Wicken, Northamptonshire
Coordinates: 52°02′56″N 0°54′54″W / 52.0489°N 0.9150°W
| Wicken | |
 Wicken
Wicken shown within Northamptonshire |
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| Population | 299 |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | SP7439 |
| District | South Northamptonshire |
| Shire county | Northamptonshire |
| Region | East Midlands |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | Milton Keynes |
| Postcode district | MK19 |
| Dialling code | 01908 |
| Police | Northamptonshire |
| Fire | Northamptonshire |
| Ambulance | East Midlands |
| EU Parliament | East Midlands |
| UK Parliament | Daventry |
| List of places: UK • England • Northamptonshire | |
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2009) |
Wicken is a village and civil parish in the English county of Northamptonshire. It is about one mile north of the A422 road between Milton Keynes and Buckingham and forms part of South Northamptonshire district. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 299 people.[1]
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[edit] History
The earliest archeological remains for the area are a prehistoric ring ditch, although the first identified settlement is a small Roman settlement on the edge of the modern village. The Modern village dates from Saxon times and is mentioned in the Domesday Book.
During the Middle Ages what today forms the town, appears to have functioned as two villages separated by a stream. The two villages called Wick Dive and Wick Hamon were both on separate manors.
In 1511 the two manors were purchased by John Spencer of Snitterfield (Warwicks.), whose grandson, Sir John Spencer of Wormleighton, secured in 1587,the union of Wick Dive and Wick Hamon into one parish.
An episode of the Channel 4 television programme Time Team featured multiple archaeological digs in Wicken. Wicken was once divided into two villages, Wick Hamon and Wick Dive, and the programme researched into this history.
The archeologists concluded that Wick Hamon, adjoining the Roman site was the older of the two villages by two centuries, and that the pre-existing (or abandoned) Roman settlement attracted the Saxons to that location.
[edit] Name
The modern Name of Wicken dates from the 1587 union of the two manors. The Names of the two earlier villages derives from the name of respective land lords. The wealthier Wick Dive takes its name from William de Dive, who acquired it in 1242, while Wick Hamon derives from the de Hamon family, who held the estate in the 12th century.
The Wick portion is either
- derive from the Saxon Word Wick for Farm or
- from the Roman 'vicus', or settlement – often associated with an adjacent Roman garrison, farm or centre of industry. This is the most likely origin of the name here.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ Office for National Statistics: Wicken CP: Parish headcounts. Retrieved 30 November 2009
- From: 'Wicken', A History of the County of Northampton: Volume 5: The Hundred of Cleley (2002), pp. 413-438. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=22792 Date accessed: 03 May 2011.
[edit] External links
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