Ufton Court
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Run by children's experiential education charity The Ufton Court Educational Trust, Ufton Court is a
manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...
in the
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
of
Ufton Nervet Ufton Nervet is a village and civil parish in West Berkshire, England centred west southwest of the large town of Reading, Berkshire, Reading and 7 miles east of Thatcham. Ufton Nervet has an elected civil parish council. Toponymy "Ufton" is d ...
, in the county of
Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...
, England. Ufton Court also operates as a wedding and corporate event venue.


Architecture

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...
describe Ufton
architecturally Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and constructing buildings ...
as:
Late C15, circa 1568, altered and partly refaced in late C17, further altered in C18, and whole restored in circa 1838 with some later alterations. Rendered timber frame with red brick refacing to rear, some brick additions, and old tile roof, in 2 ranges to left. Large irregular E-plan with central projecting gabled 2 storey porch and flanking projecting gabled wings. 2½ storeys. Entrance front: each floor jettied with moulded bressumers and brackets, and gabled eaves dormers with 3-light leaded casements, barge boards, and lead water spouts between with flanges inscribed 1664 FP.
The
great hall A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, castle or a large manor house or hall house in the Middle Ages. It continued to be built in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries, although by then the family used the great cha ...
and the
screens passage A great hall is the main room of a royal palace, castle or a large manor house or hall house in the Middle Ages. It continued to be built in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries, although by then the family used the great cha ...
(complete with the original 'pantry and buttery' doors) date from 1474. Lady Elizabeth Marvyn modified and extended the house in 1568, with the installation of a "pendant ceiling" in the original great hall. Two carved beams which she had installed in the Green Room are thought to be older and may have been brought from her former residence nearby. Lady Marvyn was a prominent
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
, and the house is noted for its
priest hole A priest hole is a hiding place for a priest built in England or Wales during the period when Catholics were persecuted by law. Following the accession of Queen Elizabeth I to the throne in 1558, there were several Catholic plots designed to remo ...
s where
recusant Recusancy (from ) was the state of those who remained loyal to the Catholic Church and refused to attend Church of England services after the English Reformation. The 1558 Recusancy Acts passed in the reign of Elizabeth I, and temporarily repea ...
Catholics could hide priests. An east wing and a Catholic panel was added in 1616. The house was further altered in the early eighteenth century.


History


Late Medieval

A small medieval manor named Ufton Pole originally stood on the site, belonging to Francis Lovell. Lovell was created the 1st Viscount Lovell by
Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...
, after being a
ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
to the latter as a child. Lovell became a friend of
Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...
, with both of their wives being first-cousins. With the death of Richard III in 1485, Lovell rebelled against the new king, Henry VII and had his lands, including Ufton Pole, confiscated by the Crown, who now possessed Ufton.


Tudor and Stuart

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his Wives of Henry VIII, six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. ...
granted Ufton Pole Manor to Sir Richard Weston, a
Groom of the Chamber Groom of the Chamber was a position in the Household of the monarch in early modern England. Other ''Ancien Régime'' royal establishments in Europe had comparable officers, often with similar titles. In France, the Duchy of Burgundy, and in Eng ...
, in 1510. In 1568, the house was bought by Lady Marvyn, the widow of Richard Perkins of nearby estate on Ufton Green. She considerably altered and enlarged the house over the next eight years and renamed it 'Ufton Court'. She eventually left the house to her first husband's nephew, Francis Perkins. It remained in this family until 1769. The Perkins were persecuted for their Catholic beliefs. They had to pay fines for not attending
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
services at the parish church and could be subjected to raids at any time by local magistrates looking for priests, hidden in tiny secret rooms. In 1599, during the second raid on Ufton, Sir Francis Knollys discovered at least one priest hole containing much gold plate, but the priests were not in residence.


