Walking within Upton

The best place from which to start exploring the town is The Old Church. Sometimes called The Bell Tower, since the tower is almost all that remains, it was part of the parish church until the new church was consecrated in 1879. The old building, rebuilt in the classical style in 1754 but deemed too small and old fashioned in Victorian times, used to have a spire until it was pulled down by a team of horses in 1754 and replaced in 1770 by the present Cupola, designed by the architect Anthony Keck, 1726-37. The nickname 'Pepperpot' derives from a Victorian guidebook. Church and churchyard ownership were transferred by the Church Commissioners to the Malvern Hills district Council in 1980: the famous epitaph quoted in many anthologies has long since disappeared:

Beneath this stone in hope of Zion
Doth lie the landlord of The Lion;
His son keeps on the business still
Resigned unto the Heavenly Will.

From here the view is often spectacular, especially at sunset. To the east is Bredon Hill commemorated by the Bromsgrove poet, A.E. Housman, and so much more than a hill. To the west is the nine mile range of the Malvern Hills, sometimes lost in the mist, always changing.

Near at hand in Church Street is one of Upton's oldest houses, late l6th century 'Cromwell's', a reminder of Oliver Cromwell's visit to Upton before the Battle of Worcester in 1651, now well restored, with plans to be a museum for Upton.

To the right, at the end of the terrace, the 18th century re-facing of a late l6th century hall house with five vases and some dummy windows reveals the manorial court house and town house of the Bromley family. A Bromley was Lord of the Manor for nearly 200 years, living at Ham Court.

Beyond, the Regal Garage, in art deco style, was the old pound until it became a cider and vinegar works.

Walk past the 18th century church cottages and Plough Inn to the massive 18th century King's Head, like many Upton buildings on an earlier core. The former coach entrance is ingeniously suggested by a smoked-glass window masking the restaurant. On the churchyard wall nearby are plaques denoting floodmarks. Floods are an annual risk, occasionally almost isolating the town; a nuisance to some but a protection against undue development.

The old swing bridge abutment can be seen at the end of the High Street. The walk continues past the 19th century warehouse with its hoist. 'Severn Leisure' chandlery and restaurant, which operates the vessel Conway Castle, is part of Upton's response to the challenge of the river, once vital to the town's prosperity.

We come next to the Swan Hotel, an early 18th century house now a popular resort for visitors. Prominent at the junction with Dunn's Lane is 18th century Waterside House with modern flat development.

Further along the riverside another of Upton's fine houses takes the eye, the early Georgian Malt House. In the grounds is a 17th century brick barn known as 'The King's Stable'. Leland's 'Itinerary' in the l6th century refers to such a stable where a stud of horses was kept for the King's use.

The end house, Old Walls, is late 18th century and the route leads on to the Ham meadow along an ancient towpath towards Tewkesbury. For a glimpse of modern development take the footpath past The Malt House into Garden's Walk. You pass a timber-framed house and on the left is Berrow Court, a good 1980 development of cottages and flats for the retired.

Walk back into Severn Drive which runs behind the High Street (near the site of the old Cattle Market) and thence, right into Dunn's Lane. Here the houses mostly date from the 18th century. No. 21 was once a public house, The Severn Trow, marking the importance of the sailing barge to Upton's commercial prosperity in the 18th and 19th centuries. The wrought iron sign bracket remains and others in the town recall Upton's reliance on the liquor trade.

After a stroll on the water front, most visitors will set out from the High Street. Hereabouts in the summer gaily-clad Morris Dancers occasionally perform (Upton has its own mediaeval dance) by The Plough Inn or opposite The King's Head. Nearby, in the churchyard, is the old Market Cross, now the War Memorial. The setting of this Ancient Monument is in the care of the Upton branch of the Royal British Legion.

Take note of the many charming and varied buildings in the vicinity, such as the 19th century Star Hotel, which give Upton so much of its character and assist its reputation as a good shopping and refreshment centre. The Anchor Inn dates from the 17th century; it was here in the Civil War that Royalist troops were said to have caroused while Lambert's troopers made their perilous bridge crossing in the town on 29th August 1651; and here, in the early 19th century, with an eye on the churchyard, body snatchers are said to have congregated. The end of the building was formerly the Tea Exchange.

Observe in the High Street and elsewhere the lovely mellow brickwork of the 18th century facades, often concealing a timber-frame, sometimes itself concealed by a coat of paint. A glance upwards is often rewarded by an interesting detail, perhaps an old sign bracket, a lead hopper, rubbed arches above windows, a fine cornice or old crown glass.

Dominant in the High Street is The White Lion Hotel with its fine porch and lion, giant pilasters and palladian window, also an attractive feature of the chemist's across the road. The White Lion, former coaching inn and cockfighting venue, is famous as the scene of the hero's exploits in the first great English novel, 'Tom Jones' by Henry Fielding, 1743. A print in the hotel of Gainsborough's portrait of Mrs. Siddons (1755-1831) also makes the point that England's greatest tragic actress appeared here.

London Lane, entered past the butcher's, is a picturesque cul-de-sac. Note the two 17th century former warehouses.

Among the features of the shop-fronts near the Cross is an unusually large number of carved fascia brackets.

Turn up Court Street. Most of the houses are 17th century, the timbers painted black in the Victorian mode. At the end, flanking a precinct, is The Old Court House. Behind, concealed by a high wall, is the substantial garden of a 19th century town house. At the Royal Oak, flats now, take the right hand path. By the Co-op car park was the site of the chapel where John Wesley, founder of Methodism, preached in 1770. Some of the plots of the mediaeval burgage holders, rented at a shilling a year, can be seen behind the houses of Old Street.

The walk continues into School Lane. The first notable building is St. Joseph's Roman Catholic church, built in 1850 to the design of the well-known architect, Charles Hansom. It is handsomely decorated within.

