Syresham
Encyclopedia
Syresham is a village and civil parish
in the English
district of South Northamptonshire
. It is near Brackley
town and close to Silverstone Circuit
. It is surrounded by villages and hamlets such as Biddlesden
, Whitfield, Northamptonshire
, Helmdon
, Silverstone
and Wappenham
, and the border with Buckinghamshire
lies just to the south of the village. The border itself is defined by the River Great Ouse
, which rises within the parish. There are two small hamlet
s in the parish, Crowfield
and Pimlico
.
The local geology includes the cornbrash
and oolitic limestone of Jurassic
age. There is a large abandoned quarry
north of the church which supplied the stone for many of the older buildings in the village. The population, like so many other villages in England
, is now much lower than even a century ago due to the British agricultural revolution
. There are the remains of a very large fish pond
south of the church and close to the manor house
. The dam
wall still stands but the pond was drained long ago for its rich pasture
.
Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries
most of the land in and around Syresham passed to Magdalen College, Oxford
. Much of the estate has now been sold off, however
There are several deserted medieval village
s nearby, including Astwell near Helmdon, the site of the still standing keep
or gatehouse
of Astwell castle
.
, the hunting grounds for several English kings such as Richard III
. They include Whistley wood near Brackley
and Hazelborough wood near Silverstone
. Further afield is Yardley Chase
and Whittlebury wood. They are mainly owned by the Forestry Commission
and are crossed by many public footpaths and some byway
s and bridleways leading to the village. The woods have a diverse range of trees, including oak
, beech
, hazel
and some conifer stands. The hazel will have been coppiced in previous times. All of the ancient woods are surrounded by deep ditches, a common indicator of their great age and importance in the Medieval period.
There is a Site of Special Scientific Interest
or SSSI near Hazelborough wood which hosts rare marsh plants including orchids. It is known as Syresham Marshy Meadows.
The woods are rich in a wide range of plants, especially common bluebell
s and primroses (or Primula vulgaris
) in the Spring, and associated orchids as well as the yellow rattle
. There is a diverse fauna including mammal
s such as red deer
and muntjac
, and birds such as the common buzzard
and red kite
s are also seen in the parish.
, the Kings Head, a sub post office
, primary school, church and chapel
. It has a thriving social life, with a Sports and Social Club (football field and cricket pitch), and several local societies (such as the Syresham History Society). There are several Grade II listed buildings, including The Priory, Manor Farm and The Old College Farmhouse. St. James' Church, dating from the 12th Century, is Grade II* listed.
It is bypassed by the A43 trunk road
and is the western terminus of the Ouse Valley Way
long distance footpath. It is traversed by Welsh lane, a Drovers' road used to bring cattle and sheep to London
before the railways killed off the droving business. The lane has wide verges at many places between the village and Buckingham
which were ideal for grazing the livestock
. There are the remains or stump
of a hanging tree at the cross-roads just south of Biddlesden.
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...
in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
district of South Northamptonshire
South Northamptonshire
South Northamptonshire is a local government district in Northamptonshire, England. Its council is based in Towcester.The district is rural and sparsely populated with just over 79,293 people in 2000 and 91,000 in 2008, a 14.8% increase. The largest town in the district is Brackley, which has a...
. It is near Brackley
Brackley
Brackley is a town in south Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Oxford and miles form Northampton. Historically a market town based on the wool and lace trade, it was built on the intersecting trade routes between London, Birmingham and the English Midlands and between Cambridge and Oxford...
town and close to Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit
Silverstone Circuit is an English motor racing circuit next to the Northamptonshire villages of Silverstone and Whittlebury. The circuit straddles the Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire border, with the current main circuit entry on the Buckinghamshire side...
. It is surrounded by villages and hamlets such as Biddlesden
Biddlesden
Biddlesden is a village and civil parish in Aylesbury Vale district in north-west Buckinghamshire, England on the boundary with Northamptonshire. It is about east-north-east of Brackley, Northamptonshire and north-west of Buckingham. The River Great Ouse forms part of the western boundary of the...
, Whitfield, Northamptonshire
Whitfield, Northamptonshire
Whitfield is a village in the south-west of the English county of Northamptonshire in the valley of the River Great Ouse which forms the border with Buckinghamshire. Nearby villages include Syresham, Biddlesden, Helmdon and Silverstone. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish had 215...
, Helmdon
Helmdon
Helmdon is a village and civil parish in the district of South Northamptonshire, Northamptonshire, England. The parish covers an area of about and includes the village of Helmdon and the hamlets of Astwell and Falcutt.-Geography:...
