles (6.4 km) west of the market town
Market town
Market town or market right is a legal term, originating in the medieval period, for a European settlement that has the right to host markets, distinguishing it from a village and city...
of Thame
Thame
Thame is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about southwest of the Buckinghamshire town of Aylesbury. It derives its toponym from the River Thame which flows past the north side of the town....
.
The River Thame
River Thame
The River Thame is a river in Southern England. It is a tributary of the larger and better-known River Thames.The general course of the River Thame is north-east to south-west and the distance from its source to the River Thames is about 40 miles...
forms both the southern boundary of the parish and Ickford's part of the county boundary with Oxfordshire. A stream that is a tributary of the Thame bounds the parish to the west and north.
Toponym
The village toponymToponymy
Toponymy is the scientific study of place names , their origins, meanings, use and typology. The word "toponymy" is derived from the Greek words tópos and ónoma . Toponymy is itself a branch of onomastics, the study of names of all kinds...
is derived from Old English meaning "Icca's ford". The Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
of 1086 records it as Iforde. From the 12th to the 14th centuries it evolved through Ycford, Hicford, Hitford, Ikeford and Ickeforde before later reaching its present form.
Manors
The Domesday Book records that Miles CrispinMiles Crispin
Miles Crispin , also known as Miles or Milo of Wallingford, was a wealthy Norman landowner, particularly associated with Wallingford Castle in Berkshire...
held four hides
Hide (unit)
The hide was originally an amount of land sufficient to support a household, but later in Anglo-Saxon England became a unit used in assessing land for liability to "geld", or land tax. The geld would be collected at a stated rate per hide...
of land at Ickford. Crispin was linked with Wallingford Castle
Wallingford Castle
Wallingford Castle was a major medieval castle situated in Wallingford in the English county of Oxfordshire , adjacent to the River Thames...
, and through him the manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
of Ickford became part of the honour
Honour (land)
In medieval England, an honour could consist of a great lordship, comprising dozens or hundreds of manors. Holders of honours often attempted to preserve the integrity of an honour over time, administering its properties as a unit, maintaining inheritances together, etc.The typical honour had...
of Wallingford. In the 13th century the Appleton family were the lower lords of this manor. It is not recorded who held this manor before the Norman Conquest of England
Norman conquest of England
The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
.
It is recorded that before the Conquest a second manor at Ickford was held by Ulf, a man of Harold Godwinson
Harold Godwinson
Harold Godwinson was the last Anglo-Saxon King of England.It could be argued that Edgar the Atheling, who was proclaimed as king by the witan but never crowned, was really the last Anglo-Saxon king...
. The Domesday Book records Robert, Count of Mortain
Robert, Count of Mortain
Robert, Count of Mortain, 1st Earl of Cornwall was a Norman nobleman and the half-brother of William I of England. Robert was the son of Herluin de Conteville and Herleva of Falaise and was full brother to Odo of Bayeux. The exact year of Robert's birth is unknown Robert, Count of Mortain, 1st...
as holding this second manor, with the Benedictine
Order of Saint Benedict
The Order of Saint Benedict is a Roman Catholic religious order of independent monastic communities that observe the Rule of St. Benedict. Within the order, each individual community maintains its own autonomy, while the organization as a whole exists to represent their mutual interests...
Grestain Abbey
Grestain Abbey
Grestain Abbey was an 11th-Century Benedictine monastery near the town of Fatouville-Grestain, which is located in the modern-day Eure département of Upper Normandy, France. The abbey was in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lisieux...
as his mesne lord
Mesne lord
A mesne lord was a lord in the feudal system who had vassals who held land from him, but who was himself the vassal of a higher lord. A mesne lord did not hold land directly of the king, that is to say he was not a tenant-in-chief. His subinfeudated estate was called a "mesne estate"...
. By 1359 Wilmington Priory in Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
, an English cell of the abbey, was the mesne lord. By 1377 William de Montacute, 2nd Earl of Salisbury, who had succeeded to some of the de Mortain lands, was Ickford's overlord.
Towards the end of the 12th century Bartholomew de Ickford was the lower lord of one of Ickford's manors, apparently that belonging to Grestain Abbey. By the time his great-grandson John held the manor in 1302-03, the family carried the surname "atte Water". William atte Water died in 1313, by which time the family held both manors and they seem to have been merged.
Members of the Appleton and Ickford families granted lands at Ickford to Godstow Abbey in Oxfordshire and the Priory of St Frideswide, Oxford
Priory of St Frideswide, Oxford
The priory of St Frideswide, Oxford was established as a priory of Augustinian canons regular, in 1122. It was set up by Gwymund, chaplain to Henry I of England. It lasted to the 1520s, when it was dissolved by Cardinal Wolsey so that he could use its premises together with those of other adjacent...
