Sydenham, Oxfordshire
Encyclopedia
Sydenham is a village and civil parish about 3 miles (4.8 km) southeast of Thame
in Oxfordshire
. To the south the parish is bounded by the ancient Lower Icknield Way
, and on its other side largely by brooks that merge as Cuttle Brook, a tributary of the River Thame
.
times. Its toponym
means "at the wide river-meadow".
Before the Norman Conquest of England
a Saxon
called Almar held the manor
of Sydenham. After the conquest William the Conqueror
gave 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.
In the 12th century the de Vernon family
who held the manor of Chinnor
also held a small estate at Sydenham. Richard de Vernon granted one hide
of land at Sydenham to the Cistercian Thame Abbey
by 1146 and a second hide by 1155.
In 1203 the manor of Sydenham was granted to Saer de Quincy, 1st Earl of Winchester
. In 1248 his son Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester
gave the manor of Sydenham to Thame Abbey. The Abbey held the manor and Sydenham Grange until the Crown
forced it to surrender all its property in the Dissolution of the Monasteries
in 1539.
In 1542 the Crown
granted Sydenham to Sir John Williams, who in 1554 was made Baron Williams de Thame. In 1559 Baron Williams died without a male heir and divided his estates between his two daughters. He left Sydenham to his daughter Margaret and her husband Henry Norris, who in 1572 was created 1st Baron Norreys
.
In 1608 Henry Norris' heir Francis Norris, 1st Earl of Berkshire
conveyed Sydenham to Sir Richard Wenman, who in 1628 was created 1st Viscount Wenman
. The Manor of Sydneham remained with the Wenmans and their heirs the Wykeham-Musgraves until early in the 20th century. Between 1917 and 1925 the family sold almost all of the manor, and the manorial rights lapsed.
There were some early enclosure
s of land in the parish: Thame Abbey's Sydenham Grange existed by 1474, and further enclosures had taken place by the 1550's and 1630. However, half of the land of the parish continued to be farmed under an open field system
until Sydenham's Enclosure Act
was passed in 1823, leading to the enclosure award in 1826.
parish of Thame. In the English Reformation
in 1574 the Act for the Dissolution of Collegiate Churches and Chantries dissolved all prebendaries, and the tithe
s of Sydenham passed to the Wenman family. The earliest parts of the Church of England parish church
of Saint Mary
are Norman
corbel
s in the walls of the chancel
. 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. The church retains most of the lancet window
s inserted during the rebuilding. The bell tower
was built at the same time. 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
acquired a hammerbeam roof
. The rood screen and loft were removed in 1840.
Sherwood and Pevsner
state that the architect John Billing
restored St. Mary's in 1856, but the Victoria County History
states that the restoration was in 1877. By both accounts the tower was rebuilt, the chancel and nave lengthened and a vestry
and south porch added. the Victoria County History adds that the tower and its arches were moved some distance to the west. 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.
St. Mary's is now part of a single benefice with the parishes of Aston Rowant
, Chinnor
and Crowell.
There were nonconformist
congregations in Sydenham by 1804. A Baptist
chapel was built in 1825 and a rival second one in 1844. One of the Baptist chapels closed in about 1855, but by 1864 the other was still going as a Particular Baptist chapel. It was rebuilt as Ebenezer
Chapel in 1881 and a Sunday school was added in 1883. It was still open in 1920 but had closed by 1932 and was sold in 1936. Its owner leased the chapel to a Methodist
congregation from 1949 and sold it to them in 1957. In 1958 it was a member of the Thame and Watlington
Methodist Circuit
, but it has since closed and is now a private house.
Sydenham had a Primitive Methodist
chapel by 1866. It was still open in 1910, but no subsequent record of it is known.
A number of 16th and 17th century cottages survive in the village. Some are timber-framed and the oldest has a cruck
frame. The walls of some of the timber-framed cottages have lath and plaster
infill; others are filled with brick nogging. The village has also a number of 18th century houses, built either wholly of brick or of brick and flint.
In 1849 a National School
was built in the village. The Wykeham-Musgrave family provided the land, 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.
By 1851 the village had two public house
s: 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 1950's numerous people from Sydenham were working at Chinnor
Cement Works, but this closed in 1989.
