Sledmere is a village in the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, South Yorkshire to t ...

, England, about north-west of

Driffield Driffield, also known as Great Driffield, is a market town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The civil parish is formed by the town of Driffield and the village of Little Driffield. By road, it is north-east of Leeds ...

on the B1253 road. The village lies in a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

which is also officially called "Sledmere" by the

Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible for t ...

, although the county council and parish council refer to it as Sledmere and Croome, as the parish also includes the nearby

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

of Croome. According to the 2011 UK census, the parish had a population of 377, an increase on the

2001 UK census A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194. The 2001 UK census was organised by the Office for National ...

figure of 197; the parish covers an area of .

Local landmarks

Local points of interest include Sledmere House, a Georgian country house. Built in 1751 by Richard Sykes, the house has remained in the

Sykes family The Sykes family of Sledmere own Sledmere House in Yorkshire, England. Family history The Sykes family settled in Sykes Dyke near Carlisle in Cumberland during the Middle Ages. The earliest correspondence in the Sykes archives relates to Rich ...

since then. It is now the home of Sir Tatton Sykes, 8th baronet. The Sledmere Monument is about south-east of the village, along the B1252 road, on top of Garton Hill. It is tall and is a tribute to

Sir Tatton Sykes, 4th Baronet Sir Tatton Sykes, 4th Baronet (1772–1863) was an English landowner and stock breeder, known as a patron of horse racing. Life A younger brother of Sir Mark Masterman Sykes, he was educated from 1784 at Westminster School. Matriculating at Br ...

, built by his friends in 1865. The Wagoners' Memorial in the village, designed by

Sir Mark Sykes, 6th Baronet Colonel Sir Tatton Benvenuto Mark Sykes, 6th Baronet (16 March 1879 – 16 February 1919) was an English traveller, Conservative Party politician, and diplomatic advisor, particularly with regard to the Middle East at the time of the First Wo ...

, is dedicated to the Wolds Wagoners Reserve, a corps that Sir Mark raised from the local population to fight in the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It is noted for its unusual shape and its graphic scenes of war and country life. The memorial was designated a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

in September 1966, but upgraded to Grade I in March 2016. Sledmere is also the site of the Eleanor Cross, Sledmere, a replica Eleanor cross designated a Grade II

in September 1966, but upgraded to Grade I in March 2016. Fake Eleanor Cross - geograph

The 'Sledmere Cross' takes the form of an Eleanor Cross and is a true '

folly In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings. Eighteenth-cent ...

' that was 'converted' in 1919 to a War Memorial by Sir Mark Sykes (of the Sykes–Picot Agreement) who added a series of brass portraits in commemoration of his friends and the local men who fell in the war and also notably himself in crusader armour with the inscription “Laetare Jerusalem (Rejoice Jerusalem)”. East of the village is Sledmere Castle, a folly built around 1790 by John Carr for Sir Christopher Sykes, the 2nd baronet, to enhance the view from Sledmere House. The church of St Mary is one of the churches on the Sykes Churches Trail. In 1966 the church was designated a Grade II*

. Sledmere was served by Sledmere and Fimber railway station on the Malton and Driffield Railway between 1853 and 1950.

Images of Sledmere

File:Sledmere, Waggoners' Monument.JPG, ''Wolds Wagoners Reserve'' war memorial File:Sledmere_Castle.jpg, Sledmere Castle File:Sledmere House - geograph.org.uk - 1393059.jpg, Sledmere House File:Butchers shop, Sledmere - geograph.org.uk - 1012129.jpg, Butchers shop File:Estate Cottages near Warren Farm - geograph.org.uk - 253096.jpg

References

External links

*
Yorkshire Wolds Villages

- University of Hull.

- Radio4 programme presented by Melvyn Bragg on the Wolds Wagoners. {{authority control Villages in the East Riding of Yorkshire Civil parishes in the East Riding of Yorkshire Folly castles in England