Syston Hall, one of several Lincolnshire properties owned by members of the widespread Thorold family, was built in 1768-69.

The main block was of three stories and seven bays, the centre three bays forming a canted bay.

The house became unoccupied in 1912 and was demolished in 1928.

More details about this house and its owners can be found in T R Leach and R Pacey's book, 'Lost Lincolnshire Country Houses: Volume 1', published by SLHA.  Buy a copy.

"House, former gate lodge; circa 1830 with later C19 additions"

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1308688 

DB 6 August 2018

Former gate lodge to Syston Hall, possibly by Lewis Vulliamy, circa 1830 with C20 additions. 

Early C19 cast iron gate piers.

DB 10 March 2018 

Late C16 porch with Arms of the de Ligne family. Remainder of the  house was rebuilt in 1830.

Photographed from the churchyard.

DB 14 March 2018  

Church to the right and Syston Old Hall to the left.

DB 14 March 2018  

Thoroughly restored in 1861-2, St Mary's, Syston has a Norman tower (with Perpendicular top), chancel arch and north arcade.

The chancel is dated 1702 but contains two Norman windows.

There are monuments to the Thorolds of Syston whose great house is long gone, stained glass by Ward & Hughes and Kempe plus furnishings by Sir Ninian Comper.

Mark Acton, 2013

"A medieval church dating from the 11th century with later alterations and additions. It was restored in 1861-62 by Charles Kirk".

https://www.lincstothepast.com/ST-MARY-S-CHURCH--SYSTON/1403452.record?pt=S 

DB 10 March 2018   

Norman west tower (with Perpendicular top).

Twin bell openings with saxon type mid wall shafts.

DB 14th March 2018 

View of the east end of St Mary's church.

Peter Kirk Collection, 1990

Looking west through the chancel arch and towards the tower arch.

Church Guide notes that the stalls date from 1928. 

DB 21 March 2022

Looking east into the sanctuary.

DB 21 March 2022

"The chancel arch is flanked by two C15 double lights with flat heads. Although largely a C19 restoration, the half shafts of the chancel arch are C12, as are the capitals with cable moulding, stiff leaves/feathers, volutes and human masks"

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1147012?section=official-list-entry 

DB 21 March 2022

South side of chancel arch. 

C12 capital with cable moulding, stiff leaves/feathers, volutes and human mask.

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1147012?section=official-list-entry

DB 21 March 2022

North side of chancel arch. 

C12 capital with cable moulding, stiff leaves/feathers, volutes and human mask.

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1147012?section=official-list-entry

DB 21 March 2022

A closer view of the altar.

Church Guide notes that the curtains on three sides of the altar were made by Comper in 1922.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninian_Comper

DB 21 March 2022

"PRESENTED BY THE PEOPLE OF SYSTON TO THEIR PARISH CHURCH, IN THE CORONATION YEAR OF H. M. KING EDWARD VII. A. D. 1902"

DB 21 March 2022

Church Guide notes that the Bishop's Chair came to the church in 1950.

DB 21 March 2022

White's Directory 1872 reports "The three lancet windows of the chancel are of stained glass, in memory of the late Sir John Charles Thorold, Bart."

Glass by Ward and Hughes. 

DB 21 March 2022

"South wall of chancel has stained glass window in marble lined opening dedicated to Henry Cecil Thorold, k. 1902, S. African War, glass by Kempe"

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1147012?section=official-list-entry 

DB 21 March 2022

Kempe's glass in the marble lined window.

"Charles Eamer Kempe (29 June 1837 – 29 April 1907) was a British Victorian era designer and manufacturer of stained glass. His studios produced over 4,000 windows and also designs for altars and altar frontals, furniture and furnishings, lychgates and memorials that helped to define a later nineteenth-century Anglican style"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Eamer_Kempe 

DB 21 March 2022

"IN TOKEN OF A CREAT AFFECTION AND OF A LIFE LAID DOWN IN THE SERVICE OF HIS SOVEREICN AND COUNTRY THIS WINDOW IS  DEDICATED IN MEMORY OF HENRY CECIL THOROLD CAPT 2ND BATTN LEICESTERSHIRE REGT KILLED IN ACTION AT BOTHA'S KRAAL SOUTH AFRICA FEB 18TH 1902 IN PACE CHRISTI REQVIESCAT"

DB 21 March 2022

"SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF SIR JOHN HAYFORD THOROLD  BARONET OF SYSTON PARK IN THIS PARISH. HE DEPARTED THIS LIFE 7TH JULY 1831 IN THE 59TH YEAR OF HIS AGE.