Thame
Thame is a town and civil parish in Oxfordshire, about southwest of the Buckinghamshire town of Aylesbury. It derives its toponym from the River Thame which flows past the north side of the town....
in Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
. To the south the parish is bounded by the ancient Lower Icknield Way
Icknield Way
The Icknield Way is an ancient trackway in southern England. It follows the chalk escarpment that includes the Berkshire Downs and Chiltern Hills.-Background:...
, and on its other side largely by brooks that merge as Cuttle Brook, a tributary of the River Thame
River Thame
The River Thame is a river in Southern England. It is a tributary of the larger and better-known River Thames.The general course of the River Thame is north-east to south-west and the distance from its source to the River Thames is about 40 miles...
.
Manor
Sydenham was settled in Anglo-SaxonHistory of Anglo-Saxon England
Anglo-Saxon England refers to the period of the history of that part of Britain, that became known as England, lasting from the end of Roman occupation and establishment of Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in the 5th century until the Norman conquest of England in 1066 by William the Conqueror...
times. Its toponym
Toponymy
Toponymy is the scientific study of place names , their origins, meanings, use and typology. The word "toponymy" is derived from the Greek words tópos and ónoma . Toponymy is itself a branch of onomastics, the study of names of all kinds...
means "at the wide river-meadow".
Before the Norman Conquest of England
Norman conquest of England
The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
a Saxon
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
called Almar held the manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
of Sydenham. After the conquest William the Conqueror
William I of England
William I , also known as William the Conqueror , was the first Norman King of England from Christmas 1066 until his death. He was also Duke of Normandy from 3 July 1035 until his death, under the name William II...
gave the manor to William FitzOsbern, 1st Earl of Hereford
William Fitzosbern, 1st Earl of Hereford
William FitzOsbern , Lord of Breteuil, in Normandy, was a relative and close counsellor of William the Conqueror and one of the great magnates of early Norman England...
. In 1075 FitzOsbern's son Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford
Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford
Roger de Breteuil, 2nd Earl of Hereford , succeeded to the earldom of Hereford and the English estate of William Fitz-Osbern in 1071.- Disobeying King William :...
was one of the leaders of the Revolt of the Earls
Revolt of the Earls
The Revolt of the Earls in 1075 was a rebellion of three earls against William I of England . It was the last serious act of resistance against William in the Norman Conquest.-Course:...
. After the rebellion's failure William I confiscated all of Roger's lands, including Sydenham.
In the 12th century the de Vernon family
Vernon family
The Vernon family was a wealthy, prolific and widespread English family with 11th century origins in Vernon, France.-Vernon of Shipbrook, Cheshire:...
who held the manor of Chinnor
Chinnor
Chinnor is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire about southeast of Thame. The village is a Spring line settlement on the Icknield Way below the Chiltern escarpment...
also held a small estate at Sydenham. Richard de Vernon granted one hide
Hide (unit)
The hide was originally an amount of land sufficient to support a household, but later in Anglo-Saxon England became a unit used in assessing land for liability to "geld", or land tax. The geld would be collected at a stated rate per hide...
of land at Sydenham to the Cistercian Thame Abbey
Thame Abbey
Thame Abbey was a Cistercian abbey at Thame in the English county of Oxfordshire.Thame Abbey was founded in 1137 by Alexander, Bishop of Lincoln. It was dissolved in 1539. Most of the building stone was removed from the site, but the Abbot's House remained standing and was turned into a country...
by 1146 and a second hide by 1155.
In 1203 the manor of Sydenham was granted to Saer de Quincy, 1st Earl of Winchester
Saer de Quincy, 1st Earl of Winchester
Saer de Quincy, 1st Earl of Winchester was one of the leaders of the baronial rebellion against King John of England, and a major figure in both Scotland and England in the decades around the turn of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.Saer de Quincy's immediate background was in the Scottish...
. In 1248 his son Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester
Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester
Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester was a medieval nobleman who was prominent on both sides of the Anglo-Scottish border, as Earl of Winchester and Constable of Scotland....
gave the manor of Sydenham to Thame Abbey. The Abbey held the manor and Sydenham Grange until the Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
forced it to surrender all its property in 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...
in 1539.
In 1542 the Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
granted Sydenham to Sir John Williams, who in 1554 was made Baron Williams de Thame. In 1559 Baron Williams died without a male heir and divided his estates between his two daughters. He left Sydenham to his daughter Margaret and her husband Henry Norris, who in 1572 was created 1st Baron Norreys
Henry Norris, 1st Baron Norreys
Henry Norris , Baron Norris belonged to an old Berkshire family, many members of which had held positions at the English court. He was the son of Sir Henry Norreys, who was beheaded for his supposed adultery with Queen Anne Boleyn, and Mary Fiennes Henry Norris (or Norreys), Baron Norris (15257...
