Syston

Coordinates: 52°42′N 1°05′W / 52.7°N 1.08°W / 52.7; -1.08

Syston (ⁱ/ˈsaɪstən/ SY-stən) is a town and civil parish in the district of Charnwood in Leicestershire, England. The population was 11,508 at the 2001 census.

Overview

There has been a settlement on the site for over 1,000 years, the earliest records being in the Domesday Book as Sitestone. The Roman road known as the Fosse Way passes through Syston, which is now largely a commuter town for the city of Leicester. Only the village of Thurmaston to the south separates it from Leicester.

The large and impressive Church of St Peter and St Paul is the most ancient building in Syston, built in pink granite and white limestone with a proud west tower topped by a lozenge frieze, battlements and pinnacles. The church mostly dates from the 15th century but there is a 13th-century sedilia in the chancel and a tomb recess in the south aisle of the early 14th century. The stone arcading inside the nave has striking Perpendicular Gothic panelling which is also seen on the tower arch and in the clerestory. The nave roof of timber is also 15th century. The local architect Frederick Webster Ordish (1821-1885) extensively restored the church in 1871-72 and in 1881 he extended the nave by one bay and rebuilt the chancel. Ordish lived at Queniborough Old Hall. In 1855 he had added the upper storey, with its tower and bridge staircase, to the Corn Exchange in Leicester Market Place. He died as a result of an accident near the old Syston railway station in September 1885.