IN MEMORY ALSO OF CONSTANCE MARIAN THOROLD. DAUGHTER OF SIR JOHN CHARLES AND ELIZABETH FRANCES THOROLD AND GRANDAUGHTER OF THE ABOVE NAMED SIR JOHN HAYFORD THOROLD SHE WAS TAKEN FROM THIS WORLD IN THE EARLY BLOOM OF INFANCY ON THE 26H FEBRUARY 1850 AGED 8 MONTHS."

DB 21 March 2022

"SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF SIR JOHN THOROLD OF SYSTON PARK IN THE COUNTY OF LINCOLN BARONET WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE FULL OF YEARS AND HONOURS FEBRUARY 25, 1815, AGED 81.

IN EARLY LIFE HE SERVED HIS COUNTRY BY HIS ACTIVE DUTIES IN THAT NATIONAL FORCE THE MALITIA THEN FIRST IMBODIED FOR WHICH HE RECEIVED THE THANKS OF PARLIAMENT AFTERWARD REPRESENTED THIS GREAT AND LOYAL COUNTY IN THREE SESSIONS OF THE BRITISH SENATE WHERE HE FEARLESSLY GAVE HIS UNBIASSED OPPOSITION AGAINST NEEDLESS WAR, PROFUSE EXPENDITURE, EXPEDIENCY OF BORROWING, AND THE PRESSURE OF EXCESSIVE TAXATION THE EFFECTS OF WHICH MEASURES ARE NOW SPEEDILY REDUCING THE ONCE GLORIOUS FABRIC OF OUR CONSTITUTION TO A MASS OF MISERY AND RUIN.

ALSO TO THE MEMORY OF JANE WIFE OF SIR JOHN THOROLD AND DAUGHTER OF JANE AND MILLINGTON HAYFORD OF OXTON IN THE COUNTY OF NOTTINGHAM WHO DIED APRIL 15 1807 AGED 64"

DB 21 March 2022

"SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF WILLIAM THOROLD, OF SYSTON PARK, ESQUIRE, SECOND SON OF SIR JOHN THOROLD, BARONET, WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE SEPTEMBER 1808, AGED 34.

ALSO TO THE MEMORY OF GEORGE THOROLD, RECTOR OF HOUGHAM AND MARSTON, IN THE COUNTY OF LINCOLN. THIRD SON OF SIR JOHN THOROLD, WHO DIED SEPTEMBER 1823, AGED 47.

ALSO TO THE MEMORY OF CHARLES THOROLD, OF CULVERTHORPE HALL, IN THE COUNTY OF LINCOLN, ESQUIRE, AND SEVENTH SON OF SIR JOHN THOROLD WHIO QUITTED THIS WORLD JUNE 1817 AGED 28.

IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCEOF THE STERLING WORTH AND VIRTUES OF THE DECEASED AN AFFECTIONATE BROTHER INSCRIBES THIS TABLET"

..

DB 21 March 2022

"SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF MARY, THE BELOVED WIFE OF SIR JOHN HAYFORD THOROLD, OF SYSTON PARK IN THE COUNTY OF LINCOLN, BARONET. AND DAUGHTER OF SIR CHARLES KENT, OF GRANTHAM HOUSE, BARONET, WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE DECEMBER 13TH 1829, AGED 48.

IN HER WERE UNITED, IN AN EMINENT DEGREE EVERY ESTIMABLE VIRTUE WHICH COULD ADORN THE WIFE, MOTHER, AND FRIEND. HER GENEROUS HEART WAS EVER OPEN TO RELIEVE THE WANTS OF NEEDY AND SUFFERING HUMANITY, EQUALLY BELOVED WHEN LIVING AS SHE WAS DEEPLY REGRETTED IN HER DEPARTURE."

DB 21 March 2022

C19 chancel roof.

DB 21 March 2022

Window south side of altar with glass by Ward and Hughes. 

DB 21 March 2022

Window north side of altar with glass by Ward and Hughes. 

DB 21 March 2022

Churchyard cross and church with Syston Old Hall in the background.

DB 14 March 2018   

Grave of Sir John Henry Thorold, 12th Baronet 1842 -- 1922 who inherited Syston Hall in 1866.

