13th Century Church of St Laurence - Upwey - geograph

Upwey is a suburb of Weymouth in south

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, England. The suburb is situated on the B3159 road in the

Wey valley The River Wey is a main tributary of the River Thames in south east England. Its two branches, one of which rises near Alton in Hampshire and the other in West Sussex to the south of Haslemere, join at Tilford in Surrey. Once combined the ...

. The area was formerly a village until it was absorbed into the Weymouth built-up area. It is located four miles north of the town centre in the outer suburbs. During the

Census 2001 2001 census may refer to a census covered by: * Census in Australia#2001 * 2001 Bangladesh census * 2001 Bolivian census * Canada 2001 Census * 2001 census of Croatia * 2001 Census of India * Lithuanian census of 2001 * 2001 Nepal census * 2001 New ...

the combined population of Upwey and neighbouring

Broadwey Broadwey was a former village in the northern suburbs of Weymouth, Dorset, England. It lies on the B3159 road. In 2001, Broadwey and Upwey ward had a population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whe ...

was 4,349. The village has a 13th-century

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

, dedicated to

Saint Laurence Saint Lawrence or Laurence ( la, Laurentius, lit. " laurelled"; 31 December AD 225 – 10 August 258) was one of the seven deacons of the city of Rome under Pope Sixtus II who were martyred in the persecution of the Christians that the Roman ...

, and 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 held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

, Upwey Manor, which was owned by the Gould family. A

disc barrow A disc barrow is a type of tumulus or round barrow, a variety of fancy barrow identified in English Heritage's Monument Class Descriptions. A disc barrow comprises a circular or oval-shaped flat platform, defined by a continuous earthen bank and ...

is located above the village on the Ridgeway at map reference . The former

United Reformed Church The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2022 it has approximately 40,000 members in 1,284 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers. Origins and history The United Reformed Church resulte ...

was built in 1880–81 and closed in 1992. The

River Wey The River Wey is a main tributary of the River Thames in south east England. Its two branches, one of which rises near Alton in Hampshire and the other in West Sussex to the south of Haslemere, join at Tilford in Surrey. Once combined the ...

rises at the foot of the

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Chalk ...

ridge of the South

Dorset Downs The Dorset Downs are an area of chalk downland in the centre of the county Dorset in south west England. The downs are the most western part of a larger chalk formation which also includes (from west to east) Cranborne Chase, Salisbury Plain, Ham ...

, which rise above Upwey to the north, and flows through the village. The source is known as the Upwey

wishing well A wishing well is a term from European folklore to describe water well, wells where it was thought that any spoken wish would be granted. The idea that a wish would be granted came from the notion that water housed deity, deities or had been ...

and was a tourist attraction as far back as the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

. There is now a tea room at the site, complete with mature

water garden Water garden or aquatic garden, is a term sometimes used for gardens, or parts of gardens, where any type of water feature is a principal or dominant element. The primary focus is on plants, but they will sometimes also house waterfowl, or orn ...

s. In the 18th century a

water mill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production o ...

was built on the river, rebuilt in 1802; it featured in

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Word ...

's ''

The Trumpet Major ''The Trumpet-Major'' is a novel by Thomas Hardy published in 1880, and his only historical novel, and Hardy included it with his "romances and fantasies". It concerns the heroine, Anne Garland, being pursued by three suitors: John Loveday, the ...

''; he also wrote a poem "At the Railway Station, Upway", which most likely relates to Upwey station. Another famous name associated with Upwey is that of

Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golden ...

the American actress, comedian who was proud of her family and heritage. Her genealogy can be traced back to the earliest settlers in the colonies. One direct ancestor,

William Sprague (1609–1675) William Sprague (October 26, 1609 – October 26, 1675 in Hingham, Massachusetts Bay Colony) left England on the ship ''Lyon's Whelp'' for Plymouth/ Salem Massachusetts. He was originally from Upwey, near Weymouth, Dorset, England. Sprague arri ...

, left England on the ship

Lyon's Whelp Lyon's Whelp or Lion's Whelp is the name of a historical British ship, it is also found in the Bible in Genesis 49:9 “Judah is a lion’s whelp." Popular today, the name was given to a series of 16th-century naval ships, then in the 17th centur ...

for

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

/ Salem, Massachusetts. They were from Upwey, Dorset, England. Along with his two brothers, William helped to found the city of

Charlestown, Massachusetts Charlestown is the oldest neighborhood in Boston, Massachusetts, in the United States. Originally called Mishawum by the Massachusett tribe, it is located on a peninsula north of the Charles River, across from downtown Boston, and also adjoins t ...

. Other Sprague relatives became soldiers in the US Revolutionary War and two of them became governors of the state of

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

. Upwey features in

Edward Chaney Edward Chaney (born 1951) is a British cultural historian. He is Professor Emeritus at Solent University and Honorary Professor at University College London (School of European Languages, Culture and Society (SELCS) – Centre for Early Modern ...

's ''Genius Friend: G.B. Edwards and The Book of Ebenezer le Page'' as the place in which Chaney got to know Gerald Edwards and encouraged him to complete his novel. Edwards died in the since-demolished 654 Dorchester Road, Upwey, on 29 December 1976.

, ''Genius Friend: G.B. Edwards and The Book of Ebenezer le Page''
Blue Ormer
2015) Upwey lends its name to

Upwey, Victoria Upwey is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east from Melbourne's central business district, located within the City of Knox and the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government areas. Upwey recorded a population of 6,818 at the . Upwey ...

, in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, near

Belgrave, Victoria Belgrave is a town and outer suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 36 km east of Melbourne's central business district, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Belgrave recorded a population of 3,894 at the 2021 ...

References

Census data

External links

The Upwey website

Upwey Stanton Genealogy
{{authority control Villages in Dorset Geography of Weymouth, Dorset