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Chapter 14Upton History and Buildings

There has been a settlement at Upton since at least the Roman period and possibly earlier. The general RCHMarchaeological survey of 1968 identifies three enclosures in the parish of Upton. One is marked by well-defined andwide ditches that enclose a rectangular area of 1.5 acres at the point Ermine Street joins with the Roman road toWansford. It is only visible from the air. There is a second enclosure of two acres immediately to the North West of thefirst.

North East of the Roman enclosures is a larger undated enclosure of 2.25 acres that could indicate earlier occupation. Itis apparently divided into two equal parts by an internal ditch and there appear to be traces of a smaller enclosure to itsNorth West. There is also an enclosure complex that crosses the boundary with Ailsworth parish.

A Roman villa was surveyed in the Autumn of 2002, prior to which, coins dating from AD330, and a 1st centurybronze brooch were found [1]. The villa consists of a main block measuring 35 metres by 18 metres on NNE-SSWorientation. A large number of tesserae, hypocaust and roof tiles found at the site all suggest a large residentialbuilding. A few years ago parts of columns were found, and a Roman coffin was discovered on Model Farm land. It isnow used for cultivating wall-flowers. A Saxon gilt brooch was also discovered at Upton, reported in Anglo-SaxonCambridgeshire.

In addition to Roman enclosures there isevidence of extensive Medieval ridge and furrowcultivation to the North of Top Lodge wherethree interlocked furlongs meet along the courseof a small stream. The open fields of the parishwere enclosed in 1843.

The most historical buildings in the village arecertainly the Manor Farm House and the church.West of the church there is a small thatchedcottage, built in the 16th century and rebuiltfrom dereliction in the 1950s. An inscription ona dedication stone on the front of the cottagereads:

‘This Elizabeth I cottage then derelict restored1957 by Harry Paten Chairman of ThePeterborough Society with the generouscollaboration from The 10th Earl FitzwilliamPresident of the Society.’

At the West end of Upton stands Model Farm,which dates from 1685. It has a hipped roof,oblong moulded chimney shafts andsymmetrically placed mullion windows [2].Other buildings include Glebe House, thethatched Keeper’s Cottage, and some 19thcentury houses, as well as newer council housesbuilt in the early 1960s.

The manor represents, in effect, the early historyof Upton other than the church. In essence themanor is defined by its geographical area, thefact that there was a Lord of the Manor, and that it

Fig 14a. Model Farm House built 1685. (Photo: J Tovey)

Fig 14b. Model Farm barns: the old barns were extended in the 19thcentury by the addition of barns that look like engine sheds.

(Photo: J Tovey)

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had a Manorial Court. Upton Manorappears in the charter of Wulfhere ofPeterborough in 664, but not in theDomesday Book. However, it could havebeen included in the Ailsworth/Castorentry.

In the 12th century it was held by Godwinof Upton, then by the Watervilles ofMarholm. The Holding of Hugh deWaterville was confirmed to PeterboroughAbbey by Richard I and Henry III in 1146[3]. However, the Watervilles lost themanor for a time. In 1176 it was takenfrom Ralph de Waterville and handed toRobert de Neville in punishment for deWaterville’s participation in the 1174rebellion against Henry II.

The manor then passed by marriage to thede Dive family. Asceline de Watervillerecovered the manor from Ralph de Nevillin 1190. One of her two daughters, Maud,married William de Dive. Hugh de Divewas holding land in Upton as late as thereign of Edward I (1272-1307). Thesecond daughter of Asceline deWaterville, also named Asceline, marriedone of the Torpel family and took themanor at Upton as her dowry. It thenpassed by the marriage of her daughter toRalph Camoys.

The demesne consisted of five virgates [4]and a quarter of arable land, with six acresof meadow, and eight and three quartersvirgates worked by labourers [5].

