Kellys_Berks_Bucks&Oxon_1915_0267.jpg

D IR E C T O R Y .]

B E R K S H IR E .

I 'F T O X .

2 5 1

acre of gro u n d ; though trad ition ally th e work of A lfred, 1 soil, clay and chalk. Th e chief crops are th e usual
in com m em oration of the victory of Aiscesdune or ' cereals, seeds and roots. Th e area is 2,919 acres of land
Ashdown in the year 871, it is m ore probably the and 10 of w a te r; rateable value, £ 7 ,6 7 4 ; the popula­
work of the Britons, whose coins frequently exh ib it the tion in 1911 was 523 in the civil parish and 529 in the
im press of a sim ilar figure : on th e sum m it of the hill ecclesiastical parish.
is “ Uffington C astle,” an ancient Rom an or perhaps
B y L ocal G overnm ent Board O rder 21,438, dated
C eltic encam pm ent, 700 feet long from east to w est by M arch 24, 1888, H ardw ell F arm was transferred from
500 wide, w ith a double vallum or ram p art and a deep Com pton B eaucham p parish to Uffington, and a de­
fo s s e ; the holes in the chalk in which the stockading
tached p art of W oolstone was also added at th at date.
was fixed still rem aining. A little to the w est of the
Parish C lerk, Job W akefield.
W hite Horse is a deep and broad ravine, locally called
“ The M anger,” and eastward is a bold tum ulus, called Post, M. 0 . & T. Office.— G eorge Frederick Cosser, subpostm aster. L etters arrive from Faringdon at 7.45
‘•D ragon’s H ill,” p artly artificial, and probably the
a.m . & 2.30 p.m . ; dispatched at 11.40 a.m . & 5.55
b urial place of a “ Pendragon ” or C e ltic c h ie fta in ; one
p .m . ; sundays, dispatched at 11.15 a.m
and a half m iles west beyond Uffington C astle is the
crom lech known as “ W ayland S m ith 's C ave,” su r­ Police Station , Robert Freem an, constable.
rounded by beech and fir trees and a grow th of under­
E lem en tary School, erected in 1857 & enlarged 1872 &
wood ; W hite Horse H ill and the surrounding scenery
1906, for 184 ch ild ren ; John A . B ingham , m a s te r;
is m ore fu lly described under W a n ta g e; from the base
M iss M. Som m erfeld, M iss A. W akefield & M iss M.
of the Uffington hills stretches the fine and fertile
M artin, assistan t m istresses. The school has a sm all
valley of W hite Horse, extending from Swindon, bear­
1 endowm ent, the g ift of Thom as Saun d ers in 1657
ing a little north-east to the parish of M archam . The
E arl of Craven is lord of the m anor and principal land- R ailw ay Station, Uffington Junction, H. J. H ancock,
station m aster
ow'ner. T h e soil is loam y, stone brash and chalk ; subC urtis Charles, farm er
Goodenough H. M ersham , Craven
A rm s P.H
Goodenough Jesse,frm r.S ou r H ill frm
Goodm an John M artin, farrier
Hollifield Robert, p lum ber
Jefferies Fanny (M rs.), frm r. Fox frm
Jenkins John, farm er
Johncey W illiam , beer reta ile r
COMM ERCIAL.
M clver John, resident agen t to the
A yers G eorge, farm er, The W harf
E arl of Craven, Manor house
Bridgem an C ain, bricklayer
M atthews C harles, grocer
C hurch G eorge, road contractor
M ildenhall A lbert, farm er, F aw ler rd
Cole W illiam , W hite Horse P.H
M oney Caleb, shoe m aker
Cook W illiam Henry, farm er, Moor Moore H enry, farm er
M ill & Bridgecom be farm s
Packer John, blacksm ith
Cosser G eorge F rederick, shopkeeper, Packer W illiam , w heelw right
Post office
P a rro tt E dw ard, farm er
Crofton M ajor C has. W. T h e L aurels
E ley A rthur
Hadow Rev.Edw d. M aegregor (vicar).
V icarage
Pepler Mrs. G arrard ’s farm
W entw orth Charles S. H ill view
W heeler John, Com m on farm
W hite H arry, W oodbine cottage

