Siston | |
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St. Anne's Church, Siston, viewed from the southeast |
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Siston shown within Gloucestershire | |
Population | 4,552 (2011) |
Civil parish |
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District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Bristol |
Postcode district | BS16 |
Police | Avon and Somerset |
Fire | Avon |
Ambulance | South Western |
EU Parliament | South West England |
UK Parliament | |
Siston (pronounced "sizeton") (anciently Syston, Sistone, Syton, Sytone and Systun etc.) is a small village and former manor in South Gloucestershire, England 7 miles (11 km) east of Bristol Castle, ancient centre of Bristol. The village lies 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.
An electoral ward in the same name exists. Some additional areas are covered and the total ward population taken at the 2011 census was 4,809.
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 as part of their agricultural practices; at that time marl was reportedly spread on two carucates of land.
The Manor of Siston lay in the Hundred of Pucklechurch, Gloucestershire. In 1086, Roger of Berkeley was the lord and tenant-in-chief. The manor 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.