The History of Sykes Lodge
Eddlethorpe Grange Farm - An early history
The lost medieval village of Eddlethorpe was first mentioned in the Domesday Book of AD1086, and was recorded in the Knight's leases of the 15th century, when all lands in the southern-most Wolds were owned by descendants and Barons of William the Conqueror. But even before this, the land around here was occupied by at least a few people, as revealed in the archaeological excavations by gentleman archaeologist, John Robert Mortimer. Mortimer excavated Hedon Howe, a Neolithic burial mound just beyond the boundary of the farm in 1893, finding pottery urns, arrow heads and charred remains. He also found human skeletons of varying ages suggesting that this area was settled by small population at this time. The land was continually farmed from this period, through Roman times and up to present day.
The earliest surviving record of a tenancy at the Farm dates from the mid-15th century and is in the name of Robert and Elizabeth Ruddock, who acquired the rights to occupy grassland on the title of Eddlethorpe Grange Farm, which may have been in the family even earlier than this date. The Ruddocks continued to occupy the farm right through the English Civil War (1642-1651), when it became a major business producing timber and farming mixed agriculture. The Ruddocks disappear from the records at the farm in the early 18th century when the tenancy transferred to Robert Denton, a gentleman farmer. Robert Denton was an infamous occupant, whose name crops up in the East Riding Quarter Sessions Archives, which listed convicted criminals. The next family to occupy the farm in the late 18th century to the early 19th were the Taylors. John Taylor had worked on the nearby Northcliffe Estate at Langton, but ran away to London where he earned a fortune as a merchant. On returning home he bought several surrounding farmsteads but lived at Eddlethorpe Grange Farm, which was now under the ownership of Sir Tatton Sykes of Sledmere, who was Lord of the Manor at Eddlethorpe. John Taylor, meanwhile continued to expand his wealth by becoming a tea importer.
The Sykes Family
Sykes Lodge itself was built by Sir Mark Sykes Baronet, MP for Hull, in 1907. These were his new 'model farm' buildings, created at the same time as he rebuilt his mansion house following a devastating fire that destroyed Sledmere House, the ancestral home of the Sykes Family. This rebuilding brought the old Eddlethorpe Grange Farm of the 16th century into the modern era of agriculture.
Sir Mark, as landlord to the many tenanted farms on the Sledmere Estate, was much respected in the locality. Prior to WW1 he formed the Wolds Wagoners Special Reserve who were among the first to leave for the western front.
The Wolds Wagoners
The Wold's Wagoners Special Reserve were the first army reserve unit to be officially recognised by the War Office. In recognition of this, the volunteers were paid the "silly quid" and their employers on the land were obliged to give them time off work for training. During his time in the Boer War, Sir Mark recognised the reliance the army had on the expertise of wagon drivers to get munitions and supplies to the front line. Seeing this need, he called upon the services of the capable horsemen from his tenant farmers and formed a National reserve military unit, who, in 1914 were the first the be called up to fight in Northern France.