Sydmonton

Sydmonton is a small village and estate in the Basingstoke and Deane district of Hampshire, England. Its nearest town is Newbury, which lies approximately 7 miles (11 km) north-west from the village.

Sydmonton

Sydmonton from Ladle Hill
Sydmonton
Location within Hampshire
Civil parish
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townNEWBURY
Postcode districtRG26
Dialling code01256
PoliceHampshire
FireHampshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament

Governance

The village is now part of the civil parish of Ecchinswell, Sydmonton and Bishops Green,[1] historically having been within the parish of Kingsclere. It is part of the Burghclere, Highclere and St Mary Bourne ward of Basingstoke and Deane borough council.[2] The borough council is a Non-metropolitan district of Hampshire County Council.

History
  • Portrait by William Segar of Sir Henry Kingsmill (1587-1625), (knighted, 1611), of Sydmonton, son of Sir William Kingsmill (d. 1600), by Anne, daughter of William Wilkes of Middleton Cheney. His wife was Bridget daughter and co-heir of John White of Southwick, Hampshire.
  • Portrait of Sir Henry Kingsmill (1587-1625) by William Larkin. (Oil on panel, 23 x 17 inches). Sir Henry lived at Sydmonton from 1619 until his death in 1625.[3]
  • Portrait of Bridget White, Lady Kingsmill (died 1670) by William Larkin. Buried Kingsclere. (Oil on panel, 23 x 17 inches).[4]
  • Gilbert Jackson's portrait of Sir William Kingsmill (1613-1661), of Sydmonton, 1642.

Sydmonton Court
Kingsmill shield. Argent crusilly fitchy sable a cheveron ermine between three mill-rinds sable and a chief ermine.

Sydmonton is the home of the 5000 acre Sydmonton Court estate, formerly the seat of the Kingsmill Family, including Admiral Sir Robert Kingsmill. The estate is currently owned by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber, and is home to the annual Sydmonton Festival.

The house is a grade II* listed Tudor manor house originally built to an E-shaped floor plan in the 16th century, but modified several times since then.[5]

The estate came into the hands of the Kingsmill family after the Dissolution of the Monasteries when it was granted by Henry VIII to John Kingsmill. It passed down in the family to Elizabeth Corry, daughter of Frances Kingsmill and Hugh Corry, who married Robert Brice. Robert took the name of Kingsmill in 1766, became an admiral and was created Baronet Kingsmill in 1800. He left Sydmonton to the Rev. John Stephens, vicar of Chewton Mendip, Somerset, who also took the name of Kingsmill in 1806.

Anne Kingsmill (1661–1720), daughter of Sir William Kingsmill, married Heneage Finch and became Lady Winchilsea and a well-known poet.

The Sydmonton Festival is a summer arts festival presented in a deconsecrated 16th century chapel in the grounds of the estate.

References
  1. "Hampshire County Council's legal record of public rights of way in Hampshire" (PDF). 2008. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
  2. "Basingstoke and Deane Wards info". 2010. Archived from the original on 24 October 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
  3. Paul B. Hitchings 'Great Hampshire Families: The Kingsmills of Sydmonton', Hampshire, October 1963, page 24.
  4. Paul B. Hitchings 'Great Hampshire Families: The Kingsmills of Sydmonton', Hampshire, October 1963, page 24.
  5. "Sydmonton Court, Ecchinswell, Sydmonton and Bishops Green". British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 5 June 2013.

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