Aston Upthorpe

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Aston Upthorpe
Berkshire
Aston Upthorpe Thorpe street.jpg
Thorpe Street, Aston Upthorpe
Location
Grid reference: SU5586
Location: 51°34’26"N, 1°12’18"W
Data
Population: 190  (2001)
Post town: Didcot
Postcode: OX11
Dialling code: 01235
Local Government
Council: South Oxfordshire
Parliamentary
constituency:
Wantage
Website: The Astons.Net

Aston Upthorpe is a village in Berkshire, set at the foot of the Berkshire Downs about three miles south-east of Didcot.

Prehistory

Half of the 360-foot high Blewburton Hill is in the parish. The hill is the site of an Iron Age hill fort that may have been occupied from the 4th century BC to the 1st century BC.[1]

Parish church

All Saints' Church

The parish church of All Saints may date from the second half of the 11th century.[2] However, the only surviving Romanesque Norman features are one small window in the north wall of the nave and the blocked-up remains of a south doorway.[2] The nave roof may be 14th century and its west wall and Perpendicular Gothic window may be 15th century.[2] The wooden north porch is of uncertain date,[1] possibly the first half of the 17th century.[2] In 1859-60 the Gothic Revival architect PC Hardwick restored the nave[2] and rebuilt the chancel.[1]

The bellcote is also wooden and has two bells,[2] and may have been added by Hardwick.[1] All Saints is now a member of the Churn Benefice.[3]

Outside links

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References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Pevsner, 1966, page 74
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Page & Ditchfield, 1923, pages 280-291
  3. Churn Churches: St Michael's Church, Aston Tirrold and All Saints' Church Aston Upthorpe
  • Page, W.H.; Ditchfield, P.H., eds (1924). A History of the County of Berkshire, Volume 4. Victoria County History. pp. 280–291. 
  • Pevsner, Nikolaus (1966). Berkshire. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. p. 74.