Syerston
Encyclopedia
Syerston is a small Nottinghamshire parish about six miles south-west of Newark-on-Trent
, which is bisected by the A46
trunk road. It contains 181 inhabitants in seventy-five dwellings (2001) which are almost all in a settlement to the east of the road.
The parish is bounded on the north-east by Elston
, on the south-east by Flintham
and to the east by Sibthorpe. Its southern boundary is the supposed pre-historic trackway called Longhedge Lane.
The Highways Agency is presently (2011) constructing a new seventeen miles long two-lane dual carriageway from the A606 two level junction at Widmerpool
to an improved roundabout at Farndon
. This passes through the parish between the existing A46, which is thought to follow the line of the old Roman
Fosse Way
, and the settlement of Syerston.
RAF Syerston
is almost all in Flintham
parish, immediately to the south of Syerston parish and to the west of the A46 trunk road.
Scholars are in agreement that the name means the farm of someone called Sigehere, from an Old English personal name + tūn.
s; Robert from Count Alan; the Bishop of Lincoln, (Remigius de Fécamp
) and Godwin from Berengar de Tosny.
Four freeman (sochemannus), four villagers (villanus) and one smallholder (bordarius) are mentioned and, assuming that these were the heads of households, the population of Syerston in 1086 was, perhaps, between thirty-six and forty-five persons.
The fees from acting as Commissioner ( usually two guineas per day), together with profits from other ventures enabled him in July 1791 to purchase for £12,375, without a mortgage, the manor of Syerston from Lewis Disney Ffytche of Swinderby
and to begin construction of a small mansion.
The manor consisted of 10 messuages, 5 cottages, 10 gardens, 10 orchards, 500a. land, 50a meadow, 100a. pasture, 10a. wood, 100a. furze and heath, 50a. moor, 10a. water, 6s.4d. rent, turbary, fishing, etc. in Sierston and Flintham. Because William Fillingham had himself surveyed the estate as early as 1775 and had arranged to have estimates made of the improved value of Syerston if enclosed, with costs of enclosure, it is not difficult to guess his next move.
He seems immediately to have begun the process of petitioning parliament for permission to enclose those parts of the parish, about five hundred acres, which remained unimproved as An Act For Dividing and Inclosing the Open Arable Fields, Meadows, Commons, and Waste Grounds, within the Township of Syerston, in the County of Nottingham was published on 25 October 1791.
Bearing in mind Fillingham’s expertise in these matters, it is surprising that while the enclosure map (by William Attenburrow of East Stoke, covering 769 acres), is dated 1792, the Award itself was not signed until as late as 27 June 1795.
William Fillingham could perhaps be seen as an example of the eighteenth-century social phenomenon in which newly wealthy men sought admission to the landed élite by enclosure and ‘emparkment’ . He bought an open manorial estate, enclosed and built a house and rearranged the property. He was also careful to build his mansion on land close to a turnpike to ensure easy access to towns.
Unfortunately, at this point William the encloser died and his lands and the almost complete mansion, Syerston Hall, were inherited by his son George Fillingham, (1774–1850). One of his first tasks was to arrange for the Award of the parliamentary commissioners to be put into effect and for the new fields to be hedged or fenced and new thoroughfares laid out. This meant, over about the next three years, organising the collection of stone for the making of roads; purchasing thousands of quickset (or whitethorn) plants, having them planted as hedges, and also arranging for ditches to be dug, fence posts put in, saplings bought for plantations, and all the other tasks that were specified in the Award. George also finished the building of the Hall, and in time established the family amongst the local gentry. Upon his death in 1850 the estate passed to his only son, George, (1809–1856), who enjoyed only a short tenure before being succeeded by his son George Henry Fillingham (1841–95) in 1856.
of East Stoke
, from which it is physically separated by Elston parish. Dr Robert Thoroton
says ' I suppose this Town is in Stoke Parish, for the Vicar comes and serves the Cure here’;. This ecclesiastical arrangement was superseded in 1866 when one of the effects of the Poor Law Amendment Act of that year, was to make places which levied a separate rate into civil parish
es. So Syerston gained its independence from East Stoke.
The church is small, as befits a former parochial chapelry, and has an aisle-less nave. Within, it measures from the east wall to the door of the vestry
at the base of the tower, just under sixty-seven and a half feet; and from the south to the north wall nearly fifteen feet. It is dedicated to All Saints and nave
and chancel
are probably of fourteenth century origin, rebuilt in 1896.On the south side are two square headed fourteenth century windows as well as a, probably earlier, double-lancet window. On the north side is a blocked-up doorway; it may have been used as an exit point for the processions which were a feature of church services before the Reformation. The porch was repaired in 1724 and bears the date and the initials W.H.and C.W. The pulpit
with canopy is from 1636, but the pews are Victorian
. The monuments are all to the Fillinghams from William the encloser, who died in 1795 to George, died 1974. There is a small unbuttressed thirteenth century tower, with battlements from a later date. Two scratch (or mass) dials appear on the south wall of the church to the right of the porch, and another, strangely inverted, scratch dial appears incorporated into the stonework of the porch, probably upturned at its rebuilding. These would have given some indication of the times of church services and perhaps also acted as a village timepiece, before clocks came into general use.
