Upnor

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Upper Upnor High Street
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Upper Upnor High Street

Upnor Lower and Upper Upnor are two small villages in the parish of Frindsbury Extra on the western bank of the River Medway in England. Today it is mainly residential and a centre for small craft moored in the river, but Upnor Castle (51°24′25″N, 0°31′37″E) is a preserved monument, part of the river defences from the sixteenth century.

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[edit] Origins

Upnor meant "at the bank" being "æt þæm ōre" in Old English and "atten ore" in Middle English and "atte Nore" in 1292. However then the meaning changed to "Upon the bank" Middle English "uppan ore" and by 1374 it was "Upnore". [1]

A skeleton of a Straight-tusked Elephant was excavated in 1911, during the construction of Royal Engineer's Upnor Hard. [2]

[edit] Upper Upnor

Upper Upnor is a single village street leading to Upnor Castle. Many of these houses are finished in Kentish weatherboarding. It is on Chatham Reach directly opposite St Mary's Creek. [2]

Though Upnor Castle only was effective for about 100 years (1559-1667), it was retained as a magazine and ammunition store until the end of the First World War. The Royal Engineer's still have a presence at Lower Upnor. [2]

[edit] Lower Upnor

Lower Upnor faces Upnor Reach. It was a single row of housing separated from the river by the roadway, and the hard. It here that one finds the Arethusa training centre run by the Shaftesbury Homes. In living memory the Arethusa was also the name to the training ship moored parallel to the shore. The society had moored a training ship here for over 105 years. The first was the Chichester, but after than all the ships have been called Arethusa. The Last Arethusa was the Peking, one of the R.F Laeisz's Flying P-Liner 4 masted barques built in 1911, and acquired after 1918 as war reparations. She was sold in 1975 to the South Street Seaport Museum in New York. In recent times extra housing has been built behind this street, exploiting the land exposed by quarrying the steep the hillside that leads to Hoo Common. [2]

[edit] London Stones

The Older London Stone standing in front of the fence of the Arethusa Venture Centre.
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The Older London Stone standing in front of the fence of the Arethusa Venture Centre.

The London stones are in Lower Upnor on the shoreline. They mark the limit of the charter rights of London fishermen. The older stone is dated 1204.

[edit] Industry

Like other parts of Frindsbury, chalk has been extracted, high quality moulding sand has been taken from a pit near the Church, and William Burgess Little built 25 five barges at his yard between 1843 and 1871. The first was the Sarah Little and the last called W.B.Little Finish. James Little built 3 barges here in 1891,1893 and 1895.[3] A Potter's Kiln can be seen on an 1830 watercolour by Susan Twopeny, now in Rochester Guildhall Museum.

[edit] The Church

The ecclesiastical parish of Upnor split from Frindsbury in 1884 and was reabsorbed in 1955. The parish church of St Philip and St James (1884)was designed by Ewan Christian RIBA (1814-1895). It is virtually unaltered[3].

[edit] The Military Railway

The army used this area to train an railway engineering force. They built a standard gauge railway from Chattenden to Upnor 1872-3. It was abandoned before 1881, and a 30in gauge line was built in 1885 [3] or by the 8th(Railway) Company R.E. in 1898[4] One branch went to Lower Upnor, and the other to the camp by Tower Hill. This line was used to supply armaments from Chattenden, the Lodge Hill Ammunition Depot and the standard gauge at Sharnal Street, to the Warships and the Upnor Magazine. The service closed on 19 May 1961.


[edit] References

  1. ^ Glover, Judith (1976,1982,1992). The Place Names of Kent.. Meresborough Books.. ISBN 0-90527-061-4.
  2. ^ a b c d Matthews M.A., Brian (1971). A History of Strood Rural District.. Strood Rural District Council..
  3. ^ a b c Barnard, Derek (post 1994). Merrily to Frendsbury-A History of the Parish of Frindsbury.. Private Pub. City of Rochester Society..
  4. ^ Saunders MA FSA FRHist, A.D. (1967). Upnor Castle Kent.. English Heritage. ISBN 1-85074-038-9.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

The unitary authority of Medway in Kent, South East England
with its suburbs, villages, towns and parishes:

AllhallowsBorstal • Brompton • Chatham • Chattenden • Cliffe-at-HooCliffe and Cliffe WoodsCliffe WoodsCooling • Cuxton • Frindsbury • Frindsbury Extra • GillinghamHallingHempsteadHigh HalstowHoo St WerburghIsle of GrainLordswood • Lower Rainham • Luton • Park WoodRochesterRainham • Rainham Mark • St Mary HooSt Mary's Island • Stoke • StroodTwydallUpchurchUpnorWainscottWalderslade • Wigmore • Wouldham

The borough of Medway
List of places in Kent