| Iver | |
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Iver
Iver shown within Buckinghamshire |
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| Population | 9,925 [1] |
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| OS grid reference | TQ037810 |
| District | South Bucks |
| Shire county | Buckinghamshire |
| Region | South East |
| 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 | Beaconsfield |
| List of places: UK • England • Buckinghamshire | |
Iver is in the south-east corner of the English county of Buckinghamshire and it forms one of the largest civil parishes in the South Bucks district.
Iver railway station is in Richings Park.
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The village name Iver is Anglo Saxon in origin and means (place by) the brow of the hill.
The parish of Iver covers about eight square miles (21 km²) and it includes the villages of Iver Heath and Iver. To their south is Richings Park. The centre of London is about twenty miles (30 km) away. The parish flanks the Greater London border in the vicinity of Uxbridge for several miles, and it is to the east of the town of Slough. Iver Heath, Iver and Richings Park straddle the M25 motorway which is intersected to the north above Iver Heath by the M40, and to the south beneath Richings Park, by the M4.
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.
It has been suggested by some that the area is actually named after a contemporary of Doiley, Roger de Iveri, also a Norman gentleman who arrived in England with William the Conqueror. However, there are no records to suggest that Iveri ever owned the manor here, although he did own property elsewhere in Buckinghamshire.
The area was in 1351 granted a Royal charter to hold a weekly market. This charter was confirmed 110 years later in 1461, at which time Iver was considered a place of some importance.
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.
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 Boot transformed Heatherden Hall into the office building for a film studio complex. He based his new studios on the latest Hollywood, USA designs of that era. Charles Boot named it Pinewood Film Studios, reflecting the numerous pine trees surrounding the area. The entrance to the studio is on Pinewood Road.
Adjoining the studio complex is Black Park, with a lake that extends over 530 acres (2.1 km²). Black Park was used for outdoor sequences in some of Hammer's Dracula films, 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.
Iver Heath village itself is centred around a triangle of roads. The village post office is on the Slough Road to the south, while a parade of shops can be found along Church Road to the north. Slough Road and Church Road are connected by Bangors Road North to the east.
The Church of St Margaret was built in 1862.
The film Ali G Indahouse made satirical reference to fictional gangster life in Iver Heath.[2] As the video to Shaggy and Ali G's hit single "Me Julie" begins, there is a reference to the Crooked Billet pub, which is just off of the Uxbridge Road A4020 on the Five Points Roundabout.
Iver village on the Uxbridge to Langley road has a pre-Domesday foundation in which 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.
Richings Park was once the estate of Lord Bathurst. Richings Park mansion was destroyed during World War II, and its site is now a residential area with its own shopping facilities. Richings Park mansion was very briefly the home of RAF Bomber Command, and the cellars of the house are still visible in fields now overlooking the M4.
Established by John Hargreves in 1948, 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.[3]
In September 2008, Pinewood Studios became the club's sponsor. Pinewood helped with rent and 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[4]
Their next production is Sleeping Beauty, a NODA pantomime written by Stephen Duckham.[5]
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