Iver

Iver

Iver's three similar settlements form a jointly administered community and are connected to the Colne Valley regional park and to its train station by footpaths which branch into the Chiltern Hills, London and the London Loop.
Iver
Iver shown within Buckinghamshire
Area 20.1 km2 (7.8 sq mi)
Population 11,119 (2011)[1]
• Density 553/km2 (1,430/sq mi)
OS grid reference TQ0381
Civil parish
  • Iver
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town IVER
Postcode district SL0
Dialling code 01753
Police Thames Valley
Fire Buckinghamshire
Ambulance South Central
EU Parliament South East England
UK Parliament

Iver /ˈaɪ.vər/ is a large civil parish in the South Bucks district of Buckinghamshire, England. In addition to the central clustered village, the parish includes the largely residential neighbourhoods of Iver Heath and Richings Park.

Geography, transport and economy

London is 17 miles (30 km) to the east. Local woods, lakes and land by the Grand Union Canal form part of the 43-square-mile Colne Valley regional park. Most of the open land is classified as Metropolitan Green Belt.

To the west of Iver are Wexham and Langley. One small part of the Richings Park neighbourhood, Thorney, is east of the M25 motorway, the name given to the M4 Thorney Interchange. North of Iver is the M40 motorway, while to the south are the M4 motorway and Colnbrook. The Great Western Main line also passes through Iver. Richings Park and Thorney are less than 0.5 miles (0.80 km) from Iver railway station. Uxbridge tube station is the nearest station to Iver Heath.

The M40 and M25 are in cuttings north and north-west of Iver Heath, while the M25 is on an embankment 300m from Iver village centre.

Two significant employers in the parish are the Ridgeway trading and warehousing estate and Pinewood Studios.

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.

Postcard of Iver Village

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 road has a pre-Domesday foundation and Neolithic pottery fragments and other artefacts have been discovered. The village church has shards of a Saxon 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 estate with spectacular grounds. It was purchased by Lt. Col. Grant Morden, 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. Richings Park mansion, very briefly the home of RAF Bomber Command, 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

Black Park adjoins the Pinewood Studio complex. It has a lake that extends over 530 acres (2.1 km²). Due to its proximity to Pinewood Studios, Black Park was used for outdoor sequences in some of Hammer's Dracula films, a number of Carry On films, the Gerry Anderson Sci Fi series UFO and in the 1964 James Bond film Goldfinger.

To the south, Black Park is separated from Langley Park by the A412 road. Langley Park covers 130 acres (0.53 km²) and is known for its rhododendron and azalea-filled Temple Gardens.

Pinewood Studios

Pinewood Studios is a major British film studio 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 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, who transformed the mansion into the office building for a film studio 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.[2]

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.[2]

In March 2014 Matthew Streuli, 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.[3]

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.[4]

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.

Demography

2011 Published Statistics: Population, home ownership and extracts from Physical Environment, surveyed in 2005[1]
Output areaHomes owned outrightOwned with a loanSocially rentedPrivately rentedOtherUsual residentskm²
Civil parish14621720569377431111920.09

Notable people

  • Prince Edward, Duke of Kent KG, GCMG, GCVO, ADC(P) (Edward George Nicholas Paul Patrick; born 9 October 1935) is a grandchild of King George V and Queen Mary. He has held the title of Duke of Kent since the death of his father in 1942. Prince Edward lived at Coppins, Iver (1935 - 1972).
  • Prince Michael of Kent, member of the British Royal Family, was born in Iver[5]
  • Princess Victoria (1868–1935), daughter of Edward VII, lived in Iver 1925–1935[6]
  • Linford Christie, Olympic gold medalist sprinter, lived in Iver Heath[7]
  • Charles Richard Fairey Founder of Fairey aviation, the Fairey factory based in West London creators of the Swordfish. The family lived at Woodlands aka Elk Meadows in Iver Heath
  • John Fairey (1935–2009), aviator son of Charles Fairey (founder of the Fairey Aviation Company), was born in Iver[8]
  • James Gambier (1756–1833), notorious admiral of the Royal Navy, lived in Iver, his gardener invented the modern day pansy[9]
  • Julian Haviland (born 1930), former Political Editor of both ITN and The Times newspaper, was born in Iver Heath
  • Brian Muir, sculptor of Darth Vader's helmet and armour and the Stormtrooper armour in Star Wars, lives in Iver[10]
  • John Nash (1893–1977), painter of landscape and still-life, grew up in Iver[11]
  • 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
  • Chris Finnegan (1944 – 2009) British professional boxer of Irish descent born in Iver
  • Kevin Finnegan (1948 – 2008) British professional boxer of Irish descent born 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.
  • 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 and Channel 4. Lived in Iver
  • Sid James (1913 – 1976) South African-born British actor and comedian. Lived at Delaford Park, Iver.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Neighbourhood Statistics 2011 census, Accessed 2 February 2013
  2. 1 2 Iver Heath Drama Club
  3. ↑ South Bucks District Council Website
  4. ↑ IHDC Newsletter
  5. ↑ "Prince and Princess Michael of Kent". The Official Website of the British Monarchy. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  6. ↑ "Introduction: Ralph Hancock". Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  7. ↑ Harvey, Michael (4 August 1997). "Linford Slows Down in his £1 Million Mansion". The Daily Mail. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  8. ↑ "Obituary: Captain John Fairey". telegraph.co.uk. The Daily Telegraph. 23 July 2009. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  9. ↑ The Gentleman's magazine, Volume 103, Part 1. 1833. p. 559. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  10. ↑ "Interview with Brian Muir". Retrieved 3 February 2012.
  11. ↑ "Nash, John Biography". The Bookroom Art Press. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2012.
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