Elected as MP for borough of Grantham in 1865.

High Sheriff of Lincolnshire 1876-77.

DB 10 March 2018  

"Wall, early C19; coursed limestone rubble with ashlar dressings. Wall crosses churchyard from north to south and is open at the centre to frame the vista of the church from the Park to the east"

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1360319?section=official-list-entry 

DB 19 June 2024

Looking diagonally across the nave towards the north arcade.

"North arcade of two bays supported by single early C12 circular pillar with scalloped cushion capital and square abacus, responds are half columns with partly restored scroll mouldings. Arches have one step and a chamfered inner arch; at the east end of the arcade, traces of an earlier arch may be seen"

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1147012?section=official-list-entry 

DB 21 March 2022

Looking east towards the chancel.

Kelly's Directory 1930 reports :-

"The church of St. Mary the Virgin is an edifice of stone, in the Norman, Early English and Later styles, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave, aisles, south porch and an embattled western tower with pinnacles containing 3 bells:

the nave has several inserted windows of the Early Decorated period and a clerestory of Perpendicular date:

the arches opening to the tower and chancel from the nave are very fine examples of Norman work, and the tower itself remains nearly as in the 12th century:

the chancel has three stained lancet windows, erected with two side windows, in memory of Sir John Charles Thorold bart. d. 26 April, 1866:

and there are monuments to others of the Thorold family and memorial windows to Lieut.-Col. Charles Cecil Thorold, 1st Batt. Royal Welsh Fusiliers, killed in action in South Africa, 24th Feb. 1900, and Capt. Henry Cecil Thorold, 2nd Batt. Leicestershire Regiment, killed in action in South Africa in 1902:

the church was repaired in 1861-2, under the direction of Mr. Charles Kirk, of Sleaford, architect, at the cost of the late Sir J. C. Thorold bart. when the roofs were renewed and raised, the chancel almost wholly rebuilt and several ancient windows restored:

the curious stone lintel of the south doorway, with its arcading inclosing figures of saints, has also been renewed:

the font was presented by the Rev. Prebendary George Gilbert M.A. a former vicar, and is Early English in style:

the communion plate of silver-gilt was also his gift:

there are 120 sittings"

DB 21 March 2022

Looking west towards the font and tower arch.

White's Directory 1872 reports :-

"The Church (St. Mary) is a very ancient structure in the Anglo-Norman style, and consists of nave, north aisle, chancel and a tower with three bells.

The three lancet windows of the chancel are of stained glass, in memory of the late Sir John Charles Thorold, Bart.

The vicarage, now valued at £83, is in the incumbency of the Rev. George Gilbert, M ..A., prebendary of Lincoln, who is also chaplain to the Bishop of Lincoln, and resides at Grantham".

DB 21 March 2022

"Under this Cross at Colenso in South Africa, lay the Body of  Charles Cecil Hayford Thorold, Lieutnt Colonel 1st Battalion 23rd Royal Regiment of Welch Fusiliers, who was born 26th Dec: 1852 and was killed in action on Horse Shoe Hill, Colenso, 24th Feb: 1900"

DB 21 March 2022

"Nave roof C19 resting on 8 C15 corbels, presumably reset; representing 4 musicians, 2 big cats, 1 grotesque and a George and Dragon, three have grotesque masks on the undersides."

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1147012?section=official-list-entry 

DB 21 March 2022

"Nave roof C19 resting on 8 C15 corbels, presumably reset; representing 4 musicians, 2 big cats, 1 grotesque and a George and Dragon, three have grotesque masks on the undersides."

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1147012?section=official-list-entry 

DB 21 March 2022

"Nave roof C19 resting on 8 C15 corbels, presumably reset; representing 4 musicians, 2 big cats, 1 grotesque and a George and Dragon, three have grotesque masks on the undersides."

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1147012?section=official-list-entry 

DB 21 March 2022

South door, with Saxon lintel above, viewed from the nave.

DB 21 March 2022

"Fittings date from restoration of the church by Charles Kirk 1861-2"

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1147012?section=official-list-entry 

Kelly's Directory 1930 reports "the font was presented by the Rev. Prebendary George Gilbert M.A. a former vicar, and is Early English in style"

DB 21 March 2022

A list of incumbents on the south nave wall. Stating with John de Hyntelsham 1241-6 and finishing in 1999 with Alan J. Fiddyment.

DB 21 March 2022

C19 (?) lectern.

