Upperton is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

in the

Chichester Chichester () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publi ...

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...

, England. Part of Tillington

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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

it lies on the Tillington to

Lurgashall Lurgashall is a village and civil parish in the Chichester district of West Sussex, England, 6.5 km (4 ml) north west of Petworth, just inside the South Downs National Park. The population at the 2011 Census was 609. History The church has ...

road 1.4 miles (2.2 km) northwest of Petworth. Upperton stands on a ridge of the lower

greensand Greensand or green sand is a sand or sandstone which has a greenish color. This term is specifically applied to shallow marine sediment that contains noticeable quantities of rounded greenish grains. These grains are called ''glauconies'' and co ...

overlooking the

Rother Rother may refer to: General *Rother (surname) (also sometimes spelled Röther) *Rother District, a local government district in East Sussex, England *Rother FM, an independent local radio station for Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England *Rother Kup ...

Valley, separated from Tillington by the cricket ground and a field. The stone wall of Petworth deerpark bounds the village on the eastern side, with a gate by the house at the southern end giving access to the public. To the west a number of public footpaths through fields, a

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineya ...

and Upperton Common lead to the scenic Pitshill Park.

The Serpent Trail The Serpent Trail is a long distance footpath. It runs from Haslemere to Petersfield, Hampshire, Petersfield, which are 11 miles apart in a straight line, by a route which is designed to join up the many heathland areas on greensand in the ...

hiking trail passes through the village from Pitshill Park to Tillington.

History

In 1350 there is a recorded dispute between the

Rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of Petworth and Hugh of Merton Rector of Tillington over

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...

s. Mention is made of the Abbot of Upperton, an otherwise unknown figure, showing that there was some sort of religious community in the village. During the sixteenth century A.D. a lot of common grazing land east of Upperton was illegally enclosed to make a deer park for

Petworth House Petworth House in the parish of Petworth, West Sussex, England, is a late 17th-century Grade I listed country house, rebuilt in 1688 by Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, and altered in the 1870s to the design of the architect Anthony Sa ...

, causing impoverishment of the farmers of Upperton. This resulted in a long running legal case against the Earl of Northumberland, owner of Petworth, described by Peter Jerrome in his book ''Cloakbag and Common Purse''. The "common purse" was a fighting fund raised by the tenants to fund legal action in the Chancery court; the "clokebagge well fraught with money" was a large bribe to the tenants' leader to drop the case, after first having had him press ganged into the army and sent to fight "beyond seas" which probably meant in Ireland, which he survived.Peter Jerrome, ''Cloakbag and Common Purse'' The Window Press 1979 p100-106.

References

Villages in West Sussex {{WestSussex-geo-stub