Beyond is the Primary School, dating from 1858 and opposite is the Police Station in early Victorian brick. Next to it is the former Magistrates' Courthouse and the Town Library.

A little further on is the Health Centre and, at the end of School Lane, Edward Hall House, a block of Council flats, commemorates a 16th century bequest which benefits Upton to this day. Those inclined to continue into Rectory Road will find on their left the well-kept town cemetery. The chapel was built in 1865, when the cemetery was first formed; George Row Clarke 1829-1908, of St, James Street, Bedford Row, London, and Bankside, Dunn's Lane, Upton was commissioned by the then Burial Board to design the chapel and the lodge, as well as Upton's Chapel-of-ease at the Hook. Mr. Clarke, who is buried in the cemetery, south-east of the chapel, was not a qualified architect: he was described at the end of his life as an artist. He was also responsible for drawing up the plans for the original school building, now the Junior School.

The cemetery was Consecrated by the Bishop of Worcester in December 1865, and is the responsibility of the parish council, the chapel being non-denominational and again belonging to the parish council. It is open most days, for those wishing a moment of quiet.

William Tennant Way, a tribute to Upton's most distinguished sailor, divides the new local authority estate with Thomas Morris House, a sheltered home, on the site of the old Union Workhouse.

Halfway down on the right is l6th century timber-framed Soley's Orchard, home of the notorious Captain Bound. Here lived Mercy Maris, an orphan, with her uncle. From here in 1730 she married the Rev. Philip Doddridge D.D. of Northampton, the celebrated Nonconformist and author of some well-loved hymns.

Rectory Road ends in a complex of flats, some bordering the Ham Meadow; it includes the Old Rectory.

Visitors, disinclined to go so far, may pause at the end of School Lane and either join the footpath crossing the Ham or turn down Minge Lane into Old Street. They will pass 18th century 'Hilton' with its elaborate ironwork and fine central door and skirt and the new factory estate with its view of the Malvern Hills, and Upton's new Fire Station.

They will enter the Conservation Area, which embraces the better part of the town as well as the Marina basin and helps to ensure the careful development and upkeep of Upton's many 'listed' buildings, as well as the protection of trees.

Opposite the splendid playing fields extending to New Street and overlooked by 'The Mount', 18th century, is the Parish Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, its slender steeple a landmark for miles. The church was built in 1878-9 to the design of Sir Arthur Blomfield in the style of 1500, half the cost being met by the squire, George Martin of Ham Court and members of the Martin family. The organ, the Bromley hatchment, most of the bells and monuments, Baptist Church, Old Street including the recumbent knight, said to be the founder of the old church, were transferred when the latter was superseded. The registers, dating from 1546, can be studied in St. Helen's County Record Office, Worcester. A recent addition is the finely carved screen by James Forsyth of Worcester from a redundant church there. The west window is particularly fine. An account of the parish church and its history is obtainable inside. Behind the church is one of Upton's best buildings, the Rectory, built by Ralph Sheward in 1787.

Old Street with its 18th and 19th century houses, some of them residential, presents a mainly uninterrupted and varied frontage leading the pedestrian on a pleasant curve to the centre of the town. Past the County Council Health Clinic and the Upton Social Club, the 17th century timber-framed former Baptist cottages introduce the Baptist chapel, dating from 1734. The movement originated in Dunn's Lane in 1653. Alongside the Chapel is the 'Schoolroom' with the burial ground behind. On the other side of the street the former Old Crown is now the Upton Muggery with its unique facade.

The Memorial Hall in Grecian style, renamed after the 1914-18 War, was built in 1832 as a market house and Town Hall. It is now the Town Council headquarters and a centre for social and theatre functions. The dressing rooms below include the ancient cells.

At the Cross again the Malvern Hills, which mean so much to Upton, neatly fill the gap at the end of New Street. The street, which is not new, has its older buildings on the north side; No. 2 dating from l600 behind its 18th century front. Nos. 18 and 20 with their ballheads on the parapet are an 18th century refronting of a 17th century range. They look out towards modern County Council flats, with the Children's Playground and Sports Field behind.

After the former Wesleyan Chapel, now housing a motor engineering firm, the street is said to peter out. A 1920 photograph shows a timber-framed house on the south side with a Dutch gable and a castellated dividing wall separating a row of dwellings. Two of these were the Goom (or cucking) stool cottages by which stood the Cucking Stool, after the French 'coquine', a scold; it was a kind of see-saw with which an unpopular person was dunked in a noisome pond (now filled in). A plaque recalls this ancient custom.

From the bottom of New Street the Georgian period Talbot Head Hotel takes the eye most agreeably. Returning to the High Street, No. 11, late 18th century, is impressive with its three storeys and 19th century Tuscan columned porch. No. 9, formerly the Bell Inn (Upton is full of former inns), has its date, 1668, embroidered round with a vine and swags in plaster. No. 3 has retained its early 19th century shop front.

For a delightful view of Upton, cross the bridge, pausing to watch the often colourful and lively river activity. Almost at once go down the slope to the right. You can either turn left under the road and take the bridle path or towpath into Fish Meadow; or continue instead straight on past the Old Bridge Abutment the earlier bridges used to enter Upton in the High Street. In 1930 it was noted that the swinging portion of the bridge had become higher than the rest of the bridge's road surface, with the risk of damage to vehicles' axles; the new bridge was opened in1940.

Below Bridge End House (the white house) is the Village Green, a good place for a picnic. A footpath between the houses leads to the substantial 1980 footbridge giving a good view of the Marina, its basin the site of the old brickworks. The path continues across a stile into the meadow beyond, and so on to the crest of the hill at Ryall, which commands a magnificent view across Upton.