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Syston

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Census

  • The parish was in the Claypole sub-district of the Newark Registration District.
     
  • Check our Census Resource page for county-wide resources.
     
  • The table below shows census piece numbers, where known:
     
Census
Year
Piece Numbers
1851H.O. 107 / 2138
1861R.G. 9 / 2482
1891R.G. 12 / 2716
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Church History

  • The Anglican parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary the Virgin and is built in the Anglo-Norman style.
     
  • The church underwent extensive repairs in 1861-2.
     
  • The church seats 120.
     
  • The church contains monuments to the THOROLD family.
     
  • Richard CROFT has a photograph of St. Mary's Church on Geo-graph, taken in October, 2005.
     
  • Here is a photo of St. Mary's Church, taken by Ron COLE (who retains the copyright): 

 

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Church Records

  • The parish register dates from 1562, although the register of marriages dates only from 1775.
     
  • Boyd's Marriage Index holds parish marriages from 1562 to 1837.
     
  • The LFHS has published several marriage indexes for the Loveden Deanery to make your search easier. In the early 1900s, as the region grew in population, the church was placed in the North Grantham deanery.
     
  • The Lincolnshire FHS has a Loan Library service which has the parish registers on microfiche for Baptisms from 1730 to 1783 and Marriages from 1730 to 1812.
     
  • Check our Church Records page for county-wide resources.
     
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Civil Registration

  • The parish was in the Claypole sub-district of the Newark Registration District.
     
  • Check our Civil Registration page for sources and background on Civil Registration which began in July, 1837.
     
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Description & Travel

Syston is both a village and a parish 3 miles north of Grantham and 109 miles north of London. Marston parish lies to the west, Barkston parish to the north. The parish covers about 1,600 acres in an east-west orientation.

The River Witham runs past the western side of the village, heading north to Barkston. If you are planning a visit:

  • Take the A607 trunk road, which passes along the eastern edge of the village, north out of Grantham.
     
  • Visit our touring page for more sources.
     
You can see pictures of Syston which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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History

  • The THOROLD family claims to have been in Syston prior to the Conquest (cited in Arthur Mee's 1949 "The Kings England - Lincolnshire". Others claim that they did not enter the parish until 1614. For more on this family, see Marston.
     
  • The Jericho Woods, adjoining the Gonerby hills, together with the church and village of Syston, are believed by experts to be described under the name of "Willingham" in Sir Walter Scott's novel, the "Heart of Mid-Lothian." One source lists the name "Jericho" spelled as "Jerico".
     
  • Check the history of the Wapentake at the Loveden Wapentake website.
     
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Land & Property

  • In 1871, all the land in the parish was owned by the Lord of the Manor, Sir John Henry THOROLD, baronet. He was still the sole landowner in 1913.
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Manors

  • Syston Hall sat a mile east of the village in a well-wooded park with a small lake. It was the seat of the THOROLD family. It was built to replace the previous mansion which had been near the parish church in the valley below. At one time it had a large and very valuable collection of rare books.
     
  • Syston Hall was torn down in 1923. [Thank you, J. Williams]
     
  • David BEVIS has a photograph of the Old Hall near the church on Geo-graph, taken in July, 2012.
     
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Maps

  • See our Maps page for additional resources.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SK929409 (Lat/Lon: 52.957438, -0.618524), Syston which are provided by:

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Military Records

Michael PECK provides us with: "The Syston War Memorial has now been recorded. All named fell in WW1 1914 - 1918, there is no reference to WW2."

For a photograph of the Syston War Memorial and the list of names on it, see the Roll of Honour site.

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Names, Geographical

The name Syston is Old English sid+stan, for "broad stone". It appeared in the 1086 Domesday Book as Sidestan.
[A. D. Mills, "A Dictionary of English Place-Names," Oxford University Press, 1991]

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Names, Personal

  • Here's a list of surnames found in White's 1871 Directory: ATKIN, AUBREY, BROOKE, CARTER, HARDY, HARDWICK, NEAL, THOROLD, WADDS, WARDLE and WELBOURNE.
     
  • Kelley's 1913 Directory lists these surnames: ASHBY, CHATTERTON, GRIGGS, NORTHING, NUSSEY, STANHOPE and THOROLD.
     
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Politics & Government

  • This place was an ancient parish in Lincoln county and became a modern Civil Parish when those were established.
     
  • The parish was in the ancient Loveden Wapentake in the South Kesteven division of the county, parts of Kesteven.
     
  • It has sometimes been in the Wapentake of Winnibriggs and Threo.
     
  • For today's district governance, contact the South Kesteven District Council.
     
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Poor Houses, Poor Law

  • Bastardy cases would be heard in the Spittlegate (Grantham) petty session hearings.
     
  • Thomas LOWREY left the interest on £35 to purchase bread for the poor, distributed each year on December 14th.
     
  • Dame Margery THOROLD established a charity to provided funds for both the school and the poor, who received £10 yearly.
     
  • After the Poor Law Amendment Act reforms of 1834, the parish became part of the Newark Poor Law Union.
     
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Population

YearInhabitants
1801181
1841226
1871221
1881224
1891196
1901171
1911177
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Schools

  • A school was founded here in 1717, but it was rebuilt as a Public Elementary School in 1846 to hold 50 children. Average attendance in 1912 was 23.
     
  • For more on researching school records, see our Schools Research page.