Landmarks

With a little research and drawing whenever possible on a wealth of local knowledge, you’ll find most towns and villages have something of intrigue that makes them stand apart.

So it is no surprise to find that something as seemingly unpretentious as a water pump is the focal point of the town of Ickenham in the north London suburbs.

The town itself dates back to the Domesday Book and the parish church of St Giles has origins back to the 14th century. Yet the focus is undoubtedly the water pump which stands prominently at the junction of two major roads, just by the shopping centre and the church.

It was donated to the town, then no more than a village, in the 1860s under a charitable legacy by a local landowner, Charlotte Gell who also founded a group of alms houses nearby.

It was decreed in her will that the pump should remain for the villagers forever. It stands close to a village pond, and was in use until 1914. Since then it has been restored as a monument, and although no longer in use, remains the focal point of the town, now with a population of around 10,000, and part of the London suburban borough of Hillingdon.