Sydenham (Sidreham in 1086, Sidenham in 1216, Sydham in 1237) 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.
