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Siston
Siston (pronounced "siston") is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England. It is 7 miles (11 km) east of Bristol at the confluence of the two sources of the Siston Brook, a tributary of the River Avon. The village consists of a number of cottages and farms centred on St Anne's Church, and the grand Tudor manor house of Siston Court. Anciently it was bordered to the west by the royal Hunting Forest of Kingswood, stretching westward most of the way to Bristol Castle, always a royal possession, caput of the Forest. The local part of the disafforested Kingswood became Siston Common but has recently been eroded by the construction of the Avon Ring Road and housing developments. In 1989 the village and environs were classed as a conservation area and thus have statutory protection from overdevelopment.
At the time of the Roman conquest the area was woodland, but there is evidence of Roman remains. It has been known throughout time as Sistone, Siston, Systun, Syton, and Sytone. The name may derive from "Size-town" or may have been derived from the Saxon "Sige's Farmstead". In 1273 the occupants used Marchling[clarification needed] as part of their agricultural practices; at that time marl was reportedly spread on two carucates of land. The Domesday Book of 1086 records Siston as belonging to a Norman knight, Roger de Berkeley, who owned Berkeley Castle, and lands from Gloucester in the north to Bristol in the south. The manor of Siston lay in the Hundred of Pucklechurch, Gloucestershire, and adjoined the Royal Forest of Kingswood to the west, and claimed right of purlieu over a portion of it. It was subsequently held by the families of Walerand, Plokenet, Corbet, Denys, Billingsley, Trotman and Rawlins.
Siston is an electoral ward, with some additional areas; the total ward population taken at the 2011 census was 4,809.
Siston Court is a grade I listed Elizabethan manor house, built by Sir Maurice Denys (1516–1563). It is situated on a ridge overlooking the Siston Brook Valley and was constructed on the site of a previous medieval mansion of the Denys family. The building is U-shaped with two wings flanking a courtyard. In 1607 when owned by Mr. Weekes who had purchased Siston Court from the Denys family, it was recorded as: "a new house of stone which cost £3,000 built by Dennis; a park which will keep 1,000 fallow deer & rich mines of coal which yield almost as great revenue as the land" In 1710, during the Trotman period of ownership, the Britannia Illustrata published an engraving by Jan Kip (1653–1722) of the house showing it surrounded by extensive formal landscaped gardens. In the following century landscaping resulted in a park-like setting with a more natural garden. The architect Sanderson Miller, husband of Susannah Trotman, daughter of Samuel Trotman of Siston Court, may have influenced the creation of informal gardens.
The 18th century "pepper-pot" lodges and 19th century "The Grange", once a home to the nurseryman, may have been influenced by Miller, whose style included the "ogee-shaped roofs and door heads and Gothic Revival windows alternating with cross-loops."
The pair of now empty niches on the internal facades of the wings are similar to the niches on the facade of Montacute House, Somerset, which contain statues of the Nine Worthies, dressed as Roman soldiers, Italian Renaissance in inspiration.
Houses were built locally for estate workers at Siston Court in the 18th and 19th century. During the 20th century the estate was subdivided, and farm land was converted to woodland by the Forestry Enterprise or for pony paddocks. The ornate Renaissance Tudor chimneypiece in the great hall was purchased by Emperor Haile Selasse, then in exile in Bristol, who shipped it to Addis-Ababa Palace. Siston Court still retains much of the character of the 16th-century manor house and its original Elizabethan façade. In the middle of the 20th century the manor was subdivided into flats.
Queen Anne of Denmark, wife of King James I, stayed at Siston Court in June 1613 as guest of Sir Henry Billingsley. She had been lavishly entertained by the Corporation of Bristol during the day, with massive military displays and mock sea battles between Turk and English mariners having been staged for her, immortalised in a versified account by Naile, an apprentice. According to a Siston Court servant, she stayed in the "room upstairs called 'the Queen's Chamber'".
