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Ufton Court
Ufton Nervet, Berkshire
The beautiful
Elizabethan Ufton Court was originally a minor manor possibly split off
from Ufton Robert in the late fourteenth century, and called Ufton Pole.
Some of the present house still dates from the 15th century, including the
crossway of the great hall with the original buttery and pantry doors. It
was largely rebuilt by the Perkins family who moved over from Ufton Robert
in 1567. The Perkins were well known catholics who were persecuted by the
local magistrates in the 16th century. They had to pay heavy fines for
refusing to attend the parish church, and Ufton Court was
raided at least
twice by officials looking for priests in hiding.
Sir Francis Knollys
found some of their hiding places and a small fortune in gold plate in
1599, but the priests had gone. The secret chapel up in the rafters of the
court still remains today, as well as traces of an escape tunnel leading
into the woods. In the 18th century, long after the persecutions had
stopped, Bonnie Prince Charlie is said to have visited the Perkins' on one
of his forays back into the country incognito. The famous Ufton Bread Dole
is distributed every year from a certain window at the Court. Lady
Elizabeth Marvyn, widow of Richard Perkins, left the money for the dole in
her will (1581) in thanks for finding her way home after getting lost in
some woods. The Perkins finally sold up in 1802. The house is currently
owned by the Benyons of Englefield.
Ufton Court is part of the
Englefield Estate, run by the Ufton Court Educational
Trust as an Educational
and Conference Centre. It is viewable from the public footpath which runs straight up the main drive.
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