5.10.1 Icklingham has a population of 364 (2018 MYE). The village is approximately 7 kilometres south east of Mildenhall and 13.5 kilometres north west of Bury St Edmunds on the A1101.

5.10.2 The village doesn’t have a conservation area but is unusual in having two churches, one is Grade I and the other is Grade II* listed, and a number of other listed buildings. Two Scheduled Monuments lie close to the southern settlement boundary. The River Lark flows south of the village (approximately parallel with the road). Flood zones follow the route of the river.

5.10.3 The Icknield Way long distance path and multi-user route for walkers, horse riders and off-road cyclists passes through the village.

5.10.4 Icklingham formerly had two pubs, one of which has closed, and the other has recently been re-branded and refurbished. There is a playing field with children’s play equipment and the old school hall is available to hire for clubs and meetings, but there is no shop or school in the village. There is a reasonable bus service to Mildenhall and Bury St Edmunds, and one bus route that connects to Newmarket.

Constraints and opportunities

• Development of the settlement is restricted by the presence of Breckland Farmland SSSI and Breckland Special Protection Area designated both for stone curlew, and for woodlark and nightjar close to the settlement boundary to the east and west.
• Flood zones associated with the River Lark.
• There are several individual Tree Preservation Orders within the settlement boundary, and a group TPO adjacent to it.
• There are reasonable/good bus services to Bury St Edmunds and Mildenhall.

Settlement status

5.10.5 The village is designated as a secondary village in the former Forest Heath area Core Strategy (2010). It is proposed that Icklingham is designated as a Type A village in the new West Suffolk settlement hierarchy. This would mean that the opportunity for allocating small sites in or adjacent to the village could be explored through the preparation of the local plan.

Site options

5.10.6 The level of development will be influenced by the settlement strategy which will determine the distribution of development across the district as well as the existing environmental and physical constraints and the overall capacity for growth in the settlement.

5.10.7 No sites in Icklingham have been submitted to the council through the Strategic Housing and Economic Land Availability Assessment (SHELAA) for potential inclusion in the local plan.

5.10.8 If you know of any sites that could be suitable for allocation please let us know by submitting the call for sites submission form.

Icklingham settlement constraints map