Ickham is a quiet, typical small East Kent village with its single main street. The name Ickham derives from the Saxon 'Yeok', a yoke of arable land. It is an attractive village, with a rectangular green that carpets the approach to the 13th century church of St John the Evangelist. Thomas Cranmer's brother, Edmund, was rector in 1547, but was deprived of the benefice in 1553 because he was married.
The first Ickham church was a wooden Saxon building that was there in AD 791. That was replaced in 1090 by a Norman church which, in turn, was extended and altered during succeeding centuries until the shingled spire and clock were added in 1870. The clock is unusual in having a mechanism like that of Westminster's Big Ben and a face with pointers carved into the stonework instead of figures.
In 1977, in the village pub
The Duke William , John Bennett broke the World Record for keeping two live ferrets in his trousers for over four hours! The feat cannot be found in the Guiness Book of Records because they will not condone further attempts, due to the dangers involved. John was allowed no under garments or protection beneath his trousers, which also had to be tied about six inches above the knees. The local doctor was on hand, but not required!
In 1977 a rogue perch, which became known as
Mini Jaws , somehow got in amongst the goldfish in a pond owned by ex-trawlerman Alf Leggatt. The perch helped itself to about 2000 of Alf's goldfish, before he called in the Army. They tried to blow up the voracious perch, the attempt failed and
Mini Jaws champed on. A second attempt was made by big game hunter Lt-Col Blashford-Snell, who increased the amount of explosive.
He confidently asserted "That must have done the trick". It didn't! In the end, it was the Southern Water Authority who knocked out all the fish with an electric charge. The shocked perch surfaced amid his equally stunned prey and was pulled out, his days of easy pickings over. Local pressmen had a lovely time reporting the successive highlights of this little saga, which had all the makings of a true village legend.
