Barkston is an English village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire. The parish population was 497 at the 2001 census and 493 at the 2011 census. The village lies about 4 miles (6 km) north of the market town of Grantham, on the A607, just south of the junction with the A153 to Ancaster.
The village is named in the Domesday Book as "Barchestune", which probably means "the farmstead of a man called Barkr." The deserted medieval village of Ringsthorpe lay just to the west of Barkston, on the far side of the River Witham.SK927414 It is mentioned in the 1087 Domesday Book. The latest archaeological discoveries at the site are from the Medieval period, and the last documentary mention of Ringsthorpe is in the 14th century.
Hickson's Almshouses, built in 1640 and re-built in 1839, still provide homes for local elderly people.
Barkston railway station, closed in 1955, was near the Barkston South junction of the East Coast Main Line and Sleaford railways.
Syston is a village and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish was 162 at the 2011 census. It is situated 3 miles (5 km) north from Grantham, and on the A607 road which runs to the county town of Lincoln. Syston lies between the larger village of Barkston to its north, and Belton to its south.
Syston Park Hall, built in 1775 to the designs of John Lanwith, for Sir John Thorold. The hall was demolished in 1925. It was the seat of the Thorold baronets, who had relocated from Cranwell Manor. The 9th and 10th baronets both served as High Sheriff of Lincolnshire, in 1778 and 1822 respectively. The 10th baronet commissioned architect Lewis Vulliamy in 1822-4 to build a new library which was then richly stocked with rare books and manuscripts, including a copy of the Gutenberg Bible. On his death in 1831 the property passed to his widow Mary Anne, who married Sir Charles Ogle, Bt in 1834.
The contents of the house were dispersed in sales held in 1884 and 1923 and the house demolished soon afterwards.
More information can be found on Wikipedia on the Barkston and Syston pages.