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Siston
Siston (pronounced "siston") is a small village in South Gloucestershire, England. It is 7 miles (11 km) east of Bristol at the confluence of the two sources of the Siston Brook, a tributary of the River Avon. The village consists of a number of cottages and farms centred on St Anne's Church, and the grand Tudor manor house of Siston Court. Anciently it was bordered to the west by the royal Hunting Forest of Kingswood, stretching westward most of the way to Bristol Castle, always a royal possession, caput of the Forest. The local part of the disafforested Kingswood became Siston Common but has recently been eroded by the construction of the Avon Ring Road and housing developments. In 1989 the village and environs were classed as a conservation area and thus have statutory protection from overdevelopment.
At the time of the Roman conquest the area was woodland, but there is evidence of Roman remains. It has been known throughout time as Sistone, Siston, Systun, Syton, and Sytone. The name may derive from "Size-town" or may have been derived from the Saxon "Sige's Farmstead". In 1273 the occupants used Marchling[clarification needed] as part of their agricultural practices; at that time marl was reportedly spread on two carucates of land. The Domesday Book of 1086 records Siston as belonging to a Norman knight, Roger de Berkeley, who owned Berkeley Castle, and lands from Gloucester in the north to Bristol in the south. The manor of Siston lay in the Hundred of Pucklechurch, Gloucestershire, and adjoined the Royal Forest of Kingswood to the west, and claimed right of purlieu over a portion of it. It was subsequently held by the families of Walerand, Plokenet, Corbet, Denys, Billingsley, Trotman and Rawlins.
Siston is an electoral ward, with some additional areas; the total ward population taken at the 2011 census was 4,809.
Siston Court is a grade I listed Elizabethan manor house, built by Sir Maurice Denys (1516–1563). It is situated on a ridge overlooking the Siston Brook Valley and was constructed on the site of a previous medieval mansion of the Denys family. The building is U-shaped with two wings flanking a courtyard. In 1607 when owned by Mr. Weekes who had purchased Siston Court from the Denys family, it was recorded as: "a new house of stone which cost £3,000 built by Dennis; a park which will keep 1,000 fallow deer & rich mines of coal which yield almost as great revenue as the land" In 1710, during the Trotman period of ownership, the Britannia Illustrata published an engraving by Jan Kip (1653–1722) of the house showing it surrounded by extensive formal landscaped gardens. In the following century landscaping resulted in a park-like setting with a more natural garden. The architect Sanderson Miller, husband of Susannah Trotman, daughter of Samuel Trotman of Siston Court, may have influenced the creation of informal gardens.
The 18th century "pepper-pot" lodges and 19th century "The Grange", once a home to the nurseryman, may have been influenced by Miller, whose style included the "ogee-shaped roofs and door heads and Gothic Revival windows alternating with cross-loops."
The pair of now empty niches on the internal facades of the wings are similar to the niches on the facade of Montacute House, Somerset, which contain statues of the Nine Worthies, dressed as Roman soldiers, Italian Renaissance in inspiration.
Houses were built locally for estate workers at Siston Court in the 18th and 19th century. During the 20th century the estate was subdivided, and farm land was converted to woodland by the Forestry Enterprise or for pony paddocks. The ornate Renaissance Tudor chimneypiece in the great hall was purchased by Emperor Haile Selasse, then in exile in Bristol, who shipped it to Addis-Ababa Palace. Siston Court still retains much of the character of the 16th-century manor house and its original Elizabethan façade. In the middle of the 20th century the manor was subdivided into flats.
Queen Anne of Denmark, wife of King James I, stayed at Siston Court in June 1613 as guest of Sir Henry Billingsley. She had been lavishly entertained by the Corporation of Bristol during the day, with massive military displays and mock sea battles between Turk and English mariners having been staged for her, immortalised in a versified account by Naile, an apprentice. According to a Siston Court servant, she stayed in the "room upstairs called 'the Queen's Chamber'".
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