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| Upton Court, Upton Court Road, Slough. About 1670 |
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| Brief Description: A print of the west of Upton Court dated 1670 and showing the Abbot's carp pond. |
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| Subject Date: 1670 |
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| Creator: Copy by Reg Harrison |
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| Owner: Slough Library |
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| Contributor: Slough Library |
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| Full Description: The Abbot's carp pond appeared to be about 350 feet long and would have been visible from the Datchet Road. The pond was drained and filled in 1882.
Upton Court is a fourteenth century open hall house. Dendrochronology suggests that the hall dates to around 1330. Initially the Lords of the Manor were Merton Priory, but after the dissolution of the monasteries moved from owner to owner. These owners included Benjamin Lane who gave generously to the parish and the Lascelles Family.
In 1711 Benjamin Lane conveyed to Edward Lascelles and his heirs 'all that capital messuage or mansion house called Upton Court'. As with most of the residents of Upton Court, not many members of the Lascelles family lived in the Slough manor house; Maxwell Fraser only knew of one. There were, however, members of the family who were buried at St. Laurence’s Church. One mural monument on the north side records 'near this place lie the remains of William Lascelles, Esq. of Upton Court, in this Parish'.
The Court's Lascelles connection was highlighted in the 1920s when King George V and Queen Mary visited Upton Court on 4 June 1922. They were viewing the house to decide whether it was a suitable country home for their daughter, Princess Mary, when she married Viscount Lascelles, later 6th Earl of Harewood. However, Upton Court did not get the Royal seal of approval and the Lascelles family sold the house in 1929.
The house is now used as offices for the Slough local newspaper, the Slough Observer.
Upton Court is also rumoured to be haunted. For many years, domestic servants reported seeing the ghost of a woman in a bloodstained nightdress walking in the grounds, always on Friday nights. However, it has not been seen for many years now.
A three bay aisled hall with service passage dated to about 1325; probably built by the monks of Merton Priory as a manor house. See Pevsner's Buildings of England for detailed description. A central brick hearth has been uncovered in the hall but there was apparently no smoke hole through the roof. Smoke appears to have escaped through large gabled louvres in the roof slope. The north end was much altered in the seventeenth century. A thorough restoration took place in 1986-90 when the oak framed south wing and its glazed link were built. |
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| Collection: Reg Harrison Collection |
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| Place: Slough ; Upton ; Upton Court Road |
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| Dimensions: 2.3 x 3.4 cm |
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| Subject: Houses ; Offices ; Manor houses ; Ponds |
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| Name Subject: Slough Observer ; Upton Court ; |
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| Content Type: Photo slide Print Black and White |
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| Location: Slough Library |
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| Local Ref: Upton 5,15 |
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| Unique ID: sl-sl-rhs_u5_15uptoncourt8-i-00-000.tif |
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| IPR: Slough Library |
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Ghosts of Slough
UFOs over Slough
The Manor Hotel,Datchet