In 1743 a new Archbishop of York, Thomas Herring, was appointed Soon after taking up his post he wrote to all the clergy within the diocese, seeking information about the parishes they served. Syerston’s curate, Francis Bainbridge, replied to the archiepiscopal enquiry, and his answers indicate what a small backwater the place was in the middle of the eighteenth century:
If the family size was 4.75 in 1743, then the settlement had only about 70 inhabitants at that time. By the first decennial census of 1801 the population had risen to 109 in 23 families. Non-conformism had yet to make in impact, and there were no Papists to report.
Grade II is the most common, accounting for about 92% of all listed buildings, and is for buildings of ‘special interest’.
The parish has seven grade II listed buildings :
Newark-on-Trent
Newark-on-Trent is a market town in Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands region of England. It stands on the River Trent, the A1 , and the East Coast Main Line railway. The origins of the town are possibly Roman as it lies on an important Roman road, the Fosse Way...
, which is bisected by the A46
A46 road
The A46 is an A road in England. It starts east of Bath, Somerset and ends in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, but it does not form a continuous route. Large portions of the old road have been lost, bypassed, or replaced by motorway development...
trunk road. It contains 181 inhabitants in seventy-five dwellings (2001) which are almost all in a settlement to the east of the road.
The parish is bounded on the north-east by Elston
Elston
Elston is a small village in Nottinghamshire to the southwest of Newark, and a mile from the A46 Fosse Way. The parish of Elston lies between the rivers Trent and Devon, with "the village itself set amongst trees and farmland less than a mile from the A46...
, on the south-east by Flintham
Flintham
Flintham is a village in Nottinghamshire within a few miles of Newark, opposite RAF Syerston on the A46. It has a population of circa 650 and a school, village hall, church and cricket pavilion. It has one pub, the on . It also has a community shop run by volunteers called Flintham Community Shop,...
and to the east by Sibthorpe. Its southern boundary is the supposed pre-historic trackway called Longhedge Lane.
The Highways Agency is presently (2011) constructing a new seventeen miles long two-lane dual carriageway from the A606 two level junction at Widmerpool
Widmerpool
Widmerpool is a village and civil parish in Nottinghamshire, about 10 miles south, south east of Nottingham and some 7.5 miles north east of Loughborough. It sits just over a mile west of the A46 and, as one of Nottinghamshire's oldest settlements, enjoyed that proximity to that road when it was...
to an improved roundabout at Farndon
Farndon, Nottinghamshire
Farndon is a small village on the Fosse Way or A46 Roman road, 2.5 miles south-west of Newark-on-Trent, on the banks of the River Trent. The name Farndon means "Fern Hill". It is thought to be the site of the Roman fort Ad Pontem or "the place by the bridges." The parish church of St...
. This passes through the parish between the existing A46, which is thought to follow the line of the old Roman
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
Fosse Way
Fosse Way
The Fosse Way was a Roman road in England that linked Exeter in South West England to Lincoln in Lincolnshire, via Ilchester , Bath , Cirencester and Leicester .It joined Akeman Street and Ermin Way at Cirencester, crossed Watling Street at Venonis south...
, and the settlement of Syerston.
RAF Syerston
RAF Syerston
RAF Syerston is a Royal Air Force station in the parish of Flintham, near Newark, Nottinghamshire. It was used as a bomber base during World War II.-Bomber Command:...
is almost all in Flintham
Flintham
Flintham is a village in Nottinghamshire within a few miles of Newark, opposite RAF Syerston on the A46. It has a population of circa 650 and a school, village hall, church and cricket pavilion. It has one pub, the on . It also has a community shop run by volunteers called Flintham Community Shop,...
parish, immediately to the south of Syerston parish and to the west of the A46 trunk road.
Toponymy
The place appears as Sirestune in the Domesday Survey of 1086 and as Sireston juxta Stok in the Assize Rolls of 1278.Scholars are in agreement that the name means the farm of someone called Sigehere, from an Old English personal name + tūn.
Domesday Survey
The Domesday survey indicates that the Syerston of 1086 was owned by four parties: the King’s thaneThane
Thane , is a city in Maharashtra, India, part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, northeastern suburb of Mumbai at the head of the Thane Creek. It is the administrative headquarters of Thane district. On 16 April 1853, G.I.P...
s; Robert from Count Alan; the Bishop of Lincoln, (Remigius de Fécamp
Remigius de Fécamp
Remigius de Fécamp was a Benedictine monk who was a supporter of William the Conqueror.-Early life:...