T J F T O N ' (or Ufton N ervet) is a parish and v illag e 3
m iles south-south-w est from T h eale station on the G reat
W estern railw ay and 8 south-south-w est from Reading,
in the Southern division of the county, hundred of
Theale, union of Bradfield, p etty sessional division and
county cou rt d istrict of Reading, rural deanery of B rad ­
field. archdeaconry of Berks and diocese of Oxford. The
church of S t. Peter is a b u ild in g of flint and stone in a
late style of Perpendicular, and consists of chancel, nave,
north aisle, south porch and a w estern tow er with
wooden spire containing 4 bells : it was entirely reb uilt
in 1862 b y the late Richard Benyon esq. (d. 1897) : in the
church are m onum ents of the Perkins fam ily, including
that of Francis Perkins esq. 1635, and his w ife, w ith
their effigies, beneath an arch : here also is buried
Arabella (Ferm or), w ife of Francis Perkins esq. 1738 :
there are 200 sittin gs. There w ere once two churches
here : th e rem ains of Ufton G reysh all church, con­
sistin g now only of the fragm en t of a w all, m ay be
seen ju s t below the village, about a m ile from the
ex istin g church, w ithin an inclosure, form erly a cem e­
tery, and adjoining the K ennet. The register dates
from the year 1636. The livin g is a rectory, net yearly
value £285, w ith 60 acres of glebe and residence, in
the g ift of O riel College, Oxford, and held since 1907
by the Rev. Stephen C ornish M .A. of that college.
The M arvin ch arity, charged on the Ufton C ou rt estate,
consists of 10 bushels of w heat, m ade into 164 loaves,
also 12^ ells of canvas and 12^ yards of calico or flannel,
which are distrib uted yearly. Th e fuel allo tm en t of
31 acres produces £ 10 annually. The R ig h t Rev. Jam es
F raser D.D. late Bishop of M anchester, and rector here
from i860 to 1870, le ft a bequest of £20 per annum ,
invested in L. and N . W. railw ay debenture stock, to
be expended in w arm clo th in g for 20 poor and respect­
able persons, who are to be chosen by the rector.
Ufton C ourt, an old E lizabethan mansion, the property
of Jam es H erbert Benyon esq. J.P . and at present the
residence of M iss Sharp, was built at different tim es, the
p resent façade being Elizabethan : it belonged to the
Rom an C atholic fam ily of Parkyns or Perkins, one of
whom, Francis Perkins esq. m arried A rab ella Ferm or,
the “ Belinda ” of Pope’s “ Rape of the Lock ; ” the house
stands “ on th e brow of a h ill which slopes abruptly
from the broad terrace that surrounds two sides of the
m ansion, and overhangs an old-fashioned garden, sloping
down into a deep v a lley,” at the foot of which a stream
creeps along— and is an extensive and picturesque

1Pike Jam es, b utch er
I P ublic R eading Room (John Jenkins,
I caretaker)
Ralph Charles, job b ing gardener
Reynolds W illiam G. coal dealer
Ridley David (M rs.), farm er
S m ith A nnie (M rs.), dress m aker
j S m ith H enry, shoe m aker
IToomer John & Sons L im ited , coal
&c. m erchants
W akefield Job, estate carp en ter &
p arish clerk
W heeler John, farm er, Com m on farm
W heeler John
Edm und,
farm er.
G roun d’s farm
W h iteh om e G eorge, road contractor
W illis John, B ak er’s A rm s P.H

stru ctu re, w ith p rojectin g w ings, cu riou sly grouped
chim neys, and a series of seventeen continuous gables
overhanging the low er storey, each gable h avin g a case­
m ent filled w ith sm all, diam ond-shaped panes, w hile in
the centre is a large p rojectin g porch, w ith seats on
either side, and over it a cham ber ligh ted by three
w in d o w s; the heavy leaden spoutin g bears the initials
F . P. and the date 1664; the walls are p ierced by con­
cealed shafts, from one of which an ex it could be
obtained th rou gh another passage under the terrace into
the garden, and subsequently into the ad join in g woods :
about 1830 a small cham ber was discovered, entered by
a trap-door, from which depended a narrow ladder, and
in th is gloom y refuge were found tw o guns and a
crucifix, the form er now in the possession of Jam es
H erbert Benyon esq. of E nglefield H ou se; a shelving
apartm ent in the roof of the b u ild in g was used as a
chapel, and elsewhere is a depository of tria n g u la r shape,
believed to have been used for the concealm ent of v e st­
m ents and service plate, and closed by a m assive wooden
door. In the rear of the house m ay be -seen a succession
of find-ponds, seven in num ber, disposed on th e sloping
grounds one below the o th er; w ritten perm ission m u st
be obtained to view the house.
In 1316 th e manor of Ufton G reys H all w as p art of
the endow m ent of R eading A bbey, b u t after the
Reform ation it was granted to Sir H enry Norreys, and
in 1603 the estate descended to F ran cis, 2nd Baron
N orreys, of R ycote, and 1st E arl of B erkshire of th at
fa m ily : soon after the p roperty was sold to th e Perkins
fam ily, and rem ained in th eir hands t ill 1769, when it
was entailed, on the decease of M r. John Perkin s, upon
Mr. John Jones, of L la n a r th : in 1802 it w as purchased
by Mr. W illiam Congreve, of Alderm aston, and was
subsequently tran sferred to the late Richard Benyon
esq. of Englefield. Jam es H erbert Benyon esq. L .L .,
J.P . is the p rin cip al landowner. The soil is sand and
g ra vel; subsoil, clay. The chief crops are wheat, oats
and roots. The area is 2,163 acres of land and 16 of
w a te r; rateable value, £ 2 ,4 8 1; the population in 1911
was 267.
P arish C lerk, Stephen Knight.
L etters th rou gh Reading, v ia Theale, arrive at 7.5 a.m .
& 1.10 & 6.15 p.m . T he nearest m oney order & tele­
graph office is at Beenham , about 2£ m iles distant
W all L e tte r Box, near th e ch urch , cleared a t 7.5 a.m .
& 1.15 & 6.15 p.m . ; sundays, 8.10 a.m