Ufton Court

A small medieval manor named Ufton Pole originally stood on the site, belonging to Francis Lovell. Lovell was created the 1st Viscount Lovell by Edward IV, after being a ward to the latter as a child. Lovell became a friend of Richard III, with both of their wives being first-cousins. With the death of Richard III in 1485, Lovell rebelled against the new king, Henry VII and had his lands, including Ufton Pole, confiscated by the Crown, who now possessed Ufton.

Henry VIII granted Ufton Pole Manor to Sir Richard Weston, a Groom of the Chamber, in 1510.

In 1568, the house was bought by Lady Marvyn, the widow of Richard Perkins of nearby estate on Ufton Green. She considerably altered and enlarged the house over the next eight years and renamed it 'Ufton Court'. She eventually left the house to her first husband's nephew, Francis Perkins. It remained in this family until 1769.

The Perkins were persecuted for their Catholic beliefs. They had to pay fines for not attending Church of England services at the parish church and could be subjected to raids at any time by local magistrates[2] looking for priests, hidden in tiny secret rooms. In 1599, during the second raid on Ufton, Sir Francis Knollys discovered at least one priest hole containing much gold plate, but the priests were not in residence.[3]

In 1715, Francis Perkins of Ufton Court married Arabella Fermor, the daughter of Henry Fermor of Tusmore in Oxfordshire.[4]

Before the marriage, painters and poets celebrated her charms and her beauty, for she was the belle of London society. She is remembered today as the inspiration for Alexander Pope's 'The Rape of the Lock,' a poem telling how Lord Petre stole a lock of her hair and caused a great scandal. Arabella was humiliated and accepted Perkins' offer of marriage in order to live quietly in the country instead. Tradition asserts that the great hall and western half of Ufton Court were refashioned for the lady's arrival, and this seems to fit with the date of the architecture and interior décor there. Bonnie Prince Charlie is supposed to have secretly visited the couple during the Jacobite rising of 1745. They had six children together, but they all died childless and the house gradually fell into a state of disrepair.

Floor plan

During its sale in 1837, Ufton Court was described as 'unfit for a gentleman's residence.' It was bought by Richard Benyon De Beauvoir of the adjoining estate at Englefield. He repaired the house and converted it into tenements for his estate workers.

Over the next hundred years, various tenants lived in the house: mostly notably Mary Sharp, a local historian who wrote a detailed history of the place. Mr (later Sir) Henry Benyon also lived there himself before inheriting Englefield House, restoring the house as a gentleman's residence once more and replanting the garden.