Georgian

In 1715, Francis Perkins of Ufton Court married
Arabella Fermor Arabella Fermor (1696–1737) was the daughter of a marriage between two recusant Roman Catholic families in Protestant England, the Fermors of Oxfordshire and the Brownes of Berkshire. The family seat was Tusmore House, noted for its formal garde ...
, the daughter of Henry Fermor of Tusmore in Oxfordshire. Before the marriage, painters and poets celebrated her charms and her beauty, for she was the belle of London society. She is remembered today as the inspiration for
Alexander Pope Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early ...
's '
The Rape of the Lock ''The Rape of the Lock'' is a mock-heroic narrative poem written by Alexander Pope. One of the most commonly cited examples of high burlesque, it was first published anonymously in Lintot's ''Miscellaneous Poems and Translations'' (May 1712) ...
,' a poem telling how Lord Petre stole a lock of her hair and caused a great scandal. Arabella was humiliated and accepted Perkins' offer of marriage in order to live quietly in the country instead. Tradition asserts that the great hall and western half of Ufton Court were refashioned for the lady's arrival, and this seems to fit with the date of the architecture and interior décor there. Bonnie Prince Charlie is supposed to have secretly visited the couple during the
Jacobite rising of 1745 The Jacobite rising of 1745 was an attempt by Charles Edward Stuart to regain the Monarchy of Great Britain, British throne for his father, James Francis Edward Stuart. It took place during the War of the Austrian Succession, when the bulk of t ...
. They had six children together, but they all died childless and the house gradually fell into a state of disrepair.


Victorian times

During its sale in 1837, Ufton Court was described as 'unfit for a gentleman's residence.' It was bought by
Richard Benyon De Beauvoir Richard Benyon De Beauvoir (born Benyon; 28 April 1770 – 22 March 1854) was a 19th-century British politician, landowner, philanthropist, and High Sheriff of Berkshire. Background He was born in Westminster, the eldest son of politician Richar ...
of the adjoining estate at Englefield. He repaired the house and converted it into tenements for his estate workers. Over the next hundred years, various tenants lived in the house: mostly notably Mary Sharp, a local historian who wrote a detailed history of the place. Mr (later Sir)
Henry Benyon Sir Henry Arthur Benyon, 1st Baronet JP ( Fellowes; 9 December 1884 – 15 June 1959) was the immediate post-War Lord Lieutenant of Berkshire. Born Henry Arthur Fellowes in Chelsea, London, the son of James Herbert Fellowes and his wife, Edith ...
also lived there himself before inheriting Englefield House, restoring the house as a gentleman's residence once more and replanting the garden.


Educational Centre

Although still owned by the Benyons, Ufton Court is now the home of the Ufton Court Educational Trust. This charity provides opportunities for children and young people to explore the historical and environmental world through hands-on experiences. They host both day visits and residential courses. Many of the rooms are now dormitories and children are encouraged to treat the house as their own. Historical courses range from studies of the
Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
to the
Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed the ...
. The site includes a Tudor garden and small Saxon/Medieval/Tudor farm with pigs, goats and chickens to look after. In the grounds are a 'Celtic Village,' featuring a reconstructed Iron Age roundhouse, a 'Wheel of the Year' fire circle, a Roman/Saxon palisade and Saxon/Viking ship; as well as the 'Ufton Adventure' woodland centre based around residential cabin accommodation.


The Ufton Dole

The Ufton Dole is a distribution of bread and sheets, from a window in the Great Hall of Ufton Court, every Maundy Thursday to the villagers of Ufton Nervet and
Padworth Padworth is a dispersed settlement and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire, with the nearest town being Tadley. Padworth is in the unitary authority of West Berkshire, and its main settlement is at Aldermaston Wharf or Lower ...
. Lady Marvyn left money in her will of 1581 for this annual dole. Tradition has it that this was to thank the villagers for having helped her return home after becoming lost in the local woods. Additionally, a curse is said to have been placed on any lord of the manor who breaks the tradition. The distribution is currently undertaken by
Richard Benyon Richard Henry Ronald Benyon, Baron Benyon, (born 21 October 1960), is a British politician who has served as Lord Chamberlain of the Household since 4 November 2024. He previously was Minister of State for Climate, Environment and Energy from ...
MP.


References

{{reflist


External links


Royal Berkshire History: Ufton CourtOfficial website
Grade I listed buildings in Berkshire Grade I listed houses Further education colleges in Berkshire Country houses in Berkshire Education in West Berkshire District Charities based in Berkshire