Iver

Iver is in the south-east corner of the English county of Buckinghamshire and it is also the name for one of the largest civil parishes in the South Bucks district. Iver parish covers about eight square miles (21 km²) and in addition to the village of Iver also includes the villages of Iver Heath and 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, Iver Heath and Richings Park all 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.

History
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. In 1351 the area was granted a Royal charter to hold a weekly market. This charter was confirmed 110 years later in 1461.

Iver
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.

Iver Heath
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. The Church of St Margaret was built in 1862. Iver Heath itself is centred on a triangle of roads. The village post office is on the Slough Road to the south, while a parade of shops used to be found along Church Road to the north. Slough Road and Church Road are connected by Bangors Road North to the east.

Richings Park
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.

Black Park
Black Park which adjoins the Pinewood Studio complex is, with a lake that extends over 530 acres (2.1 km²). Due to its proximity to Pinewood Studios, Black Park was used for outdoor sequences in some of Hammer's Dracula films, a number of Carry On films, the Gerry Anderson Sci Fi series UFO 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.

Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated in Iver Heath. The studios have played host to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows, commercials and pop music promos and is well known as the home of the Carry On..., the Superman, and the James Bond film franchises.

Pinewood were built on the estate of Heatherden Hall, which was a large, attractive Victorian house with spectacular grounds. The Pinewood estate was purchased by Lt. Col. Grant Morden a Canadian financier and MP for Brentford and Chiswick. He spent a fortune transforming the mansion into a show-piece home, adding refinements such as a huge ballroom, a Turkish bath and an indoor squash court. Due to its seclusion, it was used as a discreet meeting place for high-ranking politicians and diplomats and the agreement to create the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed there. 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 had died in 1931. Within twelve months Charles had formed a partnership with J. Arthur Rank and together theytransformed Heatherden Hall into the office building for a film studio complex. He based his new studios on the latest Hollywood 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.

Iver Heath Drama Club
Established by John Hargreaves in 1948, the 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.

As of May 2014, the club has over 40 regularly active members who are aged between six and eighty years of age. The club is run by volunteers using a not-for-profit charitable framework and is funded entirely by profits from shows, membership fees and donations. The members come from the Ivers area and are from a wide array of backgrounds and abilities.

In March 2014 Matthew Streuli, Vice-Chairman of the club, was presented with a Runner-up Community Champion Award by the Chairman of South Bucks District Council, Councillor Santokh Chhokar.

Since 2008, Pinewood Studios has been the club's main sponsor. Pinewood Studios Group has helped with rent and co-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. The 2014 Pantomime was Cinderella which over the course of six shows was seen by almost 500 people.

The Evreham Sports Centre
The Sports Centre is based in Iver, which is in the south of the District. The centre's is run by Greenwich Leisure Limited. Facilities include a Multi purpose sports hall, dance studio, lounge (with adjoining kitchen), sunbed, outdoor floodlit synthetic surface pitch, grass soccer pitches and a first class changing facility and fitness suite with state of the art equipment including the award winning nautilus tread climber. The fitness suite contains many pieces of fitness equipment designed to be accessible to those persons with limited mobility.

Transport
Iver railway station is in Richings Park. Iver station provides direct links to and from Oxford, Slough, Reading and London Paddington.

Notable people

 * Prince Michael of Kent, member of the British Royal Family, was born in Iver
 * Princess Victoria (1868–1935), daughter of Edward VII, lived in Iver 1925–1935
 * Linford Christie, Olympic gold medalist sprinter, lived in Iver Heath
 * John Fairey (1935–2009), aviator son of Charles Fairey (founder of the Fairey Aviation Company), was born in Iver
 * James Gambier (1756–1833), notorious admiral of the Royal Navy, lived in Iver
 * Julian Haviland (born 1930), former Political Editor of both ITN and The Times newspaper, was born in Iver Heath
 * Sid James (1913–1976), Carry On film legend, lived in Iver
 * Brian Muir, sculptor of Darth Vader's helmet and armour and the Stormtrooper armour in Star Wars, lives in Iver
 * John Nash (1893–1977), painter of landscape and still-life, grew up in Iver
 * Edward Schroeder Prior (1857–1932), Arts and Crafts Movement architect, lived at Bridgefoot (shown on the postcard above)
 * David Seaman Former England goalkeeper lived in Iver