Upton-upon-Severn

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Upton-upon-Severn
Upton-upon-Severn shown within Worcestershire
Population	c. 3000
OS grid reference	SO852405
- London	113.5m
District	Malvern Hills
Shire county	Worcestershire
Region	West Midlands
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Worcester
Postcode district	WR8
Dialling code	01684
Police	West Mercia
Fire	Hereford and Worcester
Ambulance	West Midlands
European Parliament	West Midlands
UK Parliament	West Worcestershire
List of places: UK • England • Worcestershire

Coordinates: 52°03′46″N 2°12′54″W / 52.0627, -2.2151

The High Street (photo by Philip Halling)

Upton-upon-Severn is a small town in Malvern Hills district, Worcestershire, England, on the River Severn, often incorrectly called Upton-on-Severn. The bridge at Upton is the only one across the river Severn between Worcester and Tewkesbury. The present bridge was built in 1940. Upton was founded in 897. Oliver Cromwell's soldiers crossed the Severn here before the Battle of Worcester in the English Civil War.

The town is known for its distinctive tower and copper-clad cupola known locally as the Pepperpot, (the sole surviving remnant of a former church), and for its summer jazz festival, Blues Festival and spring folk festival. Upton is 5 miles from Malvern.

It is said to be the model for Market Snodsbury, the fictional town in the Jeeves and Wooster novels of P. G. Wodehouse and the site of Brinkley Court. It is also notable for being the birthplace, in 1953, of Formula 1 racing-driver Nigel Mansell, (though he moved shortly afterwards to Hall Green, Birmingham).

Upton used to have a railway station, on a branch line from Ashchurch to Malvern, with the intermediate stations Tewkesbury, Ripple, Upton upon Severn (see: http://www.miac.org.uk/images/uptonticket.jpg) and Malvern Wells (Hanley Road), but the Upton to Malvern section closed in December 1952 and the rest in August 1961, before the Beeching Axe.

Upton Marina is home to Mercia Inshore Search and Rescue.

The current population (2005) is around 3000. It is in the West Worcestershire parliamentary constituency.

The location is at 52°03′45″N, 02°12′54″W.

Low lying areas of Upton suffered serious flooding in 2000. In July 2007 flood levels exceeded those in 2000, and the town was inaccessible by road. The town has been dubbed Upton under Severn. However it should be borne in mind that the overall proportion of properties that were flooded remains low - the large majority of properties in Upton were not flooded.