Syston, Lincolnshire

Syston Park Hall, built in 1775 to the designs of John Lanwith, for Sir John Thorold. The hall was demolished in 1925.[2] It was the seat of the Thorold baronets, who had relocated from Cranwell Manor. The 9th and 10th baronets both served as High Sheriff of Lincolnshire, in 1778 and 1822 respectively. The 10th baronet commissioned architect Lewis Vulliamy in 1822-4 to build a new library which was then richly stocked with rare books and manuscripts, including a copy of the Gutenberg Bible. On his death in 1831 the property passed to his widow Mary Anne, who married Sir Charles Ogle, Bt in 1834.[3]

The contents of the house were dispersed in sales held in 1884 and 1923 and the house demolished soon afterwards.[4]

Sir John Thorold was a motorsports enthusiast and held a hill climb in 1906 at Syston Park, T. W. Mays won the 12 hp class in this year, probably accompanied by his son Raymond Mays who went on to become a well known racing driver and owner of ERA and BRM.

In 1926 a circuit was created from the estate road and motorcycle races were held there until the 1930s. At first, these were unaffiliated but soon Syston Park became a Grand Prix venue attracting crowds of up to 30,000 and legends such as Stanley Woods, C. J. Williams and Tommy Cann.[5]

Raymond Mays returned in 1934 to test his new voiturette class racing car ERA R1A and the following year, 1935 Oxford and Cambridge held the Inter-'Varsities at Syston.[6]

Racing ceased in 1939, however, vintage cars and motorcycles returned to Syston Park in 2015 with a regular event established from 2016, Syston Park Speed Trials.

• Media related to Syston, Lincolnshire at Wikimedia Commons