William Sykes (1500–1577) migrated from
Cumberland to the
West Riding of Yorkshire, where he and his son became wealthy cloth traders. Daniel Sykes (b.1632) was the first member of the family to begin trading in
Hull and made a fortune from shipping and finance. Richard Sykes (1678–1726) concentrated on the flourishing Baltic trade in pig iron and the wealth of the family was built on this in the first half of the eighteenth century. His son Sir Richard Sykes (1706–1761) married Mary Kirkby, sister of Mark Kirby, and heiress to the Sledmere estate. In 1751, Sir Richard Sykes demolished the previous
Manor House at Sledmere, which had existed since medieval times, and built a new mansion. He also planted some 20,000 trees on the
Wolds about his new home. He left no male heir however and on his death the estate passed to his brother
Mark Sykes (1711–1783). Sir Mark's son,
Sir Christopher Sykes, 2nd Baronet (1749–1801), MP for
Beverley, greatly expanded the estate. He and his wife bought and enclosed huge areas of land for cultivation, built two new wings to the house, and landscaped the grounds, planting of trees. The entire village of Sledmere was moved. Sir Christopher left a vast estate of nearly and a large mansion set in its own of parkland, which survives in the family to the present day. Sir Christopher also employed Joseph Rose, the most celebrated
plasterer of his day, to decorate Sledmere. The result has been called among the finest plaster-work in England. A catastrophic fire in 1911 left the building a shell and destroyed the Adam-style 1790s interiors. It is said that
Sir Tatton Sykes, 5th Baronet, was too busy eating one of the milk puddings - to which he was addicted - to pay much attention, but villagers and estate workers loyally rescued pictures, statues and furniture, china and carpets, and even doors and banisters, including the house's 1780 copy of the
Apollo Belvedere. The roof fell in a few moments later. The original designs for the interiors had survived however, and the house was then restored.
Sir Mark Sykes, 6th Baronet, inherited the estate after his father. Nowadays, land tied to this manor is used as the festival site for Tribfest, a music festival featuring tribute bands of many famous artists from around the world, alive or dead. This was started in 2007 and has been hosted at the fields surrounding Sledmere House every year since then, except in 2020 when that year's festival was called off due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. ==Features==