Ralph Camoys’ son John then sold themanor illegally to Eleanor of Castille,Queen of Edward I, which led to the Kinggranting custody of the lands toPeterborough Abbey at rent of £100 in1290. In 1308 the manor was granted toPiers Gaveston by Edward II, who twoyears later, exchanged the manor and otherlands for the county of Cornwall. Uptonthen passed to Edward’s nephew John Earlof Surrey and then on to other relationsand members of the royal family includingthe Earls of Kent, and the wife of Edwardthe Black Prince, mother of Richard II,and Edward IV (1461-1470 & 1471-1483).Edward then granted the lands to hismother.

In 1492 Upton was granted to Elizabethwife of Henry VII (1485-1509) and during

Fig 14c. Top Lodge Farmhouse 1920s: presumably the people are the Harrisfamily’s predecessors.

Fig 14d. Top Lodge Farm in 1950s: before the old barns were demolished.

Fig 14e. Manor Farm in 1930s: note the gable end extension on the right.

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the reign of Henry VIII (1509-1547) formed part of the dower of four of his queens. The lands at Upton wereafterwards granted to Sir Richard Wingfield in 1543-4 who built the manor house.

There was a second manor at Upton which never became a full manor there being no record of a manorial court. It wasan amalgamation of two holdings, one of amanor at Southorpe and the other of landheld by a Geoffrey of Upton. It was soldby John Stidolf to Robert Wingfield in1562, thus uniting all Upton Manor.

There is not a lot left of the original manorbuilding. What remains is a short length ofthe house with flat pointed mullionwindows on the ground floor and squareheaded on the first floor. It is describedthus in Bridges’ History ofNorthamptonshire published in 1796:

‘In the hall windows are the Wingfield’s,and other escutcheons of arms [6]. At theend are bow windows projecting very high,with balconies and stone work over them;and to the West is an embattled turret withsmall windows, but the house has been

Fig 14f. Air photograph of Manor Farm in late 1950s.

Fig 14g. Manor Farm 2004: All that is left of Upton Manor House; this housestarted as the Manor House for the Wingfields, was then bought by the Dovefamily, all but the kitchen range demolished after 1750, the gable wing on the

East side demolished more recently, and the outbuildings replaced in the 1980s.(Photo: J Tovey)

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pulled down many years except themeaner offices, which now serve for afarm house.’

Following a renewal of the grant betweenRobert Wingfield and James I in 1613-14, the manor was sold to Sir WilliamDove in 1625. The Doves continued tohold the lands until 1750 – when it wassold to Lord Fitzwilliam – but borrowedon the property over the years. Forexample, an act of Parliament was passedin 1719 to allow Thomas Dove to raise£2000 on his estates at Upton, Sutton,Ailsworth and Castor for settlement ofdebts [7].

Since 1750 the manor has been owned byMilton estates and variously farmed bytenants up to the present day. TheTebbutt family were the longest-servingMilton tenant farmers, occupying ManorFarm, Upton for most of the 18th and19th centuries. Two other majorbuildings, Model Farm and Top Lodge,are also farms, worked by the Longfootsand the Harrises respectively. As such arural hamlet, Upton has always had asmall population. In the Compton Censusof 1676 there were 58 Conformists listedin Upton. This figure has fluctuated buthas not grown appreciably. Censusfigures from 1981 put the population at80.

Despite this, Upton provided three billmen and a constable with the residue ofthe town providing a harness for a man,according to the muster rolls ofNassaburgh Hundreds in 1536. Themilitia lists of 1762 show five menbetween the ages of 18 and 45, and theconstable, John Sharman. These menwere either servants or labourers.

The importance of farming to the ruralcommunity cannot be over emphasised. Perhaps one small illustration of this wasreported in the Annals of Castor, a diarykept by John Hales, and published in thePeterborough Citizen in 1922. Hereported that on 2nd October 1842:‘John Culpin of Upton cut his throat witha razor but not so as to kill himself. Hewas removed to Peterborough onsuspicion of stealing three sacks of wheatfrom Mr J Tebbutt’s [Manor Farm]. Itwas found in his garden, and he was

Fig 14h. Elizabethan Cottage. (Photo: J Tovey)

Fig 14i. Keeper’s Cottage. (Photo: J Tovey)

Fig 14j. Model Cottages: Victorian farm workers’ cottages. (Photo: J Tovey)

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sentenced to 15 years’ transportation.’