DB 21 March 2022 

"At this End of the South Ile lieth the Body of WILLIAM LANGLEY Gent late of Horsege in Lancashire he died Oct ye 8th 1748 aged 75 years

Up higher lyeth the Body of ELIZABETH  his wife and Daughter of Thos Shercliff Gent: late of Thunscoe in Yorkshire: she died July ye 25th 1742 aged 59 years."

No south "Ile" or aisle in the present church.

DB 21 March 2022

"IN LOVING MEMORY OF HUBERT EDWARD PETER DYKE ACLAND CAPTAIN PROBYN'S HORSE, 11TH K. E. O LANCERS, DIED 29TH OCTOBER 1953, AGED 69

AND HIS WIFE DOROTHY MARION THOROLD DIED ON 7TH OF APRIL 1958, AGED 79

ALSO OF THEIR SONS BENJAMIN HENRY DYKE DIED 3RD FEBY 1914, AGED 3MTHS

SIMON JOHN DYKE FL/LT R.A.F.V.R DIED P.O.W IN JAPAN 30TH DECEMBER 1942, AGED 26"

DB 21 March 2022

"Monument on north nave wall to Sir John Thorold d. 1716 with two draped standing figures with a scrolled cartouched above, by William Kidwell"

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1147012?section=official-list-entry

DB 21 March 2022

Monument positioned high on the north nave wall at clerestory level.

DB 21 March 2022 

C19 pulpit.

DB 21 March 2022

"Nave roof C19 resting on 8 C15 corbels, presumably reset; representing 4 musicians, 2 big cats, 1 grotesque and a George and Dragon, three have grotesque masks on the undersides"

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1147012?section=official-list-entry 

DB 21 March 2022

Decorative tiles in the nave and north aisle.

DB 21 March 2022

"In the reverence of God and in memory of Elizabeth Frances Thorold, who was born 1st May 1822, and died 3rd April 1894, this window is dedicated"

DB 21 March 2022

Looking west towards the organ.

DB 21 March 2022

Looking east towards a side altar.

DB 21 March 2022

A nearby notice states :-

"The side altar was dedicated on February 17th 2002 in memory of Captain Sir Anthony Thorold, 15th Baronet, O.B.E., D.S.C. and bar 1903 - 1999 and his wife Jocelyn 1910 - 1993 After a long, distinguished and active career in the Royal Navy, Sir Anthony retired to live at Syston Old Hall in 1956. He then devoted over forty years of unstinting service to his County, the Diocese, local communities and this Church."

DB 21 March 2022

Organ located at the west end of the north aisle.

Church Guide notes that it was installed by Forster & Andrew of Hull about 1869 and that it was brought here from another site. 

DB 21 March 2022

Maker's plate.

"J. W. Walker & Sons Ltd is a British firm of organ builders established in 1828 by Joseph William Walker in London. Walker organs were popular additions to churches during the Gothic Revival era of church building and restoration in Victorian Britain, and instruments built by Walker are found in many churches around the UK and in other countries. The firm continues to build organs today."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._W._Walker_%26_Sons_Ltd 

DB 21 March 2022

"The south door has a restored Saxon lintel with standing figures of saints under an architectural arcade.

Above this is a 12th century tympanum".

https://www.lincstothepast.com/ST-MARY-S-CHURCH--SYSTON/1403452.record?pt=S 

DB 21 March 2022 

"The central parts of the lintel and the tympanum were cut by the insertion of a pointed arch during the 13th century,

but this was removed during the 19th century and an approximation of the original design substituted". 

https://www.lincstothepast.com/ST-MARY-S-CHURCH--SYSTON/1403452.record?pt=S 

DB 21 March 2022 

"Tower arch restored in C19 but reusing some original C12 materials, including some voussoirs and probably the capitals"

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1147012?section=official-list-entry  

DB 21 March 2022

"Arch of three orders, outer double billet moulded, middle roll with deep chevrons, and an inner step with angle rolls"

https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1147012?section=official-list-entry 

DB 21 March 2022

More detailed view of the northern capital.

DB 21 March 2022

War memorial 1921 on the south wall of the church listing 6 names from the first world war.

"To honour the memory of those who died while serving in the Great War" 

"Splendour unfading for their land they won. And then the shadowy robe of death put on.

Yet died and are not dead: For their brave might Fames and uplifts them from the realms of night"

DB 14 March 2018