page_title: Ickenham
section_title: Urban development
hierarchical_section_title: Ickenham / History / Urban development
caption_attribution_description: English: Ickenham Hall, Ickenham, London Borough of Hillingdon, London, England.
context_page_description: Ickenham is an area centred on an old village 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 have been discovered during archaeological surveys, and the area appears in the Domesday Book. Buildings from the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries remain standing and have been restored in recent years.
  The village was originally split into four manors, but later there were two: Ickenham and Swakeleys. The old manorial home of Swakeleys, a 17th-century Jacobean mansion Swakeleys House still stands, and much of the Swakeleys estate was sold for housing in the 1920s. Ickenham's manorial home, Manor Farm, now forms part of Long Lane Farm. A military station, RAF West Ruislip, was opened in 1917. Its final use was for the Navy Exchange of the U.S. Naval Activities, United Kingdom command between 1975 and 2006.
  At the 1901 Census, Ickenham had a population of 329; at the 2001 Census the population had reached 9,933, although census figures show a marked population decline during the 1960s and 1970s.
context_section_description: On 25 September 1905, following lobbying by Ickenham Parish Council, the Metropolitan Railway opened a small halt on their line between Harrow and Uxbridge. The railway company had been reluctant to open a station in the area due to a perceived lack of demand, and so a compromise was reached with the construction of the halt. The new stop brought with it travellers from London seeking a day out in rural surroundings. Nearby villagers sold flowers from their gardens and served teas to the visitors. The parish council later requested shelters for passengers on the platforms, which were built in December 1905, followed by a booking hut in 1910. The original platforms, too short to align with all train carriages, were extended in 1922. Ickenham Halt was rebuilt as a station in the 1970s.
  The marathon event of the 1908 Summer Olympics in London passed through Ickenham and Uxbridge on its way to the White City Stadium.
  As a result of the railway, more commuters gradually moved to Ickenham and travelled to work in London. On 5 July 1922, 1,382 acres (559 ha) of the Swakeleys estate was auctioned for development, thereby significantly reducing its size. Roads laid out for the new development were Warren Road, Swakeleys Drive, Court Road, Milton Road, Ivy House Road, The Avenue and Thornhill Road (originally named Park Road). Other land bordering the River Pinn was designated as public open land. Shops were built around Swakeleys Road, while houses were constructed along its length. The road was widened to become a dual carriageway in 1937. Milton Farm, one of the farms on the former Swakeleys estate was demolished in 1939. The farm's pond and listed barn were cleared to make way for housing in what became Milton Road and Milton Court, though marketed as "Ickenham Garden City".
  A military station, operated by the Royal Air Force and later the United States Navy, was opened on part of Home Farm close to the parish boundary with Ruislip in 1917, later becoming known as RAF West Ruislip. The site was used originally for the British No. 4 Maintenance Unit, together with the RAF Records division. It became involved in the repair of aircraft equipment and later in the servicing of American vehicles from RAF South Ruislip. Between 1955 and 1975 the United States Air Force was based at the Ruislip station, before the U.S. Naval Activities, United Kingdom command leased the site from the Ministry of Defence for the American Naval Exchange.
  The original village school was built on Ickenham High Road in 1866, although by 1920 it had become overcrowded. Older children were moved to the village hall in 1928 under the name Ickenham Temporary Council School. In 1929 the village school closed and its infant pupils also moved to the village hall. The road was widened in 1934 necessitating demolition of the school building along with the original Fox & Geese public house.
  The village pump remained in use until December 1914, while the handle was removed in 1921 by the local council for safe keeping but was never returned. The pump was restored in 2004 in partnership with a local building company, and a similar handle was fitted during the works.
  Breakspear Primary School was built in 1937, followed by Glebe Primary in 1952 on the other side of the railway line. The Roman Catholic secondary school Douay Martyrs was built in 1962 and later expanded onto the former site of Swakeleys School nearby. Swakeleys School had opened in 1929 for older children from the village school. In 1952 the boys moved to the newly opened Abbotsfield School and Swakeleys became a girls' secondary modern school. The girls' school moved from Ickenham to share the site of Abbotsfield School for Boys in Hillingdon in 1973. Vyners School opened as a grammar school on 12 January 1960 and later became a comprehensive. Delays in building work meant the first intake of pupils were taught at St Mary's Grammar School in Northwood Hills from 9 September 1959.
  The village hall, designed by Clifton Davy, was built on part of Church Farm in 1926. Opened by Princess Victoria, as well as
caption: Ickenham Hall was joined to the Compass Theatre in 1976.
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