Local history
IFFIN - “The youthful dwellers”. Ithynge 1336; Yffyng 1465.
OE meaning youth, young people, junior warriors.
Very Little is Known about Iffin farm except that in the early days it was known as "Aethynges". The name underwent several changes for in 1336 it was "Ithynge" and in 1465 it was "Yffyng". It is said that Vitalis, a Norman Knight depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry, and who is mentioned in the Domesday Survey as residing at Canterbury, had a daughter, Matilda, who married a William Caevel and they possessed the land later. This William Caeval is probably the man who was Portreeve of Canterbury about 1100 and founded Saint Sepulchres Nunnery in the Old Dover Road.
A survey of Iffin Woods done in 1983 when the woods were threatened with destruction revealed the site of the medieval manor which was apparently deserted in the 15th century. No manoral site in Kent has ever been fully excavated and it is hoped that this site will be protected.
In May 1945 a Bronze Age burial mound was discovered at Iffin Wood. When excavated it was found to contain several inverted burial urns with a few human cremated remains. They date from 1700 to 1100 B.C.