Apart from the Manor and farms, and the 16th century cottage, the other most significant building in Upton is GlebeHouse, which was built as a vicarage in 1912. Around the same time the village hall was constructed, consisting of asmall green painted corrugated iron hut that still exists today.

The building has had various uses including youth clubs and a drill hall for the Upton and Sutton Home Guard, whichincluded Upton men such asRalph Hornsby and Arthur andCharlie Harris of Top LodgeFarm.

A number of council houses werebuilt on Church Walk, Upton inthe late 1950s and early 1960sbetween Glebe House and the‘model cottages’. Some of thesewere built behind a row of threestone cottages which were thendemolished. This marked the lastdevelopment in the village, whichremains an isolated rural hamlet.

John HowardJohn Howard was born and brought up inCastor the son of Jack and Kate McNaughton.He grew up with his brothers Walter and Samin what is now Vine House on Church Hill.Educated at Castor School, King’sPeterborough and the University of Leicester,

Fig 14k. Glebe House, the former vicarage built in 1912. (Photo: J Tovey)

Fig 14l. Village Hall. (Photo: J Tovey)

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where he read English Literature, John earns a crust as a writer and journalist. After living in Canada and Spain for a time John now lives in Castor with wifeMarta and son Charlie and daughter Alba.

Notes1. Paul Middleton, Top Lodge Farm, Upton; Interim Report on Pre-excavation Survey, January 2003. 2. N Pevsner, Churches, 1968, p.359.3. Hugh Candidus, The Peterborough Chronicle, ed W T Mellows, 1997, p5.4. A virgate is a measurement of land – usually 30 acres according to the Oxford English Reference Dictionary.5. Bridges, History of Northamptonshire, 1796, p507.6. A list of the arms and escutheons can be found in K Gibson’s Antonine Itinerary, 1800, pp210-211.7. Georgii C.6 (1719).

Map of Upton. Reproduced from Ordnance Survey mapping on behalf of The Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office © Crown Copyright 100042620 2004

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Fig 14n.The only known photograph (taken c 1912) of thecottages. Until they were demolished in 1959, there was only everone tap with running water which they all shared. It was on theroadside, in front of the central cottage. The drain is still in the

road.

Fig 14m. Sketch of the row of three thatched stone cottages asremembered by Lyn Bell nee Hornsby. These cottages, with

front walls on the kerb-side, were demolished in about 1959,after the council houses had been built behind them. When LynBell was a child, Allen and Joyce Herbert lived in the left handcottage, Lyn with her parents Wilf and Laura Hornsby in the

centre cottage, and her uncle and aunt, Fred and AnnieHornsby, lived in the right hand one.

Fig 14n. The path across Church (Chapel)Close from the village of Upton to the church.

Fig14o. David Longfoot (in cab) loading fertilizer with SamJeffery in the yard at Model Farm Upton 2004

(Michael Longfoot behind the cab).

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Fig 14o. M

ap of Upton 1582, draw

n by Toby Houghton. N

orth is to the right of the map. N

ote the dovecot (‘dufcot’) at the top and the windm

ill on the left. ‘Chapel W

ode’ is now called

Upton W

ood, but its dimensions and boundaries have not changed over 420 years (com

pare with the 1:50000 m

ap). ‘Heyes W

ode’ is now called H

ayeswood Spinney. The track running from

left to right (North-South) in front of ‘C

hapel Wode’ and’ H

eyes Wode’ is now

called Barn R

oad, but was know

n then as ‘Sowthe Lane’. The R

oman road, K

ing’s Street or the Long Ditch

(Langdyke) runs along the bottom (E

astern) edge of ‘Cockeshoot C

losse’, ‘Fur C

los’ and ‘Heyes C

losse’. Note the nam

es of the pre-enclosure Open F

ields. (Courtesy F

itzwilliam

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