) and Godwin from Berengar de Tosny.
Four freeman (sochemannus), four villagers (villanus) and one smallholder (bordarius) are mentioned and, assuming that these were the heads of households, the population of Syerston in 1086 was, perhaps, between thirty-six and forty-five persons.
Landscape and Ownership
The landscape of present day Syerston is principally the work of William Fillingham (1734–95), who was of a yeoman family from nearby Flawborough. Following work as a land surveyor he became steward to the Duke of Rutland at Belvoir Castle, and also land agent to several other local families. He acted in the capacity of enclosure commissioner for over twenty parishes in Nottinghamshire from 1774 , as well as several in Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Rutland and Derbyshire.The fees from acting as Commissioner ( usually two guineas per day), together with profits from other ventures enabled him in July 1791 to purchase for £12,375, without a mortgage, the manor of Syerston from Lewis Disney Ffytche of Swinderby
Swinderby
Swinderby is a settlement and civil parish in Lincolnshire, England, on the A46 road between Lincoln and Newark, within a rural agricultural community. It covers an area of , and has a population of 773....
and to begin construction of a small mansion.
The manor consisted of 10 messuages, 5 cottages, 10 gardens, 10 orchards, 500a. land, 50a meadow, 100a. pasture, 10a. wood, 100a. furze and heath, 50a. moor, 10a. water, 6s.4d. rent, turbary, fishing, etc. in Sierston and Flintham. Because William Fillingham had himself surveyed the estate as early as 1775 and had arranged to have estimates made of the improved value of Syerston if enclosed, with costs of enclosure, it is not difficult to guess his next move.
He seems immediately to have begun the process of petitioning parliament for permission to enclose those parts of the parish, about five hundred acres, which remained unimproved as An Act For Dividing and Inclosing the Open Arable Fields, Meadows, Commons, and Waste Grounds, within the Township of Syerston, in the County of Nottingham was published on 25 October 1791.
Bearing in mind Fillingham’s expertise in these matters, it is surprising that while the enclosure map (by William Attenburrow of East Stoke, covering 769 acres), is dated 1792, the Award itself was not signed until as late as 27 June 1795.
William Fillingham could perhaps be seen as an example of the eighteenth-century social phenomenon in which newly wealthy men sought admission to the landed élite by enclosure and ‘emparkment’ . He bought an open manorial estate, enclosed and built a house and rearranged the property. He was also careful to build his mansion on land close to a turnpike to ensure easy access to towns.
Unfortunately, at this point William the encloser died and his lands and the almost complete mansion, Syerston Hall, were inherited by his son George Fillingham, (1774–1850). One of his first tasks was to arrange for the Award of the parliamentary commissioners to be put into effect and for the new fields to be hedged or fenced and new thoroughfares laid out. This meant, over about the next three years, organising the collection of stone for the making of roads; purchasing thousands of quickset (or whitethorn) plants, having them planted as hedges, and also arranging for ditches to be dug, fence posts put in, saplings bought for plantations, and all the other tasks that were specified in the Award. George also finished the building of the Hall, and in time established the family amongst the local gentry. Upon his death in 1850 the estate passed to his only son, George, (1809–1856), who enjoyed only a short tenure before being succeeded by his son George Henry Fillingham (1841–95) in 1856.
Church
For most of its existence, Syerston seems to have been a chapelryChapelry
A chapelry was a subdivision of an ecclesiastical parish in England, and parts of Lowland Scotland up to the mid 19th century. It had a similar status to a township but was so named as it had a chapel which acted as a subsidiary place of worship to the main parish church...
of East Stoke
East Stoke, Nottinghamshire
East Stoke is a small village in Nottinghamshire nestled between the A46 Fosse Way trunk road and the River Trent. It lies about 6 miles southwest of Newark...
, from which it is physically separated by Elston parish. Dr Robert Thoroton
Robert Thoroton
Dr. Robert Thoroton was an English antiquary, mainly remembered for his county history, The Antiquities of Nottinghamshire .-Life:...
says ' I suppose this Town is in Stoke Parish, for the Vicar comes and serves the Cure here’;. This ecclesiastical arrangement was superseded in 1866 when one of the effects of the Poor Law Amendment Act of that year, was to make places which levied a separate rate into civil parish
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
es. So Syerston gained its independence from East Stoke.
