Ufton Nervet, Berkshire
Historical Description
Ufton or Ufton Nervet, a village and a parish in Berks, 3 miles S from Theale station on the G.W.R., and 8 WSW of Reading. Post town, Reading; money order office, Sulhamstead; telegraph office, Theale. Acreage, 2189; population, 304. There is a parish council consisting of five members. The manor, with most of the laud and Ufton Court, belongs to the Benyon family. Ufton Court is an ancient Elizabethan mansion, originally erected in 1534, and very pleasantly situated on the brow of a bill. It was for a long period the property of the Roman Catholic family of Perkins, one member of which was the " Belinda" of Pope's mock-heroic poem the " Rape of the Lock." It contains many interesting architectural details, including concealed passages, secret doors, and a subterranean chamber which appears to have been used as a Roman Catholic chapel in times of persecution. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Oxford; net value, £303 with residence. Patron, Oriel College, Oxford. The church was rebuilt in 1862, and is a building of stone in the Perpendicular style. There were in earlier times two churches here, and the fragment of a wall still marks the place where the church of Ufton Greyshall formerly stood.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Berkshire | |
| Ecclesiastical parish | Ufton St. Peter | |
| Hundred | Theale | |
| Poor Law union | Bradfield |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1636.
Churches
Church of England
St. Peter (parish church)
The church of St. Peter is a building of flint and stone in a late style of Perpendicular, and consists of chancel, nave, north aisle, south porch and a western tower with wooden spire containing 4 bells: it was entirely re-built in 1862 by the late Richard Benyon esq. (d. 1897): in the church are monuments of the Perkins family, including that of Francis Perkins esq. 1635, and his wife, with their effigies, beneath an arch: here also is buried Arabella (Fermor), wife of Francis Perkins esq. 1736: there are 200 sittings. There were once two churches here: the remains of Ufton Greyshall church, consisting now only of the fragment of a wall, may be seen just below the village, about a mile from the existing church, within an inclosure, formerly a cemetery, and adjoining the Kennet.
Civil Registration
Ufton Nervet was in Bradfield Registration District from 1837 to 1937 and Wokingham Registration District from 1937 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Ufton Nervet from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Ufton, or Upton-Nervet (St. Peter))
- Kelly's Directory of Berkshire, 1915
Land and Property
Ufton Court, an old Elizabethan mansion, was built at different times, the present facade being Elizabethan: it belonged to the Roman Catholic family of Parkyns or Perkins, one of whom, Francis Perkins esq. married Arabella Fermor, the "Belinda" of Pope's "Rape of the Lock;" the house stands on the brow of a hill which slopes abruptly from the broad terrace that surrounds two sides of the mansion, and overhangs an old-fashioned garden, sloping down into a deep valley, at the foot of which a stream creeps along and is an extensive and picturesque structure, with projecting wings, curiously grouped chimneys, and a series of seventeen continuous gables overhanging the lower storey, each gable having a casement filled with small, diamond-shaped panes, while in the centre is a large projecting porch, with seats on either side, and over it a chamber lighted by three windows; the heavy leaden spouting bears the initials F. P. and the date 1664; the walls are pierced by concealed shafts, from one of which an exit could be obtained through another passage under the terrace into the garden, and subsequently into the adjoining woods: about 1830 a small chamber was discovered, entered by a trap-door, from which depended a narrow ladder, and in this gloomy refuge were found two guns and a crucifix; a shelving apartment in the roof of the building was used as a chapel, and elsewhere is a depository of triangular shape, believed to have been used for the concealment of vestments and service plate, and closed by a massive wooden door. In the rear of the house may be seen a succession of fish-ponds, seven in number, disposed on the sloping grounds one below the other.
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Berkshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Ufton Nervet are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Berkshire papers online:
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitations of Berkshire 1532, 1566, and 1665-6 is available online.