, Silverstone
Silverstone
Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and Banbury...
and Wappenham
Wappenham
Wappenham is a linear village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is south-west of Towcester, north of Syresham and north-west of Silverstone and forms part of the district of South Northamptonshire...
, and the border with Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire
Buckinghamshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan home county in South East England. The county town is Aylesbury, the largest town in the ceremonial county is Milton Keynes and largest town in the non-metropolitan county is High Wycombe....
lies just to the south of the village. The border itself is defined by the River Great Ouse
River Great Ouse
The Great Ouse is a river in the east of England. At long, it is the fourth-longest river in the United Kingdom. The river has been important for navigation, and for draining the low-lying region through which it flows. Its course has been modified several times, with the first recorded being in...
, which rises within the parish. There are two small hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
s in the parish, Crowfield
Crowfield, Northamptonshire
Crowfield is a hamlet of some two dozen houses in the civil parish of Syresham in that part of the English county of Northamptonshire popularly known as Banburyshire...
and Pimlico
Pimlico
Pimlico is a small area of central London in the City of Westminster. Like Belgravia, to which it was built as a southern extension, Pimlico is known for its grand garden squares and impressive Regency architecture....
.
The local geology includes the cornbrash
Cornbrash
In geology, Cornbrash was the name applied to the uppermost member of the Bathonian stage of the Jurassic formation in England. It is an old English agricultural name applied in Wiltshire to a variety of loose rubble or brash which, in that part of the country, forms a good soil for growing corn...
and oolitic limestone of Jurassic
Jurassic
The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...
age. There is a large abandoned quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
north of the church which supplied the stone for many of the older buildings in the village. The population, like so many other villages in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, is now much lower than even a century ago due to the British agricultural revolution
British Agricultural Revolution
British Agricultural Revolution describes a period of development in Britain between the 17th century and the end of the 19th century, which saw an epoch-making increase in agricultural productivity and net output. This in turn supported unprecedented population growth, freeing up a significant...
. There are the remains of a very large fish pond
Fish pond
A fish pond, or fishpond, is a controlled pond, artificial lake, or reservoir that is stocked with fish and is used in aquaculture for fish farming, or is used for recreational fishing or for ornamental purposes...
south of the church and close to the manor house
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
. The dam
Dam
A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...
wall still stands but the pond was drained long ago for its rich pasture
Pasture
Pasture is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep or swine. The vegetation of tended pasture, forage, consists mainly of grasses, with an interspersion of legumes and other forbs...
.
Following the Dissolution of the Monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
most of the land in and around Syresham passed to Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...
. Much of the estate has now been sold off, however
There are several deserted medieval village
Deserted medieval village
In the United Kingdom, a deserted medieval village is a former settlement which was abandoned during the Middle Ages, typically leaving no trace apart from earthworks or cropmarks. If there are fewer than three inhabited houses the convention is to regard the site as deserted; if there are more...
s nearby, including Astwell near Helmdon, the site of the still standing keep
Keep
A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word keep, but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the...
or gatehouse
Gatehouse
A gatehouse, in architectural terminology, is a building enclosing or accompanying a gateway for a castle, manor house, fort, town or similar buildings of importance.-History:...
of Astwell castle
Castle
A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...
.
Local woods
An old forest town, it is surrounded by the remnants of ancient woodlandAncient woodland
Ancient woodland is a term used in the United Kingdom to refer specifically to woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England and Wales . Before those dates, planting of new woodland was uncommon, so a wood present in 1600 was likely to have developed naturally...
, the hunting grounds for several English kings such as Richard III
Richard III of England
Richard III was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty...
. They include Whistley wood near Brackley
Brackley
Brackley is a town in south Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Oxford and miles form Northampton. Historically a market town based on the wool and lace trade, it was built on the intersecting trade routes between London, Birmingham and the English Midlands and between Cambridge and Oxford...
and Hazelborough wood near Silverstone
Silverstone
Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and Banbury...
. Further afield is Yardley Chase
Yardley Chase
Yardley Chase is a fairly large forest in Northamptonshire , which consists of two similar shaped forests, which are each about long, and wide, in places...
and Whittlebury wood. They are mainly owned by the Forestry Commission
Forestry Commission
The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for forestry in Great Britain. Its mission is to protect and expand Britain's forests and woodlands and increase their value to society and the environment....
and are crossed by many public footpaths and some byway
Byway (road)
A byway in the United Kingdom is a minor secondary or tertiary road. In 2000 the legal term 'restricted byway' was introduced to cover roads on which it is possible to travel by any mode but not using 'mechanically propelled vehicles'.-Byway Open to All Traffic :In England & Wales, a Byway Open to...
s and bridleways leading to the village. The woods have a diverse range of trees, including oak
Oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus Quercus , of which about 600 species exist. "Oak" may also appear in the names of species in related genera, notably Lithocarpus...
