Sydenham (Sidreham in 1086, Sidenham in 1216, Sydham in 1237) in South Oxfordshire means ´by the wide water meadow´ and the Crowell Brook which flows through the village has played an important role in its development since Anglo Saxon times.

Much of the village is a conservation area, with many listed buildings, most of which are thatched. All electricity and telephone poles and overhead wires have recently been removed from the Village Green area.

St Mary´s Church (rebuilt about 1295) is a flint and stone building with a clay tiled roof and wooden spire. The hammer beam roof structure of the nave, with its primitive carved faces on the ends of some beams, is a rarity in South Oxfordshire.

The Church, Crown Inn and Village Green make an attractive centrepiece and a start and finish point for pleasant, circular, country walks.