Syston Conservation Area

Syston Conservation Area was designated in October 1975.

The Conservation Area Appraisal was adopted by Cabinet in March 2007. See Related Documents below for the Appraisal and a Map.

The Conservation Area covers 11Ha

Syston is a small industrial town, 5 miles north-east of Leicester. It is one of a string of settlements in the Wreake valley between Leicester and Melton. It lies in generally flat land that falls gently towards the Barkby Brook on the edge of the broad valley of the Wreake.

The settlement probably has its orgins in Saxon times as a nucleated village clustered around the Church. The economy was associated with agriculture on the productive light and sandy soils for arable fields to the south and large areas of meadow alongside the rivers Soar and Wreake. The open fields were enclosed in 1777, which had a profound effect on both the landscape and the economy.

The arrival of the Soar Navigation canal in 1792 and the railway in 1840 improved the transport to Leicester and allowed new industry to develop. The most notable was framework knitting which employed whole families, working at home or in small backyard workshops. By the end of the nineteenth century the hosiery trade was in decline and the workers transferred their skills to the manufacture of boots and shoes. In the twentieth century this industry also declined and new industries grew, in particular in service and building. All these industries caused a growth in population and a surge of house building, expanding the settlement to the west and south.

The historic street pattern within the Conservation Area can still be discerned. There are subtle changes in the direction and width of High Street such as the gateway from the Foss at a widening marked by The Queen Victoria public house, the large opening of The Green and the pinch point as one approaches the Green from Melton Road. Springing from the High Street is a closed network of streets running northwards around the old manor house and St Peters Church, and a series of streets running southwards towards the Brook. All these streets have subtle changes in direction and width. These reminders of the mediaeval pattern give the settlement much of its character.

There are low brick cottages, some of them thatched, polite Georgian town-houses, houses with swithland slate roofs and Victorian properties. Amongst these are modern terraced houses, three storey blocks of flats and industrial yards often bounded by high brick walls.

There is a significant number of early thatched and timber framed cottages, some altered with roughcast render or brick to reface the timber frame. At No 16 Bath Street the frame has been infilled with herringbone brickwork and the roof covered with Welsh slate. The predominant building material is brick, which characterises the buildings of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and provides a uniformity of material and appearance. The brick is usually laid in Flemish bond, emphasised by contrasting headers and stretchers. Brick diaper work is used for decoration and there are good examples of the Wreake Valley tradition of semi-circular hoods over the windows. A number of buildings have rubble stone plinths.

Welsh slate is the predominant roofing material, sometimes finished with terracotta ridge tiles and finials. A substantial number of roofs are of Swithland slate.

Timber sash windows are common. They provide a strong vertical emphasis and are mostly used in polite Georgian townhouses and Victorian properties. The more traditional vernacular cottages have casement windows or Yorkshire sliding sash windows.

The town centre has a range of shops and public houses concentrated around The Green and the eastern end of the High Street. These two areas form an important part of a vibrant shopping centre in the town. A particular feature is the large number of surviving timber shop fronts that make a significant visual contribution to the historic character. The shop fronts range from relatively simple designs where shop windows are framed by a plain architrave and a fascia board between paired brackets to the most elaborate on the purpose-built Victorian shop units with recessed doors, distinctive stall risers and pilasters with console brackets supporting a tilted fascia.

Another feature of Syston is the range and variety of door surrounds on the houses. Some are quite simple of moulded timber architraves around the outside of the door, or there are canopies supported by console brackets. The most elaborate are found on the polite Georgian townhouses.

There are several surviving old street name plates on the sides of houses at first floor level. They are from two periods, with different styles but both painted black with white lettering.

Most of the trees in the Conservation Area are associated with the churchyard and the brook. The relatively undisturbed churchyard is a good place of quiet which provides a habitat for wildlife. Barkby Brook forms a wildlife corridor which connects the Conservation Area to the wider countryside and, despite having been heavily engineered, it functions as a valuable habitat and as a dispersal route for many species. Beyond the brook is the large expanse of Central Park which is the principal breathing space for the town.