Ufton Nervet

infobox UK place

country = England
official_name= Ufton Nervet
unitary_england= West Berkshire
lieutenancy_england= Berkshire
region= South East England

constituency_westminster= Wokingham
post_town= Reading
postcode_district= RG7
postcode_area=RG
dial_code= 0118
population= 317 (2001)
os_grid_reference= SU635675
latitude= 51.4034

longitude= -1.0877

Ufton Nervet is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Berkshire.

Location

Ufton Nervet village is located in the hills above and to the south of the River Kennet, although the parish stretches down into the valley to the north as far as the A4 road. Two narrow lanes connect the village to the A4, crossing the Kennet and Avon Canal and the Great Western railway line in the valley bottom. Both lanes cross the canal by swing bridges, the smaller of the lanes passes through Ufton Green, crossing the railway by the level crossing involved in the rail crash, and the other by an overbridge. Other lanes connect the village with other villages on the higher ground above the valley.

Local government

Ufton Nervet is a civil parish with an elected parish council. It falls within the area of the unitary authority of West Berkshire. The parish council and the unitary authority are responsible for different aspects of local government.

History

An excavation at Ufton Green revealed a site which showed evidence of stone-working for the manufacture of tools or weapons and a number of scattered stone artefacts dating from the Mesolithic. [ cite web
url = http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=1213740
title = National Monuments Record (Monument No. 1213740) ]

The name Ufton came from Anglo-Saxon "Uffa-tūn" = "Uffa's farmstead" and it was recorded as "Offetune" in the Domesday Book. [ cite web
url = http://www.domesdaybook.co.uk/berkshire3.html
title = The Domesday Book Online: Berkshire N-Z ] Three manors have existed in this area Ufton Robert, Ufton Nervet and Ufton Pole. The first two are mentioned in the Domesday Book.

The original Ufton Nervet, also known as Ufton Richard, was located about a mile to the north-west of the current village, in the current location of Ufton Green. It had its own church (of St. John the Baptist), the ruined walls of which still exist. The place was named after Richard Neyrvut, later corrupted to Nervet, who owned the manor in the 13th century.

The manor house of Ufton Robert was located just to the west of the current village and stood within the moat, which can still be seen. Excavations in the 19th century located bridge piles, a gateway and other foundations. The moat is also part of a set of linked medieval fishponds fed from an artificial stream which flowed into the south pond. The water was controlled to the ponds and moat by a series of sluices. [ cite web
url = http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=240946
title = National Monuments Record (Monument No. 240946) ] The manor came into the hands of the Perkyns family around 1411. When they bought the manor of Ufton Pole in 1560 the two manors were combined and the main residence moved to Ufton Pole, which is now Ufton Court, a large Elizabethan manor house located south-west of the village.

In 1434-5 the parishes of Ufton Nervet and Ufton Robert were merged and the Ufton Robert church of St Peter became the current parish church. Curiously although it was the original parish of Ufton Nervet which ceased to exist this eventually became the name of the current village.

Church of St. Peter

The church of St. Peter was erected in 1862, on the site of an earlier church, in a 14th century neo-Gothic style. The walling is predominantly of a dark grey rag-stone with ashlar dressings. It consists of a chancel, north chapel (used as an organ chamber), nave of three bays, west tower, with a tall octagonal shingled spire, and south porch. [ cite web
url = http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=1208593
title = National Monuments Record (St Peters Church) ] In front of the porch is a fine old yew.

The church is no longer in use.

Rail crash

The Ufton Nervet rail crash happened nearby on the 6 November 2004. Seven people were killed when a First Great Western train, from Paddington to Plymouth, was derailed after colliding with a stationary car on an unmanned level crossing.

References

External links

* [http://www.berkshirehistory.com/villages/ufton_nervet.html Royal Berkshire History: Ufton Nervet]
* [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=43241&strquery=Ufton%20Nervet 'Parishes: Ufton', A History of the County of Berkshire: Volume 3 (1923), pp. 437-444. (via British History Online)]