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The Sprague Mill, Upwey, England
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Upwey, Dorset, England



 


Notes: There was early confusion as to whether Upwey shouldbe spelled Upway, in the Liberty of Wayhouse, acontraction of Wayboyeux, the property having beenoriginally owned by the Barons Bayeux Set in a littlewooded valley with the high bare downs above, the spring atUpwey known as The Wishing Well has been visited bytourists since they started coming to Weymouth in thelater 18th century. It is the place where the river Weyrises and a sizeable stream emerges from the ground in twosprings because the permeable Portland sand and stone meetthe impermeable Kimmeridge Clay.
King George III was a visitor in the days when SirChristopher Wren was the Member of Parliament for Upwey andWeymouth. He came to the well and drank from a Gold Cup,which later became the original Ascot Gold Cup.
One of the 'characters' of Weymouth between the twoGreat Wars was 'Surgeram' Shorey, a burly man with the redcheeked countenance of a Dickens villain, who sold logsfrom a horse and cart in winter, drove a horse bus forvisitors in summer and swore heartily all the year round.His horse bus plied from the King's Statue, and for a fewshillings conveyed the visitors to Upwey Wishing Well,with a cream tea thrown in. The Wishing Well was watchedover by elderly ladies who in return for money, offered aglass of the water as it bubbled from the earth in theshadow of chestnut trees. Drink and your wish will cometrue they predicted
The little school by The Wishing Well was built in1840 and a matching school-house is a little further alongthe road to the church. Opposite the well is a small early19th century stone granary and a late 17th century cottagewith characteristic mouldings round the windows.
Upwey Mill is a large Portland stone building datingfrom 1802. Thomas Hardy knew the family who lived here, andit is probably the mill described in 'The Trumpet Major',where Bob Loveday escapes the press gang by going upthrough the mill on the sack hoist. In front of it, on theroad is the early 19th century mill house.
The church of St. Lawrence is pretty. the north aisle,the windows on that side and the porch are late 15thcentury, and were neatly matched on the other side when thesouth aisle was built on 1838. It has a heavy, butattractive 1841 roof. Nice woodwork, with a medieval porchdoor, 17th century pulpit end panelling at the east end ofthe north aisle. The three wooden panels with carvedfigures hanging on the walls are figures of saints,probably 17th century and from another pulpit. There is a15th century font and several good 18th and 19th centurymonuments.
The most successful maritime commander in the historyof the Customs and Excise service lies in peacefulobscurity in the church of St Lawrence at Upwey. The churchcontains a wall plaque to "Anna Floyer, Daughter of WarrenLisle Esq" but there is no memorial to the man himself[1699-1788]. His wife, Ruth, was also buried there, in1790, and likewise lacks a stone.
The documentary record has been put right by the workof Graham Smith in his book Something to Declare. InLisle's case they tended not to but he was to beresponsible for seizures that totaled over £250,000, whichin the currency values of the 1990s is upward of £25million..
There was early confusion as to whether Upwey shouldbe spelled Upway, in the Liberty of Wayhouse, acontraction of Wayboyeux, the property having beenoriginally owned by the Barons Bayeux Set in a littlewooded valley with the high bare downs above, the spring atUpwey known as The Wishing Well has been visited bytourists since they started coming to Weymouth in thelater 18th century. It is the place where the river Weyrises and a sizeable stream emerges from the ground in twosprings because the permeable Portland sand and stone meetthe impermeable Kimmeridge Clay.
King George III was a visitor in the days when SirChristopher Wren was the Member of Parliament for Upwey andWeymouth. He came to the well and drank from a Gold Cup,which later became the original Ascot Gold Cup.
One of the 'characters' of Weymouth between the twoGreat Wars was 'Surgeram' Shorey, a burly man with the redcheeked countenance of a Dickens villain, who sold logsfrom a horse and cart in winter, drove a horse bus forvisitors in summer and swore heartily all the year round.His horse bus plied from the King's Statue, and for a fewshillings conveyed the visitors to Upwey Wishing Well,with a cream tea thrown in. The Wishing Well was watchedover by elderly ladies who in return for money, offered aglass of the water as it bubbled from the earth in theshadow of chestnut trees. Drink and your wish will cometrue they predicted
The little school by The Wishing Well was built in1840 and a matching school-house is a little further alongthe road to the church. Opposite the well is a small early19th century stone granary and a late 17th century cottagewith characteristic mouldings round the windows.
Upwey Mill is a large Portland stone building datingfrom 1802. Thomas Hardy knew the family who lived here, andit is probably the mill described in 'The Trumpet Major',where Bob Loveday escapes the press gang by going upthrough the mill on the sack hoist. In front of it, on theroad is the early 19th century mill house.
The church of St. Lawrence is pretty. the north aisle,the windows on that side and the porch are late 15thcentury, and were neatly matched on the other side when thesouth aisle was built on 1838. It has a heavy, butattractive 1841 roof. Nice woodwork, with a medieval porchdoor, 17th century pulpit and panelling at the east end ofthe north aisle. The three wooden panels with carvedfigures hanging on the walls are figures of saints,probably 17th century and from another pulpit. There is a15th century font and several good 18th and 19th centurymonuments.
The most successful maritime commander in the historyof the Customs and Excise service lies in peacefulobscurity in the church of St Lawrence at Upwey. Thechurch contains a wall plaque to "Anna Floyer, Daughter ofWarren Lisle Esq" but there is no memorial to the manhimself [1699-1788]. His wife, Ruth, was also buriedthere, in 1790, and likewise lacks a stone.
The documentary record has been put right by the workof Graham Smith in his book Something to Declare. InLisle's case they tended not to but he was to beresponsible for seizures that totaled over £250,000, whichin the currency values of the 1990s is upward of £25million.
Upwey [or Upway] is at the source of the Rivey Wey ina valley situated above Weymouth. The water source becamefamous as a wishing well and was very popular in Victoriantimes when visitors could alight from the train at theUpwey Wishing Well Halt. The church of St Lawrence datesfrom around 1490. There was a Wesleyan chapel built in the19th century and a National School was erected in 1840. Thepopulation in 1891 was 752 persons.

