| Upton Grey | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Upton Grey was called Upton or Aoltone
in the Domesday Book and was in the hands of Hugh de Port. His
descendants remained the overlords of Upton for two hundred years. The
village got its name from the de Grey family who were Lords of the Manor
during the 13th century. The manor changed hands many times and Opie,
Skinner and Beaujoy were some of the names that were associated with it,
Charles Holme who was editor of 'The Studio' bough the manor in 1902. The Manor House at Upton Grey has a garden designed by Gertude Jekyll., and Holme the important Arts and Crafts figure asked her to design his garden for him, the architect was Ernest Newton and between they built this small monument to the Arts and Crafts movement. Hoddington Manor was also associated with Upton Grey and for many years it was the seat of the Dukes of Basing. The church of St Mary dates in parts back to the beginning of the 12th century but most of what you see today is from the 18th century, the central tower has five bells and one of them is mediaeval. On the 29th May (Royal Oak Day) a strange custom used to be observed here, and that was that after the church bells had finished ringing at 6am the bell ringers placed a large oak branch over the church porch and another over the lych gate, Smaller branches were also put in the gateway of every house to ensure good luck for the rest of the year. The village is a small rural one and has a population of around 600, and the parish covers about 2300 acres of mostly arable undulating Downland. There is 27 listed buildings in this conservation area and also a public house, village hall, shop and post office as well as St Mary's church. By far the most attractive housees in the village must be the 17th century Beam Ends, Wayside Cottage and Sycamore Cottage. Just like in most villages there was a village pond that could be found in the centre of village life, and this was where the Old Post Office, Blacksmiths Forge and Old School house could be found. St Mary's church though has a rather strange feature, and that is the stairs to the top of the tower are on the outside which seems to be something characteristic of Hampshire.
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