Syresham | |
---|---|
Location within Northamptonshire | |
Population | 805 (2001 census) [1] 855 (2011 census) |
OS grid reference | SP670440 |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | BRACKLEY |
Postcode district | NN13 |
Dialling code | 01280 |
Police | Northamptonshire |
Fire | Northamptonshire |
Ambulance | East Midlands |
UK Parliament | |
Syresham is a village and civil parish in the English district of West Northamptonshire. The civil parish population at the 2011 census was 855. It is near Brackley town and close to Silverstone Circuit. It is surrounded by villages and hamlets such as Biddlesden, Whitfield, 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 hamlets in the parish: Crowfield and Pimlico.
The village's name means 'homestead/village of Sigehere' or 'hemmed-in land of Sigehere'. [2]
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 villages nearby, including Astwell near Helmdon, the site of the still standing keep or gatehouse of Astwell Castle.
An old forest town, it is surrounded by the remnants of ancient woodland, 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 Whittlewood Forest. They are mainly owned by the Forestry Commission and are crossed by many public footpaths and some byways 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, but are now completely neglected. 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 and hosts a number of very rare plants owing to its waterlogged condition.
The woods are rich in a wide range of plants, especially common bluebells and primroses (or Primula vulgaris) in the spring, and associated orchids as well as the yellow rattle. There is a diverse fauna including mammals such as red deer and muntjac, and birds such as the common buzzard and red kites are also seen in the parish.
The village possesses a public house, 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, 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.
Sport has always played a central part in village life. Syreham currently has two senior football teams playing in the North Bucks & District Football League and two senior cricket teams playing in the South Northants Cricket League. There are also junior teams representing both football and cricket. Syresham also has a darts team, a dominoes team and a bowls club. For those who play rugby, Brackley Rugby Union Football Club is only 4 miles away. Syresham also has a golf society, the Gytte Lane Club, and several courses within a ten-mile drive.
Syresham won village of the year awards in 2008, 2009 and 2010; 2012-2013, 2015 and 2017, being awarded the best community within the region. Contributions to this were events such as the village Scarecrow Festival and village pantomime. The village pantomime celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2009 with a brilliant production of Cinderella.
Northamptonshire is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire to the south and Warwickshire to the west. Northampton is the largest settlement and the county town.
Brackley is a market town and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, in Northamptonshire, England, bordering Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, 19 miles (31 km) from Oxford and 22 miles (35 km) from Northampton. Historically a market town based on the wool and lace trade, it was built on the intersecting trade routes between London, Birmingham, the Midlands, Cambridge and Oxford. Brackley is close to Silverstone and home to the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team. In 2021 the parish had a population of 16,195.
Turweston is a village and civil parish in north-west Buckinghamshire, England. The village is beside the River Great Ouse, which bounds the parish to the north, west and south. Turweston is the most northwesterly parish in Buckinghamshire: the Ouse here forms the county boundary with Northamptonshire to the north and west and Oxfordshire to the south. Across the river, the Northamptonshire market town of Brackley is just west of Turweston, with the town centre about 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the village. The parish has an area of 1,295 acres (524 ha) and had a population of 211 at the 2011 Census.
South Northamptonshire was a local government district in Northamptonshire, England, from 1974 to 2021. Its council was based in the town of Towcester, first established as a settlement in Roman Britain. The population of the Local Authority District Council in 2011 was 85,189.
The Ouse Valley Way is a 150-mile (240 km) footpath in England, following the River Great Ouse from its source near Syresham in Northamptonshire to its mouth in The Wash near King's Lynn. The path begins outside the King's Head pub in Syresham (52.0683°N 1.0807°W) and ends on the Green Quay in King's Lynn (52.7512°N 0.3935°E).
Purton is a large village and civil parish in north Wiltshire, England, about 4 miles (6 km) northwest of the centre of Swindon. The parish includes the village of Purton Stoke and the hamlets of Bentham, Hayes Knoll, Purton Common, Restrop, The Fox and Widham.
