Our Area - Syston

There has been a settlement here for more than 1,000 years, with the name Sitestone recorded in the Domesday Book and the Roman road known as the Fosse Way passes through Syston. The Syston white plum is a locally grown dessert plum which is emblazoned on the town’s Welcome to Syston signs. Back in the nineteenth century, the main local industry was framework knitting, with whole families involved. This home industry was eventually replaced with a sizeable boot and shoe industry, companies producing knitting machinery and components for Leicestershire’s thriving hosiery industry, until its decline in the 1990’s. Little industry now remains, although some knitwear is still produced and shoes are distributed from local warehouses. Pukka Pies has its headquarters in the town, one of the largest employers, town, employing 250 people. Syston retains many of its original thatched roofed cottages, although some were altered to local slate, and the River Soar runs past the western edge of the town.