Introduction
Features of Upton Manor House include a lawn, with a central flower bed, an orchard and an astronomical sundial.
The Manor House has a lawn to the south with a central flower bed and bordered by shrubs. To the west of the house is an orchard with mulberry trees south of the small village church. In the centre of the orchard is a mid-17th-century astronomical sundial in the form of a large stone block on a moulded base, almost six feet high. It was erected by Bishop Dove.
The east and west sides have divided rectangular concavities diagonally set with concave hemispheres. The side facing south has a deep heart shaped concavity and the southern face of the top is inclined and has a divided rectangular concavity with semi-circular ends.
- History
The remaining wing of the late-16th-century manor house stands to the east of the hamlet of Upton. The two storey stone house was built for Sir Robert Wingfield, who sold the property in 1625 to the Dove family. Bishop Dove of Peterborough once lived in the manor house and is buried in the church. The house is said once to have been the home of Jane Seymour. It was also the birthplace of James Harington (1611-1677), the author of ‘The Commonwealth of Oceana' published in 1656.
Period
- Post Medieval (1540 to 1901)
- Tudor (1485-1603)
- Features & Designations
Features
- Sundial
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- Orchard
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- Lawn
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- Manor House (featured building)
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- Key Information
Type
Garden
Purpose
Ornamental
Principal Building
Domestic / Residential
Period
Post Medieval (1540 to 1901)
Survival
Extant
Civil Parish
Upton
- References
Contributors
Cambridgeshire Gardens Trust