Upton is a suburb of

Slough Slough () is a town in Berkshire, England, in the Thames Valley, west of central London and north-east of Reading, at the intersection of the M4, M40 and M25 motorways. It is part of the historic county of Buckinghamshire. In 2021, the ...

, in the

district, in the ceremonial 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. Until the local government reforms of 1974 it was in

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

. It was one of the villages that developed into the town.

History

The

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

survey of 1086 refers to Upton and a wood for 200 pigs, worth £15. Upton took its name from its situation at the top of the slope from the river terrace — the various levels in the area having been formed in the Last Ice Age. The ancient parish, and 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 ...

until 1894, included

Chalvey Chalvey () is a former village, which is now a suburb of Slough, in the unitary authority of Slough in Berkshire, England. It was transferred to Berkshire from Buckinghamshire in 1974. It was first recorded in 1217 by an Old English word meanin ...

and Slough, originally hamlets, and was formally known as Upton-cum-Chalvey. In 1894, the new civil parish of Slough was formed from the parish. In 1895 a detached part of the parish was transferred to

Gerrards Cross Gerrards Cross is a town and civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England. It lies immediately south of Chalfont St Peter and a short distance west of the London Borough of Hillingdon, from which it is separated by the parish of Denham, Buckinghams ...

, and in 1900 and 1901 the rump of the parish was divided between the neighbouring parishes of Eton, Langley, Slough and Wexham. The ecclesiastical parish is still known as Upton-cum-Chalvey.

Church

Upton's Norman Church, St Laurence's Church, is around 900 years old. It was the marriage place (7 May 1788) and burial place (1822) of Sir

William Herschel Frederick William Herschel ( ; ; 15 November 1738 – 25 August 1822) was a German-British astronomer and composer. He frequently collaborated with his younger sister and fellow astronomer Caroline Herschel. Born in the Electorate of Hanover ...

(in whose memory there stands a newly erected stained-glass window depicting

Uranus Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun. It is a gaseous cyan-coloured ice giant. Most of the planet is made of water, ammonia, and methane in a Supercritical fluid, supercritical phase of matter, which astronomy calls "ice" or Volatile ( ...

, which he discovered, and other planets), and the burial place of

Charles Hatchett Charles Hatchett Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS FRSE (2 January 1765 – 10 March 1847) was an English mineralogist and analytical chemist who discovered the element niobium, for which he proposed the name "columbium". Hatchett was elected a ...

who discovered

niobium Niobium is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Nb (formerly columbium, Cb) and atomic number 41. It is a light grey, crystalline, and Ductility, ductile transition metal. Pure niobium has a Mohs scale of mineral hardness, Mohs h ...

Other buildings

Upton Court is the name of the original manorial buildings for the parish of Upton. Parts of Upton Court were built in 1325. In the 19th century, it was a seat of the Burton family and was, up until March 2010, home to the ''Slough Observer'' newspaper. The nearby Slough Grammar School, having previously been named Upton Grammar School from 1982 to 1993, changed its name in 2013 to Upton Court Grammar School. The Mere is a 19th-century half-timbered building, built in 1887 by the grandson of

Richard Bentley Richard Bentley FRS (; 27 January 1662 – 14 July 1742) was an English classical scholar, critic, and theologian. Considered the "founder of historical philology", Bentley is widely credited with establishing the English school of Hellenis ...

, is now the head office of the

National Foundation for Educational Research The National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) is an educational research charity which creates a range of insights on educational policy and practice that aim to strengthen practice in the classroom and inform and influence policymake ...

. Long Close School was established in the area in 1940.

Upton Park

Upton Park forms one of Slough's earliest planned estates. Laid out in 1842, the grounds (a public park as Herschel Park since 1949) are believed to have been designed by

Joseph Paxton Sir Joseph Paxton (3 August 1803 – 8 June 1865) was an English gardener, architect, engineer and Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Member of Parliament. He is best known for designing the Crystal Palace, which was built in Hyde Park, London, Hyde ...

. In 2011, the Grade II listed park and nature reserve underwent a restoration project to re-establish the area to its former Victorian glory with a lottery grant of £2.7m from the Heritage Lottery Fund. Friends of Herschel Park, a local conservation group, was created to manage the restoration, as well as to oversee the design and maintenance of the area. The park regularly holds events for adults and children throughout the year.Whats On - Friends of Herschel Park
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Notable people

Thomas Case Thomas Case (1598–30 May 1682) was an English clergyman of Presbyterian beliefs, a member of the Westminster Assembly, where he was one of the strongest advocates of Christian government. Although earlier a strong defender of the Parliamentar ...

(1871–1941), cricketer and brewer

References

External links

*
Friends of Herschel Park Official Website
{{Slough suburbs Suburbs of Slough