b'The Sykes Churches - Part 2Mike PrattI n the previous Bulletin, No. 18, it was explained thatMore can be gleaned about the fifth Baronet Sir Tatton Sykes I, the fourth Baronet (who died in 1863), was responsible for the restoration of Bishopand the financial problems he was experiencing Wilton Church in 1858/59. The focus for Part 2 1will beat the turn of the 19th century by reading The on his son, the fifth Baronet, who was typified by theBig House: The Story of a Country House title of fifteen churches 2in a contemporary caricature. and its Family by Christopher Simon Sykes We will see how the fifth Baronet did a lot to(published in 2004 by Harper Collins). improve Bishop Wilton Church after the restoration by his father.The bundle of papers 3on which this article is based is described as containing Correspondencesuggested as a possibility by Pevsner 4 . and notes regarding enquiries made concerning theAccompanying the formal reply from Clayton & contribution made by Sir Tatton Sykes towards theBell is a less formal, pencil-written note according to restoration of East Riding churches. The impetus forinformation furnished by the Vicar of Bishop Wilton the enquiries is not apparent (see inset) and, indeed,Church, the Rev. John Adams Eldridge, who was the correspondence from solicitors Crust, Todd,approaching 90 years of age at the time. He identifies:Mills and Sons, on behalf of Sledmere, to the various informants is not part of the bundle. The papers covera period around 1900 with the one dated item for12 stained glass Windows at about 1000Bishop Wilton being from 1902. After the 5th Baronets death in 1913 it was possible to attribute 1.5 millionA lectern 100to him for the restoration of churches in his lifetime.A reply from Clayton & Bell (a prominent stainedDecoration of roof 700glass manufacturer) dated 1902 itemises the only entryChancel Screen - Mr Streets - Potters of in their books for Stained Glass for Bishop WiltonLondon did the workChurch . carried out to the order of Sir Tatton Sykes and so far as we can tell were paid for by him. TheOrgan about 200items described, dated October 31st, 1872, are: Altar furniture 50 Chancel floor and stalls about 8004 one light Windows in Chancel68 Heating apparatus and [word unreadable] being finished nowEast Window in South Aisle 63 Mosaic floor - an exact copy of the floor 3 two light Windows in South Aisle 168 in the Vatican, Rome, that was taken from the Imperial Palace of the Caesars2 two light Windows in North Aisle 112 Eldridge adds that the Church was previously A North Transcept Window (Te Deum) 114 restored by Old Sir Tatton at a cost of about 5000 compared with an estimated cost of between 2000 & A three light North Transcept Window 76 3000 before work started in 1858.The Mr Street mentioned is the architect, G. E. A two light North Transcept Window 78 Street. More is written about work on St Ediths and those involved in Bulletin No. 9 5 . 679 The stained glass work identified by Eldridge is the same as that itemised more accurately by Clayton & This account seems to indicate that Clayton &Bell.Bell were not involved in the decoration of the roof 1With thanks to David & Susan Neave who alerted us to the bundle of papers which is in one of the morerecent deposits (the fifth) made by the Sykes Family of Sledmere to the archives at Hull University.2A current assessment has it that the fifth Baronet financed work on 17 churches.3Hull University, Brynmor Jones Library, Archives, reference DDSY5/40/204 Nikolaus Pevsner & David Neave, Yorkshire: York and the East Riding, 1995, Yale University Press. 5Andrew Boyce, John Loughborough Pearson, Architect (1817-1897), November 17th, 2004.370 BULLETIN 19'