Upton is a town in south-east

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Upton is to the east of Holton Heath and Upton Heath, and to the north of the

Poole Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...

suburb of

Hamworthy Hamworthy is a suburb of Poole, in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole district, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. It is sited on a peninsula of approximately that is bordered by the town of Upton to the north, Poole Harbour to ...

. It is the second largest town in the

Purbeck Hills The Purbeck Hills, also called the Purbeck Ridge or simply the Purbecks, are a ridge of chalk downs in Dorset, England. The ridge is formed by the structure known as the Purbeck Monocline, and extends from Lulworth Cove in the west to Old H ...

Geography

The town is built around a road junction where the

Blandford Blandford Forum ( ) is a market town in Dorset, England, on the River Stour, Dorset, River Stour, north-west of Poole. It had a population of 10,355 at the United Kingdom 2021 census, 2021 census. The town is notable for its Georgian archit ...

road crosses the main

to Dorchester road. The Poole suburbs of Hamworthy and Turlin Moor adjoin to the south, and Lytchett Minster village lies a short distance to the west. The town is bounded by several areas of open space. To the north, Upton Heath is a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

(SSSI), while, eastwards, Upton Wood and the former estate

Upton Country Park Upton House is a country house in the grounds of Upton Country Park on the northwestern shoreline of Holes Bay in the county of Dorset on the south coast of England. It is owned by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, BCP Council. Histo ...

separate the town from Holes Bay. To the south, Lytchett Bay is part of Poole Harbour SSSI. Although mostly residential, Upton features a small

industrial estate An industrial park, also known as industrial estate or trading estate, is an area zoned and planned for the purpose of industrial development. An industrial park can be thought of as a more heavyweight version of a business park or office par ...

with businesses including Southernprint. In 2000, The Upton Clock Tower was built at the Upton Crossroads to celebrate the new millennium and represent the town pride. A dementia care home was opened at the Crossroads in 2015 on the prominent former site of The Greenridge pub opposite Upton Library and Upton Health Centre. It features a pharmacy and a coffee shop. There are more shops in Moorland Parade, at the top of Moorland Way, where the Lytchett Minster & Upton Town Council offices are located. Upton has two churches. Upton Methodist Church's Wesleyan Chapel was built in 1865, while planning permission for the present St Dunstan's church and the adjoining Community Centre was granted in 1991, replacing an older church on the same site.

Governance

Upton forms part of 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 ...

of Lytchett Minster and Upton, which in turn forms part of the

unitary authority area. It is within the

Mid Dorset and North Poole Mid Dorset and North Poole is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Vikki Slade, a Liberal Democrat. Boundaries 1997–2010: * The District of Purbeck wards of Bere Regis, Lytchett Matravers ...

constituency of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

European Parliament

Between 1979 and 2020, Upton was represented in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

. From 1979 to 1984, Upton was part of the single member district of

Wessex The Kingdom of the West Saxons, also known as the Kingdom of Wessex, was an Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy, kingdom in the south of Great Britain, from around 519 until Alfred the Great declared himself as King of the Anglo-Saxons in 886. The Anglo-Sa ...

, and represented by

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Member of the European Parliament A member of the European Parliament (MEP) is a person who has been Election, elected to serve as a popular representative in the European Parliament. When the European Parliament (then known as the Common Assembly of the European Coal and S ...

James Spicer Sir James Wilton Spicer (4 October 1925 – 21 March 2015), often known as Jim Spicer, was a British Conservative politician. Spicer was Member of Parliament (MP) for West Dorset from February 1974 until he retired at the 1997 general elect ...

. From 1984 to 1994, Upton was part of the Dorset East and Hampshire West constituency and from 1994 to 1999, Upton was part of the

Dorset and East Devon Dorset and East Devon was a European Parliament constituency covering all of Dorset in England, with the exception of Christchurch, plus parts of eastern Devon. Prior to its uniform adoption of proportional representation in 1999, the United Ki ...

constituency represented by Conservative

Bryan Cassidy Bryan Michael Deece Cassidy (17 February 1934 – 8 August 2023) was a British politician who served in the European Parliament from 1984 to 1999. Life and career Bryan Michael Deece Cassidy was born on 17 February 1934. He was educated at Ra ...

. Upton was included in the South West England constituency for elections to the

from 1999 to 2020.

Education

Upton has two

state school A state school, public school, or government school is a primary school, primary or secondary school that educates all students without charge. They are funded in whole or in part by taxation and operated by the government of the state. State-f ...

s, Upton Infant School and Upton Junior School, which are feeder schools for Lytchett Minster School. The Yarrells Preparatory School and Ladybirds Playschool (previously L.U.C.A. Ladybirds) are also based in the town. Upton Methodists Pre-School is based at the Methodist church

Transport

Upton lies at the intersection of the A35 and the

A350 The Airbus A350 is a flight length, long-range, wide-body twin-engine airliner developed and produced by Airbus. The initial A350 design proposed in 2004, in response to the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, would have been a development of the Airbu ...

. The town is served by

Wilts & Dorset Wilts & DorsetCompanies House extract company no 1671355
Wi ...

bus routes numbers 8, 9, 10 and 40 and FirstGroup's X54 service. Together, these provide links to

, Creekmoor,

, Wareham,

Lytchett Matravers Lytchett Matravers is a large village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Dorset, England. The United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census recorded the parish as having 1,439 households and a population of 3,424. Etymology The name of ...

Swanage Swanage () is a coastal town and civil parish in the south east of Dorset, England. It is at the eastern end of the Isle of Purbeck and one of its two towns, approximately south of Poole and east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester. In the Unit ...

and Weymouth.

is the nearest railway station, with twice-hourly trains in each direction on the

South West Main Line The South West Main Line (SWML) is a 143-mile (230 km) major railway line between Waterloo station in central London and Weymouth on the south coast of England. A predominantly passenger line, it serves many commuter areas including south wes ...

between London Waterloo and Weymouth. Poole station, while more distant, provides more frequent services.

References

External links

{{authority control Towns in Dorset Poole Harbour