Sinai Park House is a grade II* listed building in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. Consisting of a central range with two wings, the building is sited on a ridge of high ground near a chalybeate spring. The earliest remains of the site date to the 13th century, and it was occupied by the de Scobenhal family before being donated to Burton Abbey. The house was used as a place of convalescence for monks recovering from blood-letting procedures and its original name "seyney house" derived from the Old French "seyne" for blood. The estate was increased by enclosure and used as a hunting ground for the abbot. Much of the estate and house were let out by the early 16th century. The estate came into the hands of the Paget family after the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The Pagets used it for hunting and let out part of the estate to farmers. The house adopted its modern name of Sinai by the end of the 18th century, a biblical reference. The estate was sold to pay off the debts of the eccentric Henry Paget, 5th Marquess of Anglesey, and by 1918 was used as a cooperative society farm. The house later served as billets for Royal Air Force personnel and was split into cottages before being abandoned due to a contaminated water supply. It was used by a farmer as a house for pigs and chickens before being sold in 1995 to the current owner, who has renovated one wing of the house. Planning permission has been granted to restore further parts of the estate and install an outdoor classroom.
Description Sinai Park House sits on top of a ridge of high ground to the west of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire in what Historic England have described as a "magnificent and prominent setting above the Trent Valley". The house is surrounded by a rectangular moat measuring 50 by 60 metres (160 ft × 200 ft) on a northwest–southeast alignment. The moat is partially silted but the southern and northern corners still hold water. The moat is up to 10 metres (33 ft) wide; it is 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) deep on the northwest and southwest faces and 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) deep on the southeast and northeast faces. The moat is crossed by a brick-built bridge, dating to 1732, at the centre of the south-eastern face. The surviving structure dates from the early 16th century and is u-shaped in plan, with the open face to the south. It is a timber-frame structure, with infills of brick or lath and plaster, with a tiled roof. There are brick and sandstone side stack chimneys on the east, north and west faces. The central range is of two storeys and has four windows per floor on each face, a two-storey entrance porch is located in the centre of the south face. The two wings are also of two storeys, with an additional attic with dormer windows. The upper floors of the structure are canted outwards. The interior shows little evidence of its original design but some renaissance-style paintings of birds and plants survive on the plaster of the easternmost ground floor room.
Monastic use
The site is thought likely to have been occupied at an early period of history due to the presence of a natural chalybeate (iron-bearing) spring. However, the earliest proven evidence of occupation is the moat and some of the surviving cellar stonework which date to the 13th century. The site lay was occupied by the de Scobenhal (or Schobenhale) family, after whom it was named Shobnall Park; the surrounding area is still known as Shobnall. The family donated the site to the monks of Burton Abbey who used it as a "seyney house", a place of convalescence and a site to recuperate from blood-letting sessions. The word "seyney" derives from the Old French "seyne" meaning blood. The house became known as the Seyney House sometime between 1410 and 1529. The site was one of only a handful of seyney houses known in England and it retained this use until at least the 1380s. The house was originally just a central hall with a cross passage; though at some point it probably had a screens passage entrance at the west end. The hall was later remodelled with a central entrance via a porch with upper stories added around the same time. The abbey relocated two timber-framed buildings from Burton to the site to form two structurally separate dormitory wings either side of the hall. The house had an oratory by 1410 when it was granted the right to hold the eucharist there. The house ceased to be used by the monks in the early 16th century when it was let out; it is possibly the "Great Lodge" recorded as let by the Abbey in 1537. The moat around the house may have been L-shaped during this period, covering only the north and west sides of the property. Access during this time was via a wooden bridge. The surrounding parkland was fenced at some point between 1410 and 1529, probably when previously common land to the west was incorporated into the park. A payment of five shillings was made annually by the Abbey to the parishes of Barton-under-Needwood and of Rolleston as compensation for the loss of pastureland. The park was probably used as a hunting ground by the abbot and deer were first recorded there in 1532. The park was rented out for herbage and pannage at a rate of £8 per year by 1536.
Paget family
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