.
In 1608 Henry Norris' heir Francis Norris, 1st Earl of Berkshire
Francis Norris, 1st Earl of Berkshire
Francis Norris, 1st Earl of Berkshire was an English nobleman with the title of Earl of Berkshire.He was the son of Captain William Norreys and Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Morrison of Cassiobury in Hertfordshire, and was born at Wytham in Berkshire . He married Bridget de Vere, although they...
conveyed Sydenham to Sir Richard Wenman, who in 1628 was created 1st Viscount Wenman
Richard Wenman, 1st Viscount Wenman
Richard Wenman, 1st Viscount Wenman was an English soldier and Member of Parliament, with a title in the Peerage of Ireland.-Life:...
. The Manor of Sydneham remained with the Wenmans and their heirs the Wykeham-Musgraves until early in the 20th century. Between 1917 and 1925 the family sold almost all of the manor, and the manorial rights lapsed.
There were some early enclosure
Enclosure
Enclosure or inclosure is the process which ends traditional rights such as mowing meadows for hay, or grazing livestock on common land. Once enclosed, these uses of the land become restricted to the owner, and it ceases to be common land. In England and Wales the term is also used for the...
s of land in the parish: Thame Abbey's Sydenham Grange existed by 1474, and further enclosures had taken place by the 1550's and 1630. However, half of the land of the parish continued to be farmed under an open field system
Open field system
The open field system was the prevalent agricultural system in much of Europe from the Middle Ages to as recently as the 20th century in some places, particularly Russia and Iran. Under this system, each manor or village had several very large fields, farmed in strips by individual families...
until Sydenham's Enclosure Act
Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom
An Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom is a type of legislation called primary legislation. These Acts are passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom at Westminster, or by the Scottish Parliament at Edinburgh....
was passed in 1823, leading to the enclosure award in 1826.
Churches
By 1185-86 Sydenham was a chapelry of the prebendaryPrebendary
A prebendary is a post connected to an Anglican or Catholic cathedral or collegiate church and is a type of canon. Prebendaries have a role in the administration of the cathedral...
parish of Thame. In the English Reformation
English Reformation
The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
in 1574 the Act for the Dissolution of Collegiate Churches and Chantries dissolved all prebendaries, and the tithe
Tithe
A tithe is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques, or stocks, whereas historically tithes were required and paid in kind, such as agricultural products...
s of Sydenham passed to the Wenman family. The earliest parts of the Church of England parish church
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...
of Saint Mary
Mary (mother of Jesus)
Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
are Norman
Norman architecture
About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...
corbel
Corbel
In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...
s in the walls of the 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...
. 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. The church retains most of the lancet window
Lancet window
A lancet window is a tall narrow window with a pointed arch at its top. It acquired the "lancet" name from its resemblance to a lance. Instances of this architectural motif are most often found in Gothic and ecclesiastical structures, where they are often placed singly or in pairs.The motif first...
s inserted during the rebuilding. The bell tower
Bell tower
A bell tower is a tower which contains one or more bells, or which is designed to hold bells, even if it has none. In the European tradition, such a tower most commonly serves as part of a church and contains church bells. When attached to a city hall or other civic building, especially in...
was built at the same time. Early in the 14th century a Decorated Gothic east window was inserted in the chancel and a rood screen
Rood screen
The rood screen is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, or wrought iron...
and rood loft were added. Late in the 15th century the 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...
acquired a hammerbeam roof
Hammerbeam roof
Hammerbeam roof, in architecture, is the name given to an open timber roof, typical of English Gothic architecture, using short beams projecting from the wall.- Design :...
. The rood screen and loft were removed in 1840.
Sherwood and Pevsner
Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner, CBE, FBA was a German-born British scholar of history of art and, especially, of history of architecture...
state that the architect John Billing
John Billing
John Billing, FRIBA was an architect from Reading, Berkshire. His grandfather Richard Billing , father Richard Billing , brothers Richard and Arthur and nephew Arthur Ernest were also architects....
restored St. Mary's in 1856, but the Victoria County History
Victoria County History
The Victoria History of the Counties of England, commonly known as the Victoria County History or the VCH, is an English history project which began in 1899 and was dedicated to Queen Victoria with the aim of creating an encyclopaedic history of each of the historic counties of...
states that the restoration was in 1877. By both accounts the tower was rebuilt, the chancel and nave lengthened and a 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....
and south porch added. the Victoria County History adds that the tower and its arches were moved some distance to the west. 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.
