Iken

Iken is a small village and civil parish in the marshlands of the English county of Suffolk.

Iken
St Botolph's Church, Iken
Iken Location within Suffolk
Population	101 (2011)[1]
District	East Suffolk
Shire county	Suffolk
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Woodbridge
Postcode district	IP12
UK Parliament	Suffolk Coastal

It is near the estuary of the River Alde on the North Sea coast and is located south east of Snape and due north of Orford.

During World War 2 Iken and the neighbouring village of Sudbourne were used as a battle training area in advance of the D-Day landings in June 1944. The inhabitants were relocated returning sometime after the war finished.[2]

The Anchorage, formerly an island in what was a marsh at the edge of the estuary, is the most likely site of Saint Botolph's Abbey, Ikenhoe. During excavations in 1977 Dr Stanley West discovered part of a large stone Saxon cross incorporated into the wall of the Church tower. The Cross was carved with the heads of dogs and wolves, symbols which were traditionally recognised as St Botolph's emblems during the Middle Ages and therefore it is thought that the cross may originally have been a memorial to him.

Julian Tennyson, (1915-1945), writer and historian, most famous for his writings on his home county of Suffolk, is commemorated by a headstone in the churchyard of St Botolph's.