Upwey

Upwey
Dorset
St Laurence's Church, Upwey
Location
Grid reference:	SY664849
Location:	50°39’47"N, 2°28’34"W
Data
Postcode:	DT3
Local Government
Council:	Dorset

Upwey is a village in Dorset on the edge of Weymouth, in the very south of the county, and merging into the latter's northern suburbs. The village is stretched along the B3159 road in the valley of the River Wey.

Upwey is found four miles north of the town centre in the outer suburbs. The 2001 Census counter the combined population of Upwey and neighbouring Broadwey as 4,349.

Churches

The village has a 13th-century parish church]], dedicated to St Laurence.

The former United Reformed Church was built in 1880–81 and closed in 1992.

About the village

Upwey wishing well

A disc barrow is located above the village on the Ridgeway (SY663866).

The manor house, Upwey Manor, was long owned by the Gould family.

The River Wey rises at the foot of the chalk ridge of the South Dorset Downs, which rise above Upwey to the north, and flows through the village. The source is known as the Upwey wishing well and was a tourist attraction as far back as the Victorian era. There is now a tea room at the site, complete with mature water gardens.

In the 18th century a water mill was built on the river, rebuilt in 1802

In literature

The mill at Upwey features in Thomas Hardy's The Trumpet Major. Hardy also wrote a poem "At the Railway Station, Upway", which most likely relates to Upwey station.

Upwey features in Edward Chaney's Genius Friend: G.B. Edwards and The Book of Ebenezer le Page as the place in which Chaney got to know Gerald Edwards and encouraged him to complete his novel. Edwards died in the since-demolished 654 Dorchester Road, Upwey, on 29 December 1976.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Upwey)

• The Upwey Society
• Upwey Local History
• The Dorset Page
• Broadwey and Upwey on The Dorset Online Parish Clerks