. In the 14th century the atte Water family gave land to Bisham Priory in Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
. Bradwell Priory
Bradwell Abbey
Bradwell Abbey or Bradwell Priory is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, urban studies site, district and civil parish in Milton Keynes, ceremonial Buckinghamshire, England. The site was once the location of a Benedictine priory, founded in 1155....
also claimed the atte Waters had granted it land at Ickford. In the 16th century the Bisham Priory lands passed to Thomas Tipping, who from 1585 held the "manors of Great and Little Ickford". Thomas's great-grandson Sir Thomas Tipping
Thomas Tipping (knight)
Sir Thomas Tipping was a prominent Parliamentarian during the English Civil War.-Family:Sir Thomas was the eldest son of John Tipping of Wheatfield Park in Oxfordshire and his wife, Anne daughter of Sir Christopher Pigott of Doddershall in Buckinghamshire. He was baptised in Wheatfield Church on...
, who inherited the estate in 1627, was a moderate Parliamentarian
Roundhead
"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...
in the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
. His son, also Thomas Tipping
Sir Thomas Tipping, 1st Baronet
Sir Thomas Tipping was a late 17th century English baronet and Member of Parliament.Sir Thomas was the second son, but tenth child, of Sir Thomas Tipping of Wheatfield Park in Oxfordshire by his wife, Elizabeth, daughter and co-heiress of Sir White Beconshaw of Moyles Court at Ellingham in Hampshire...
, inherited the estate in 1693 and was created a baronet
Baronet
A baronet or the rare female equivalent, a baronetess , is the holder of a hereditary baronetcy awarded by the British Crown...
in 1698. In 1703 he obtained an Act of Parliament that allowed him to sell the estate.
Parish church
The Church of England parish churchChurch of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...
of Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas , also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century saint and Greek Bishop of Myra . Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker...
dates from the late 12th and early 13th century and has a Norman
Norman architecture
About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...
bell tower
Bell tower
A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
with a saddleback roof. The chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
includes a large stone monument to the first Thomas Tipping, who died in 1595 or 1601. Some of the stained glass
Stained glass
The term stained glass can refer to coloured glass as a material or to works produced from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant buildings...
windows are 20th century work by Ninian Comper
Ninian Comper
Sir John Ninian Comper was a Scottish-born architect. He was one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architects, noted for his churches and their furnishings...
. The church is a Grade I listed building.
The west tower has three bells. The treble was cast in about 1599, possibly by George Appowell of Buckingham
Buckingham
Buckingham is a town situated in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire. The town has a population of 11,572 ,...
. Ellis I Knight of Reading, Berkshire
Reading, Berkshire
Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....
cast the tenor in 1623. George Chandler of Drayton Parslow
Drayton Parslow
Drayton Parslow is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire about south of Bletchley.-Manor:In the 11th century the toponym was Draintone or Draitone. This is derived from Old English and means "farm where sledges are used"...
cast the youngest of the main bells in 1716. There is also a Sanctus bell, cast by William Taylor's Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
foundry in 1847.
The Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
Calybute Downing
Calybute Downing
Calybute Downing was an English clergyman, a member of the Westminster Assembly. Also a civil lawyer, he is now remembered for political views, which moved from an absolutist position in the 1630s to a justification of resistance to authority by 1640, within a contractarian setting.-Life:He was...
held the living of the parish from 1632 but it was then conferred on Gilbert Sheldon
Gilbert Sheldon
Gilbert Sheldon was an English Archbishop of Canterbury.-Early life:He was born in Stanton, Staffordshire in the parish of Ellastone, on 19 July 1598, the youngest son of Roger Sheldon; his father worked for Gilbert Talbot, 7th Earl of Shrewsbury. He was educated at Trinity College, Oxford; he...
in 1636. Sheldon already held the living of Hackney
London Borough of Hackney
The London Borough of Hackney is a London borough of North/North East London, and forms part of inner London. The local authority is Hackney London Borough Council....
, received that of Oddington, Oxfordshire
Oddington, Oxfordshire
Oddington is a village and civil parish about south of Bicester in Oxfordshire, England. The village is close to the River Ray on the northern edge of Otmoor.-History:...
at about the same time as Ickford, and at some time also that of Newington, Oxfordshire
Newington, Oxfordshire
Newington is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire, about north of Wallingford.The Church of England parish church of Saint Giles was built in the 12th century, its transepts were added about 1200 and the west tower and spire were added early in the 14th century.Gilbert Sheldon held the...
