What is "iken"

Iken is a small village and civil parish in the marshlands of the English county of Suffolk.

It is near the estuary of the River Alde on the North Sea coast and is located south east of Snape and due north of Orford.

, formerly an island in what was a marsh at the edge of the estuary, is the most likely site of Saint Botolph's Abbey, Ikenhoe. During excavations in 1977 Dr Stanley West discovered part of a large stone Saxon cross incorporated into the wall of the Church tower. The Cross was carved with the heads of dogs and wolves, symbols which were traditionally recognised as St Botolph's emblems during the Middle Ages and therefore it is thought that the cross may originally have been a memorial to him.