Whittlewood Forest is a former medieval hunting forest east of Silverstone in Northamptonshire in England. It is managed by the Forestry England. There are tracts of ancient woodland within it and old ditches can be found at the edges of several individual woods. The area has been the subject of extensive academic historical research. An area of 400 hectares in seven different patches has been designated a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), which is about half the size of an average English parish. It is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade 2.
Helmdon is a village and civil parish about 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Brackley in West Northamptonshire, England. The village is on the River Tove, which is flanked by meadows that separate the village into two. The parish includes the hamlets of Astwell and Falcutt and covers more than 1,550 acres (630 ha). The 2011 Census recorded a parish population of 899.
Whitfield is a village and parish 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 inhabitants, including Radstone and increasing to 274 at the 2011 Census.
Barcombe is an East Sussex village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex. The parish has four settlements: old Barcombe, the oldest settlement in the parish with the parish church; Barcombe Cross, the more populous settlement and main hub with the amenities and services; the hamlet of Spithurst in the northeast and Town Littleworth in the northwest.
Bolney is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex district of West Sussex, England. It lies 36 miles (58 km) south of London, 11 miles (18 km) north of Brighton, and 27 miles (43 km) east northeast of the county town of Chichester, near the junction of the A23 road with the A272 road. The parish has a land area of 1,479.41 hectares. In the 2001 census there were 1209 people living in 455 households of whom 576 were economically active. At the 2011 Census the population had increased to 1,366. Nearby towns include Burgess Hill to the southeast and Haywards Heath to the east.
Lindfield is a village and civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England. The parish lies 1 mile (2 km) to the north-east of Haywards Heath, and stands on the upper reaches of the River Ouse. The name 'Lindfield' means 'open land with lime trees.'
Clifton Without is a suburb and civil parish in the unitary authority area of the City of York, North Yorkshire, England. It consists of those parts of Clifton that lie outside, i.e. Without, the (pre-1996) city boundaries and Clifton Moor. It lies on the A19 about two miles north-west of central York.
East Chiltington is a village and civil parish in the Lewes District of East Sussex, England. It is centred four miles (5.9 km) south-east of Burgess Hill and five miles (8 km) north-west of Lewes. It is a strip parish of 3.76 square miles (9.7 km2), stretching northward from the crest of the South Downs. The village church is 13th century in origin; the vicar also has charge of two churches in Plumpton. Near the church there is a pub called The Jolly Sportsman. The Sussex Greensand Way, a Roman road, runs from east to west through the centre of the parish.
Ansty and Staplefield, previously Cuckfield Rural, is a civil parish in the Mid Sussex District of West Sussex, England, covering an area from the north-west side of Burgess Hill, the whole lying around but mostly to the west of Cuckfield civil parish, from which it was created in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894. It includes the settlements of Ansty in the south, Staplefield to the north-west and Brook Street to the north-east. It is the largest civil parish in West Sussex, covering an area of 3,869 hectares (14.94 sq mi), and has a population of 1574, increasing to 1,756 at the 2011 Census.
Astwell is a hamlet in Northamptonshire, England. With Falcutt, it is part of the civil parish of Helmdon, but formerly Astwell was split between the parishes of Syresham and Wappenham. The hamlet is 6 miles (10 km) northeast of Brackley and 17+1⁄2 miles (28 km) by road southwest of the county town of Northampton. Today the hamlet contains little more than the Astwell Castle and a mill.
Wappenham is a linear village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is 5 miles (8 km) south-west of Towcester, north of Syresham and north-west of Silverstone and forms part of West Northamptonshire. At the time of the 2001 census, the parish's population was 266 people, increasing to 294 at the 2011 Census.
Astwell Castle is a manor house in Northamptonshire, England about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south-west of Wappenham. It is a Grade II listed building and part of the parish of Helmdon, a village 1 mile (1.6 km) west.
Radstone is a hamlet and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, about 2 miles (3 km) north of Brackley. The 2001 Census recorded a parish population of 54. At the 2011 Census the population of the hamlet remained less than 100 and was included in the civil parish of Whitfield.