A web site exists with interesting information aboutUpwey, Dorset, and the place where our Sprague ancestorscame from when they immigrated to North America in the1600's. The Mill House photo shows a portion of thebuilding where they lived (single story portion on theleft), but the mill itself was built to replace the onethat burned in 1802.
The spring and wishing well are a very short distancefrom the house and mill, and provided water power tooperate the mill.
The website is at:.
OpenStreetMap

Latitude: 50.6619702777778, Longitude: -2.47482444444444


Birth

Matches 1 to 9 of 9

   Last Name, Given Name(s)    Birth    Person ID 
1 Marnam, Amy  1598Upwey, Dorset, England I303311
2 Sprague, Alice  Abt 1596Upwey, Dorset, England I35894
3 Sprague, Enos  1525Upwey, Dorset, England I35858
4 Sprague, Lt. Ralph  Abt 1599Upwey, Dorset, England I35895
5 Sprague, Richard  Abt 1605Upwey, Dorset, England I35898
6 Sprague, William  Abt Oct 1609Upwey, Dorset, England I35850
7 Stowers, Deborah  1 May 1593Upwey, Dorset, England I179723
8 [--?--], Christian  Abt 1578Upwey, Dorset, England I35855
9 [--?--], [--?--]  Abt 1529Upwey, Dorset, England I38513

Christened

Matches 1 to 4 of 4

   Last Name, Given Name(s)    Christened    Person ID 
1 Sprague, Edward  Abt 1576Upwey, Dorset, England I35854
2 Sprague, Edward  15 Dec 1601Upwey, Dorset, England I35897
3 Sprague, Lt. Ralph  20 Jun 1599Upwey, Dorset, England I35895
4 Sprague, William  Upwey, Dorset, England I35850

Died

Matches 1 to 2 of 2

   Last Name, Given Name(s)    Died    Person ID 
1 Sprague, Edward  Between 6 Jun 1614 and 13 Oct 1614Upwey, Dorset, England I35854
2 [--?--], Christian  25 Mar 1651Upwey, Dorset, England I35855

Will

Matches 1 to 1 of 1

   Last Name, Given Name(s)    Will    Person ID 
1 Sprague, Edward  16 Jun 1614Upwey, Dorset, England I35854

Married

Matches 1 to 2 of 2

   Family / Spouse    Married    Family ID 
1 Sprague / [--?--]  11 Oct 1632Upwey, Dorset, England F13580
2 Stowers / [--?--]  Upwey, Dorset, England F55008

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