SYLEHAM PARISH COUNCIL
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Historical Syleham

History


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Syleham Parish Council has adopted the windmill as its logo.
In the absence of a village sign we searched for an icon to represent Syleham.
The windmill no longer exists. It blew down the storm of October 1987, but it lives on in the memory of older residents and still appears on Ordnance Survey maps published today. Its origins date back to 1823 when it was moved from Wingfield Green to the site now marked by Windmill Lane and Wingfield Cottage. The base, believed to house the original grinding stones, still exists at the Cottage.
We hope it represents the rural nature of Syleham, its agricultural links and the cereals grown around the village to this day.
Picture
Unlike its neighbour Wingfield, Syleham cannot count major aristocratic families in its history and it does not boast an heraldic symbol, although there were at one time three small manors including one which belonged to the Priors of Thetford.

Research into the past has been carried out by a local historian and, amongst other things, provides some answers why the village seems to have developed as two settlements, one along the Waveney Valley and the other up on the hill.  Extracts from these findings will be added to this site as time permits, so watch the space.

Certainly the upper village, around what was the Great Green, appears to have been a working village; there are several farms still in operation and a ruined windmill as a ghost from the past.

Monks Hall provides a reminder of the link with Thetford Priory and was the monks' hunting lodge. The road on which Monks Hall stands used to be known as Thetford Way.  It has also been known as Kings Way as Henry II is believed to accepted submission from Hugh Bigod, Earl of Norfolk, at Syleham Cross in July 1174;  the Millennium was marked by reinstating the cross on its original site.

The site of the water mill, in the valley by the toll bridge to Brockdish, is clearly evident and, within memory, there was a thriving garment factory alongside – a source of employment for the village and a reminder of the flax growing industry. The mill is now converted into dwellings and the factory site accommodates four houses built at the turn of the 21st century.

Personal contributions to this page of the website, however small, would be warmly welcomed. For example, the Parish Clerk’s home is called “Little Hemplands” after its description on the 1836 tithe map; the neighbouring plot was “Great Hemplands” and, together, these suggest that the parish made its statutory contribution to the production of hemp as required by the Tudors.

There is a lot more to be done with this page.  There are a lot of people out there who have interesting little bits of information which could be put on this page and shared - so please email in if you can contribute!  Some day someone will have the time to produce a coherent history!  

We have recently sent photographs and information relating to the Mann family (former millers) to an historian in Australia who is researching a book. Charles Mann emigrated to Australia in 1836 and became the first Advocate General; there is a street named after him in Adelaide.  Charles Mann will be in the book alongside the Duke of Wellington, Lord Brougham and Lord Melbourne, so in distinguished company.

For Syleham:
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Unless otherwise credited, all content and photographs © Syleham Parish Council 2017-22.
All content is published in good faith.
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  • Syleham in Suffolk
  • St Margaret's Church
  • History
  • Useful Information
  • Adverse Weather events
  • Parish Council