Sygate/Southgate

Title

Sygate/Southgate

Subject

How it was 1992

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Description

Early last century some misguided surveyor working on the first 1-inch maps of this area decided to rename this hamlet "Southgate", and so it appears on Ordnance Survey maps to this day. However, the name by which we know it, and which is included in the ancient inscription on the Plough Gallery in St. Agnes' Church, is Sygate. Some say it comes from Syk, a very old family name, while others find its origin in Sulh-geath, meaning a "Plough Lane" or rough track (Anglo Saxon).

The suffix "gate" is no mystery, for we have "gates" on the outskirts of many villages and towns, their names dating from Viking times when the Danish invaders settled near earlier Saxon dwelling places. In most Scandinavian countries a street is called "gate" or "gata" ;

I have a Icelandic friend who lives in a street in Reykjavic called Sudagate - i.e. Southgate!

John Kett 1989

Note:

Also see Chapel Street/Prince of Wales road, the road from Cawston to Sygate/Southgate and the history page regarding the Mills.

We have a Birds Lane named after Mr Bird the farmer,

Heydon Lane leading to the Heydon road and Beerhouse road leading to Beerhouse Farm and Oulton.

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Contributor

Mr John Katt
Ivan Purdy
Miranda Pointer
Vic Purdy