. After the Restoration of the Monarchy, Sheldon was consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
in 1663. St. Nicholas' is now part of the Benefice of Worminghall
Worminghall
Worminghall is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England. The village is near the boundary with Oxfordshire and about west of Thame.The village toponym is derived from Old English meaning 'Wyrma's nook of land'...
with Ickford, Oakley
Oakley, Buckinghamshire
Oakley is a village and civil parish in Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England of about 400 households with a population of 1,059 people and an area of...
and Shabbington
Shabbington
Shabbington is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England, about west of Thame , and southwest of Aylesbury. The parish has an area of ....
.
Economic and social history
Ickford had a bridge over the River Thame by 1237, when repairs were ordered with oak from BrillBrill
Brill is a village and civil parish in Aylesbury Vale district in Buckinghamshire, England, close to the boundary with Oxfordshire. It is about north-west of Long Crendon and south-east of Bicester...
Wood. In that century the bridge was variously recorded as Wodebrugge or Widebrugge. County boundary stones
Boundary marker
A boundary marker, boundary stone or border stone is a robust physical marker that identifies the start of a land boundary or the change in a boundary, especially a change in a direction of a boundary...
set into the present bridge of three stone arches suggest that it was completed in 1685.
The recusant
Recusancy
In the history of England and Wales, the recusancy was the state of those who refused to attend Anglican services. The individuals were known as "recusants"...
dramatic poet William Joyner lived at Ickford in the 17th century.
The village hall
Village hall
In the United States, a village hall is the seat of government for villages. It functions much as a city hall does within cities.In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building within a village which contains at least one large room, usually owned by and run for the benefit of the local...
was designed by the architects Dale and Son
T. Lawrence Dale
Thomas Lawrence Dale, FRIBA, FSA was an English architect. Until the First World War he concentrated on designing houses for private clients...
of Oxford and built in 1946. The building is of five bays
Bay (architecture)
A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
separated by arches vaulting from the floor. Its extensive roof and almost all of its walls are hung with wooden shingles
Roof shingle
Roof shingles are a roof covering consisting of individual overlapping elements. These elements are typically flat rectangular shapes laid in rows from the bottom edge of the roof up, with each successive higher row overlapping the joints in the row below...
, possibly in response to the shortage of many types of building material after the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The hall was built entirely by a small party of volunteers from the parish: an achievement commemorated by a painting over the fireplace in the hall.
Amenities
Ickford has a public housePublic house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
, the Rising Sun. A second pub, the Royal Oak, ceased trading in about 2000. Ickford has also a village shop
General store
A general store, general merchandise store, or village shop is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general...
and post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
.
Ickford Combined School is a community
Community school
The term "community school" refers to types of publicly funded school in England, Wales, the Republic of Ireland, the United States, Australia, Canada and New Zealand to a school that serves as both an educational institution and a centre of community life. A community school is both a place and a...
primary school for children between four and eleven years old and has about 115 pupils. The school also serves the adjoining parishes of Worminghall
Worminghall
Worminghall is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England. The village is near the boundary with Oxfordshire and about west of Thame.The village toponym is derived from Old English meaning 'Wyrma's nook of land'...
and Shabbington
Shabbington
Shabbington is a village and civil parish in the Aylesbury Vale district of Buckinghamshire, England, about west of Thame , and southwest of Aylesbury. The parish has an area of ....
. The school was opened in September 1906 and has a sports hall, which was opened in February 2006. There is a pre-school and an After School Club at the school.
Much of the parish is agricultural but being close to Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
and junction 8A of the M40
M40 motorway
The M40 motorway is a motorway in the British transport network that forms a major part of the connection between London and Birmingham. Part of this road forms a section of the unsigned European route E05...
Ickford is increasingly a commuter village.
For more than 50 years an annual tug of war
Tug of war
Tug of war, also known as tug o' war, tug war, rope war or rope pulling, is a sport that directly pits two teams against each other in a test of strength. The term may also be used as a metaphor to describe a demonstration of brute strength by two opposing groups, such as a rivalry between two...
with neighbouring Tiddington
Tiddington, Oxfordshire
Tiddington is a village about west of Thame in Oxfordshire, England. The village is on the A418 road between Thame and Oxford.Tiddington is in the civil parish of Tiddington-with-Albury, which is on the county boundary with Buckinghamshire. Historically Tiddington was a manor and hamlet of the...
has been hald each summer across the River Thame
River Thame
The River Thame is a river in Southern England. It is a tributary of the larger and better-known River Thames.The general course of the River Thame is north-east to south-west and the distance from its source to the River Thames is about 40 miles...
. It is the duty of the soaked losing team to buy the victors beer.