Sibton

Sibton
Population	182 (2011 Census)
OS grid reference	TM360695
District	Suffolk Coastal
Shire county	Suffolk
Region	East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	SAXMUNDHAM
Postcode district	IP17
Dialling code	01728
Police	Suffolk
Fire	Suffolk
Ambulance	East of England
UK Parliament	Suffolk Coastal

Sibton is a village and civil parish on the A1120 road, in the Suffolk Coastal District, in the English county of Suffolk. It is near the towns of Saxmundham and Halesworth, the village of Peasenhall and the hamlet of Sibton Green. The church is dedicated to St Peter; there is also an abbey, Sibton Abbey. There is a large stately house set in the grounds of Sibton Park which dates back 1827 in the Georgian period, which is now used as a hotel. The estate consists of 4500 acres, being part of the Wilderness Reserve where there are holiday cottages and a lake. The Parish is also in close proximity to the the River Yox which runs past the White Horse Inn and down through Pouy Street, it then goes on past both the A1120 road and a small wooded area called Abbey Woods to pass through the grounds of Sibton Park and then on to Yoxford. An area of Sibton along with Peasenhall is an area of conservation., this area includes the grounds of Sibton Park, the road leading up to St Peter's Church Both Sibton and Peasenhall have around 20 sites of archaeological interest and so this is one of the reasons it must be conserved, one of these sites is that Sibton Abbey.

History

The name Sibton derives from Old English, where the word "Sibba" is a personal name and the word "tun" means an enclosure, a farm ,village or an estate. The Parish name essentially means "Sibba's farm or settlement" The settlement of Sibton was recorded in the Domesday book of 1086 with a recorded population of just 51 people.

In the 1870's, Sibton was described as

a parish in Blything district, Suffolk; 2½ miles WNW of Yoxford r. station, and 4½ N by W of Saxmundham. Post town, Yoxford, under Saxmundham. Acres, 2,861. Real property, £4,824. Pop., 489. Houses, 101. S. Park is the seat of J. W. Brooke, Esq. A Cistertian abbey was founded here, in 1149, by William de Cheney; was a splendid edifice; and has left some ruins.

Occupations

Occupations of the residents of the civil parish of Sibton, Suffolk, in 1881. The data has been taken from the 1881 census of England and Wales

The graph shows the occupations of the citizens of Sibton in 1881 and as expected for most rural communities of the time, the main occupation was in agricultural work, with 96 men and 3 women working in this sector. The second highest sector was in domestic service or offices where 28 women and 5 men worked. There is also census information from the 1831 census stating the social status of the population based on their occupation. This tells us that nearly 3/4 (91 people) of Sibton's population was a labourer or a servant and 21 people were employers or professionals. This is later reflected in 1881 with the occupation statistics as we can see similarly that 99 people work in agriculture which is a similar figure for how many labourers there were in 1831 suggesting there was little change in these years.

St Peter's Church

The Church at Sibton is dedicated to St Peter and lies above the busy A1120 road. The church was originally founded in the reign of William II (c.1100) by Robert de Camodo, with the oldest part of the building being the South door which was made in the Norman era. It is guessed that this door was moved from and was originally part of Sibton Abbey as its older than the rest of the church . The church once had a spire which was added, along with a tower, in the 15th century. However, this spire came down about 200 years ago, although the tower still remains. After being out of use for many of years the church has recently been restored and £50000 was raised which was mainly used to repair part of the roof. A further £45000 was given by the English Heritage which has all helped and now the church has regained its Parish status and regular services take place. The church is also used for other purposes such as exhibitions.

War Memorial

The parish's war memorial is located within the church in the form of a lychgate and was constructed by Sheppard Bros. 11 men from Sibton lost their lives in world war I and these names are carved into the memorial and 2 of the men are also buried in the graveyard of St peter's church. During World War II a further 2 men lost their lives with their names also being on the memorial.

Population

Total population of the parish of Sibton, Suffolk, taken from the Census of Population from 1801-2011.

According to the 2011 census Sibton had a population of 182., which is lowest the population has been since census records began in 1801.The population hit a peak in 1821, when there was 569 people living in the Parish. Since then the population fluctuated slightly between the years of 1821 and 1841 but has continued to decrease since then. One reason for this drastic change was due to a boundary change of the Parish, which was in 1885 when part of Sibton became part of Peasenhall. This change was recorded in the 1891 census and meant the parish size was reduced. A continued decrease in population has also occurred as people became less dependent on farming as their main source of income and lots of people also moved towards the bigger towns for work, such as Ipswich.

Map of Sibton (1945)

St Peter's church

The ruins of Sibton Abbey

External links

Media related to Sibton, Suffolk at Wikimedia Commons

References

• http://www.pope-genealogy.me.uk/Sibton.htm
• http://www.ukvillages.co.uk/Place/24889/Sibton-Suffolk