St. Mary's is now part of a single benefice with the parishes of Aston Rowant
Aston Rowant
Aston Rowant is a village and civil parish about south of Thame in South Oxfordshire, England. The parish includes the villages of Aston Rowant and Kingston Blount, and adjoins Buckinghamshire to the southeast....
, Chinnor
Chinnor
Chinnor is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire about southeast of Thame. The village is a Spring line settlement on the Icknield Way below the Chiltern escarpment...
and Crowell.
There were nonconformist
Nonconformism
Nonconformity is the refusal to "conform" to, or follow, the governance and usages of the Church of England by the Protestant Christians of England and Wales.- Origins and use:...
congregations in Sydenham by 1804. A Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
chapel was built in 1825 and a rival second one in 1844. One of the Baptist chapels closed in about 1855, but by 1864 the other was still going as a Particular Baptist chapel. It was rebuilt as Ebenezer
Ebenezer
Ebenezer may refer to:* Ebenezer , a male given name ** Ebenezer Scrooge, a character in Charles Dickens' A Christmas CarolIn geography:...
Chapel in 1881 and a Sunday school was added in 1883. It was still open in 1920 but had closed by 1932 and was sold in 1936. Its owner leased the chapel to a Methodist
Methodist Church of Great Britain
The Methodist Church of Great Britain is the largest Wesleyan Methodist body in the United Kingdom, with congregations across Great Britain . It is the United Kingdom's fourth largest Christian denomination, with around 300,000 members and 6,000 churches...
congregation from 1949 and sold it to them in 1957. In 1958 it was a member of the Thame and Watlington
Watlington
Watlington could be*Watlington, Norfolk, England*Watlington, Oxfordshire, England*Whatlington, Sussex, England*Watlington, New Zealand...
Methodist Circuit
Methodist Circuit
The Methodist Circuit is part of the organisational structure of British Methodism,or at least those branches derived from the work of John Wesley. It is a group of individual Societies or local Churches under the care of one or more Methodist Ministers. In the scale of organisation, the Circuit...
, but it has since closed and is now a private house.
Sydenham had a Primitive Methodist
Primitive Methodism
Primitive Methodism was a major movement in English Methodism from about 1810 until the Methodist Union in 1932. The Primitive Methodist Church still exists in the United States.-Origins:...
chapel by 1866. It was still open in 1910, but no subsequent record of it is known.
Social and economic history
By the 12th century a brook through the centre of the parish had been dammed to form a millpond to drive a water mill. In the 12th and 13th century the millers were the Grimbaud family, and thereafter it retained the name Grimbaud's Mill. The Mill House is 18th century. By 1891 a steam engine had been installed, but the mill was still using water power as well in 1917. The mill remained in use part-time until 1945.A number of 16th and 17th century cottages survive in the village. Some are timber-framed and the oldest has a cruck
Cruck
A cruck or crook frame is a curved timber, one of a pair, which supports the roof of a building, used particularly in England. This type of timber framing consists of long, generally bent, timber beams that lean inwards and form the ridge of the roof. These posts are then generally secured by a...
frame. The walls of some of the timber-framed cottages have lath and plaster
Lath and plaster
Lath and plaster is a building process used mainly for interior walls in Canada and the United States until the late 1950s. After the 1950s, drywall began to replace the lath and plaster process in the United States. In the United Kingdom, lath and plaster was used for some interior partition...
infill; others are filled with brick nogging. The village has also a number of 18th century houses, built either wholly of brick or of brick and flint.
In 1849 a National School
National school (England and Wales)
A national school was a school founded in 19th century England and Wales by the National Society for Promoting Religious Education.These schools provided elementary education, in accordance with the teaching of the Church of England, to the children of the poor.Together with the less numerous...
was built in the village. The Wykeham-Musgrave family provided the land, 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.
By 1851 the village had two public house
Public 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...
s: 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 1950's numerous people from Sydenham were working at Chinnor
Chinnor
Chinnor is a village and civil parish in South Oxfordshire about southeast of Thame. The village is a Spring line settlement on the Icknield Way below the Chiltern escarpment...
Cement Works, but this closed in 1989.