Upper Upham is a hamlet and deserted medieval village in 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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

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, Gloucestershire ...

. Its nearest town is

Marlborough Marlborough may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Marlborough, Wiltshire, England ** Marlborough College, public school * Marlborough School, Woodstock in Oxfordshire, England * The Marlborough Science Academy in Hertfordshire, England Austral ...

, 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 Dissolution may refer to: Arts and entertainment Books * ''Dissolution'' (''Forgotten Realms'' novel), a 2002 fantasy novel by Richard Lee Byers * ''Dissolution'' (Sansom novel), a 2003 historical novel by C. J. Sansom Music * Dissolution, in mu ...

. 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 fa ...

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 Irel ...

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 town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...

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; 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.

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