Upper Upham is a hamlet and

deserted medieval village In the United Kingdom, a deserted medieval village (DMV) is a former settlement which was abandoned during the Middle Ages, typically leaving no trace apart from earthworks or cropmarks. If there are fewer than three inhabited houses the conv ...

in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

Aldbourne Aldbourne (pronounced "awld·bawn") is a village and civil parish about north-east of Marlborough, Wiltshire, England, in a valley on the south slope of the Lambourn Downs – part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. ...

in the English county of

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershir ...

. Its nearest town is Marlborough, which lies approximately 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 A sunken lane (also hollow way or holloway) is a road or track that is significantly lower than the land on either side, not formed by the (recent) engineering of a road cutting but possibly of much greater age. Various mechanisms have been pro ...

, 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. The manor was held by

Lacock Abbey Lacock Abbey in the village of Lacock, Wiltshire, England, was founded in the early 13th century by Ela, Countess of Salisbury, as a nunnery of the Augustinian order. The abbey remained a nunnery until the suppression of Roman Catholic inst ...

from around 1249 until the Dissolution. In 1540 it was purchased by John Goddard (died 1557), and remained in the

Goddard family The Goddard family were a prominent landed family chiefly living in the northern region of the English counties of Wiltshire and Hampshire and the western part of Berkshire, between the Tudor period and the early 20th century. The Goddard famil ...

until sometime before the early 18th century. 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. 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.

Upham House

Upham House is a

Grade II* listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

country house An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a Townhouse (Great Britain), town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the cit ...

with a five-bay southeast front, built in 1599 by the Goddards. The house was restored, altered and extended between 1909 and 1922 for

Lady Currie The word ''lady'' is a term for a girl or woman, with various connotations. Once used to describe only women of a high social class or status, the equivalent of lord, now it may refer to any adult woman, as gentleman can be used for men. Infor ...

; at the same time, formal gardens were laid out to the north of the house. The garden walls to the east of the house, and the gatehouse which led into the courtyard, are Grade II listed. After 1965 the house was divided into three, and its outbuildings were sold for conversion into separate houses.

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline Hamlets in Wiltshire Deserted medieval villages in Wiltshire