Sydenham, Oxfordshire

Coordinates: 51°42′47″N 0°56′42″W / 51.713°N 0.945°W / 51.713; -0.945
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Sydenham
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townChinnor
Postcode districtOX39
Dialling code01844
PoliceThames Valley
FireOxfordshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament
WebsiteSydenham Village
List of places
UK
England
Oxfordshire
51°42′47″N 0°56′42″W / 51.713°N 0.945°W / 51.713; -0.945

Sydenham is a village and

2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 451.[1]

Manor

Sydenham was settled in the

William the Conqueror granted the manor to William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford. In 1075 FitzOsbern's son Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford was one of the leaders of the Revolt of the Earls. After the rebellion's failure William I confiscated all of Roger's lands, including Sydenham.[2]

In the 12th century the de

Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539.[2]

In 1542

open field system until Sydenham's Inclosure Act was passed in 1823, leading to the enclosure award in 1826.[2]

Church and chapels

The nave's 15th-century hammerbeam roof
One of a set of Medieval corbels in the chancel that supported the Lenten veil. This one may have included a pulley.

Church of England

By 1185–86 Sydenham was a chapelry of the

Saint Mary are Norman corbels in the walls of the chancel.[4] However, in 1293 it was reported that the church was "in ruins" and a rebuilding had just begun. This was carried out in the Early English Gothic style.[4] The church retains most of the lancet windows inserted during the rebuilding.[2] The timber-framed bell tower was built at the same time.[2] It is one of a number of wooden bell-towers in South Oxfordshire. The others include St Helen's, Berrick Salome, All Saints, Didcot; St Nicolas, Rotherfield Greys and St Mary the Virgin, Waterperry
.

Early in the 14th century a Decorated Gothic east window was inserted in the chancel and a rood screen and rood loft were added. Late in the 15th century the nave was given a hammerbeam roof.[2] The rood screen and loft were removed in 1840.[2] In the chancel is a set of Medieval corbels that formerly supported a Lenten veil to screen the altar. Such veils were discontinued in the English Reformation, and these corbels are a rare survival.[5]

Sherwood and Pevsner state that the architect John Billing restored St Mary's in 1856,[4] but the Victoria County History states that the restoration was in 1877.[2] By both accounts the tower was rebuilt, the chancel and nave lengthened and a vestry and south porch added.[4][2] the Victoria County History adds that the tower and its arches were moved some distance to the west.[2] The two lancet windows west of the south porch were added during the restoration, and the 14th-century style west window of the nave was probably added at the same time.[4] The church is a Grade II* listed building.[5] Its parish is now part of a single benefice with the parishes of Aston Rowant, Chinnor and Crowell.[6]

Non-conformist

There were

Primitive Methodist chapel by 1866. It was still open in 1910, but no subsequent record of it is known.[2]

Social and economic history

This 18th-century thatched cottage was the village post office, but has now been turned back into a private house
The Wenman School was built in 1849 and enlarged in 1886. It is now the village hall. The extension on the right is modern.
17th- and 18th-century houses south of St Mary's parish church

By the 12th century a brook through the centre of the parish had been dammed to form a millpond to drive a

brick nogging. The village has also a number of 18th-century houses, built either wholly of brick or of brick and flint.[2]

In 1849 a

Baroness Wenman paid for the building and it was thereafter known as the Wenman School. The school was enlarged in 1886 and reorganised as a junior and infants' school in 1929. Thereafter the number of pupils was small, and in 1948 the school was closed.[2]

By 1851 the village had two

public houses: The Sun, and the Four Horse Shoes. The Sun had closed by 1891 and the Four Horse Shoes followed in 1912. However, The Crown Inn had opened by 1939 and continues to trade today. Until the 20th century the parish was almost entirely agricultural. By the 1950s numerous people from Sydenham were working at Chinnor Cement Works,[2]
but this closed in 1989.

Notable residents

BBC presenter Fiona Bruce and her husband Nigel Sharrocks have a second home in Sydenham.[8][9][10]

References

  1. Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics
    . Retrieved 22 August 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Lobel 1964, pp. 116–127.
  3. ^ a b Lobel 1964, pp. 55–80.
  4. ^ a b c d e Sherwood & Pevsner 1974, p. 801.
  5. ^ a b Historic England. "Church of St Mary (Grade II*) (1180738)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  6. ^ Archbishops' Council (2010). "Sydenham: St Mary Sydenham". A Church Near You. Church of England.
  7. ^ "Sydenham". Oxfordshire Churches & Chapels. Brian Curtis.
  8. ^ Wallis, Lucy (18 December 2003). "Fiona Bruce's wild days". BBC News Online. Archived from the original on 29 January 2009. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  9. ^ "The Belsize Story, Belsize Village | Home". www.belsizevillage.co.uk. Retrieved 28 December 2022.
  10. ISSN 0307-1235. Archived
    from the original on 16 October 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2020. Although she's no green goddess herself, Fiona Bruce is delighted that the BBC recycles its 'ageing' presenters

Sources

External links

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