The church is small, as befits a former parochial chapelry, and has an aisle-less nave. Within, it measures from the east wall to the door of the vestry
Vestry
A vestry is a room in or attached to a church or synagogue in which the vestments, vessels, records, etc., are kept , and in which the clergy and choir robe or don their vestments for divine service....
at the base of the tower, just under sixty-seven and a half feet; and from the south to the north wall nearly fifteen feet. It is dedicated to All Saints and nave
Nave
In Romanesque and Gothic Christian abbey, cathedral basilica and church architecture, the nave is the central approach to the high altar, the main body of the church. "Nave" was probably suggested by the keel shape of its vaulting...
and chancel
Chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar in the sanctuary at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building...
are probably of fourteenth century origin, rebuilt in 1896.On the south side are two square headed fourteenth century windows as well as a, probably earlier, double-lancet window. On the north side is a blocked-up doorway; it may have been used as an exit point for the processions which were a feature of church services before the Reformation. The porch was repaired in 1724 and bears the date and the initials W.H.and C.W. The pulpit
Pulpit
Pulpit is a speakers' stand in a church. In many Christian churches, there are two speakers' stands at the front of the church. Typically, the one on the left is called the pulpit...
with canopy is from 1636, but the pews are Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
. The monuments are all to the Fillinghams from William the encloser, who died in 1795 to George, died 1974. There is a small unbuttressed thirteenth century tower, with battlements from a later date. Two scratch (or mass) dials appear on the south wall of the church to the right of the porch, and another, strangely inverted, scratch dial appears incorporated into the stonework of the porch, probably upturned at its rebuilding. These would have given some indication of the times of church services and perhaps also acted as a village timepiece, before clocks came into general use.
In 1743 a new Archbishop of York, Thomas Herring, was appointed Soon after taking up his post he wrote to all the clergy within the diocese, seeking information about the parishes they served. Syerston’s curate, Francis Bainbridge, replied to the archiepiscopal enquiry, and his answers indicate what a small backwater the place was in the middle of the eighteenth century:
- I. There are 15 families in ye Town of Syreston of wch. yre is but one Dissenter named Joseph Bestall they say an Independant, he never received the Sacrament wth Us, of three Years yt he hath lived in ye Town till ye last Whitsuntide, since he was made Ch:Warden & we know not that he has gone to any Meeting for Religious Worsp. in all ye time aforesd.
- II. We have no Licens'd or other Meeting house in ye sd Town
- III. There is no publick or Charity School there
- IV. There is not in ye sd Town any Almshouse or Charitable Endowmt Nor have any Lands or Tenements been left for ye repair of ye Church.
- V. There is no Vicarage-house in ye sd Town it being only an Appendage of East Stoake,
- VI. I have no residing Curate there.
- VII I believe yt all who come to Church are Baptized, & yt all who are of a Competent Age are Confirmed by Your Grace
- VIII. Sierstone has Service in ye Church every fortnight Sunday Afternoon according to ye old Usage
- IX. I do not so often Catechise there as at Stoake by reason of going there, & having ye fatigue of preaching in ye Afternoon, when I have preached at Stoake in ye morning,
- X. The Sacrament of ye Lord's Supper is Administer'd thrice in ye Year namely at Easter Whitsuntide & Christmas, there are upwards of 20 Communicants, about 8 Communicated at Easter
- XI. I give timely & open Warning of the Sacrament & have not refus'd it to any One.
- I am My Lord Your Grace’s most Dutyfull Son & most Obedient Servant
- F Bainbridge
If the family size was 4.75 in 1743, then the settlement had only about 70 inhabitants at that time. By the first decennial census of 1801 the population had risen to 109 in 23 families. Non-conformism had yet to make in impact, and there were no Papists to report.
Listed buildings
A building is listed if it is considered to be of merit, either due to its architecture or because of its historical value. In England and Wales there are three grades of listing: grades I, II* and II.Grade II is the most common, accounting for about 92% of all listed buildings, and is for buildings of ‘special interest’.
The parish has seven grade II listed buildings :
- Syerston Hall and Attached Outbuilding and Garden Wall - country house and attached outbuilding and garden wall. 1793-6.
- Stable Block, Adjacent Pump and Attached Hen House at Syerston Hall - c.1800.
- Pigeoncote at Syerston Hall - c.1800.
- Montague House – early nineteenth century house on Church Lane.
- Low Farm House - seventeenth- and early-eighteenth-century farmhouse on Moor Lane.
- Barn at Low Farm - early-eighteenth-century barn in red brick on Moor Lane.
- Church of All Saints – parish church of thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, restored in 1896.
People
In 1990, retired Postmistress, Mrs Freida Klingbeil wrote "Changes in my village - Syerston". Her recollections began in 1927...Further reading
- A. W. Bailey, `Paper Read at Syerston to the Members of the Thoroton Society, on their Visit to the Church, on June 26, 1900', Transactions of the Thoroton Society (TTS), 4 (1900)
- G. A. Morley, `Memorials of Syerston', Nottinghamshire Countryside, 23, 1 (1962)
- N. Summers, `Syerston Hall', TTS, 74 (1970)
- K. S. S. Train, `The Fillinghams of Syerston Hall', TTS, 74 (1970)