Upper Upham

Upper Upham
Upham House
Upper Upham is located in Wiltshire
Upper Upham
Upper Upham
Location within Wiltshire
OS grid referenceSU226771
Civil parish
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townMARLBOROUGH
Postcode districtSN8
Dialling code01672
PoliceWiltshire
FireDorset and Wiltshire
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Wiltshire
51°29′35″N 1°40′30″W / 51.493°N 1.675°W / 51.493; -1.675

Upper Upham is a hamlet and deserted medieval village in the civil parish of Aldbourne in the English county of Wiltshire. Its nearest town is Marlborough, which lies approximately 5.6 miles (9.0 km) to the south-west; the hamlet is reached by a narrow lane off the B4192 Aldbourne-Swindon road.

To the northwest of the hamlet are extensive remains of a medieval village, with a hollow way, house platforms and evidence of agriculture. The settlement is first documented as Upammere in a charter of 955, and by 1201 its name had become Upham. There were 40 taxpayers in 1377 but the population dwindled in the 15th and 16th centuries.[1]

The manor was held by Lacock Abbey from around 1249 until the Dissolution. In 1540 it was purchased by John Goddard (died 1557), and remained in the Goddard family until sometime before the early 18th century.[2] Aldbourne parish church has a memorial brass dated 1495 to an earlier Richard Goddard of Upham and his wife, and the church tower was erected in 1460 by either the same person or another of the same name.[3]

Lower Upham is further west and has a farm and a pair of cottages; the lane between the two Uphams is now a farm track.

  1. ^ Historic England. "Medieval settlement, cultivation remains and boundary (1020131)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 4 April 2021.
  2. ^ Baggs, A. P.; Freeman, Jane; Stevenson, Janet H. (1983). "Parishes: Aldbourne". In Crowley, D. A. (ed.). A History of the County of Wiltshire, Volume 12. Victoria County History. University of London. pp. 67–86. Retrieved 4 April 2021 – via British History Online.
  3. ^ Historic England. "Church of St Michael (1034152)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 7 April 2021.