, beech
Beech
Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...
, hazel
Hazel
The hazels are a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate northern hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae, though some botanists split the hazels into a separate family Corylaceae.They have simple, rounded leaves with double-serrate margins...
and some conifer stands. The hazel will have been coppiced in previous times. All of the ancient woods are surrounded by deep ditches, a common indicator of their great age and importance in the Medieval period.
There is a Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
or SSSI near Hazelborough wood which hosts rare marsh plants including orchids. It is known as Syresham Marshy Meadows.
The woods are rich in a wide range of plants, especially common bluebell
Common Bluebell
Hyacinthoides non-scripta, commonly known as the common bluebell, is a spring-flowering bulbous perennial plant. -Taxonomy:...
s and primroses (or Primula vulgaris
Primula vulgaris
Primula vulgaris is a species of Primula native to western and southern Europe , northwest Africa , and southwest Asia...
) in the Spring, and associated orchids as well as the yellow rattle
Yellow rattle
Yellow Rattle or Cockscomb, Rhinanthus minor, is a flowering plant in the genus Rhinanthus in the family Orobanchaceae, native to Europe and Western Asia....
. There is a diverse fauna including mammal
Mammal
Mammals are members of a class of air-breathing vertebrate animals characterised by the possession of endothermy, hair, three middle ear bones, and mammary glands functional in mothers with young...
s such as red deer
Red Deer
The red deer is one of the largest deer species. Depending on taxonomy, the red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Asia Minor, parts of western Asia, and central Asia. It also inhabits the Atlas Mountains region between Morocco and Tunisia in northwestern Africa, being...
and muntjac
Muntjac
Muntjac, also known as Barking Deer and Mastreani Deer, are small deer of the genus Muntiacus. Muntjac are the oldest known deer, appearing 15–35 million years ago, with remains found in Miocene deposits in France, Germany and Poland....
, and birds such as the common buzzard
Common Buzzard
The Common Buzzard is a medium to large bird of prey, whose range covers most of Europe and extends into Asia. It is usually resident all year, except in the coldest parts of its range, and in the case of one subspecies.-Description:...
and red kite
Red Kite
The Red Kite is a medium-large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae, which also includes many other diurnal raptors such as eagles, buzzards, and harriers. The species is currently endemic to the Western Palearctic region in Europe and northwest Africa, though formerly also occurred just...
s are also seen in the parish.
Facilities
The village possesses a public housePublic house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
, the Kings Head, a sub post office
Post office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
, primary school, church and chapel
Chapel
A chapel is a building used by Christians as a place of fellowship and worship. It may be part of a larger structure or complex, such as a church, college, hospital, palace, prison or funeral home, located on board a military or commercial ship, or it may be an entirely free-standing building,...
. It has a thriving social life, with a Sports and Social Club (football field and cricket pitch), and several local societies (such as the Syresham History Society). There are several Grade II listed buildings, including The Priory, Manor Farm and The Old College Farmhouse. St. James' Church, dating from the 12th Century, is Grade II* listed.
It is bypassed by the A43 trunk road
A43 road
The A43 is a primary route in the English Midlands, that runs from the M40 motorway near Ardley in Oxfordshire to Stamford in Lincolnshire. Through Northamptonshire it bypasses the towns of Northampton, Kettering and Corby which are the three principal destinations on the A43 route...
and is the western terminus of the Ouse Valley Way
Ouse Valley Way
The Ouse Valley Way is a 150-mile footpath in England, following the River Great Ouse from its source near Brackley in Northamptonshire to its mouth in The Wash near King's Lynn...
long distance footpath. It is traversed by Welsh lane, a Drovers' road used to bring cattle and sheep to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
before the railways killed off the droving business. The lane has wide verges at many places between the village and Buckingham
Buckingham
Buckingham is a town situated in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire. The town has a population of 11,572 ,...
which were ideal for grazing the livestock
Livestock
Livestock refers to one or more domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to produce commodities such as food, fiber and labor. The term "livestock" as used in this article does not include poultry or farmed fish; however the inclusion of these, especially poultry, within the meaning...
. There are the remains or stump
Tree stump
After a tree has been cut and felled, the stump or tree stump is usually a small remaining portion of the trunk with the roots still in the ground. Stumps may show the age-defining rings of a tree. The study of these rings is known as dendrochronology....
of a hanging tree at the cross-roads just south of Biddlesden.