Upham Village Setting

Upham is surrounded by farmland of high quality. All of the Parish to the North and East of the B2177 from Colden Common to Bishops Waltham lies in the South Downs National Park, much of the remainder is designated as an Area of Special Landscape Quality.

Upham lies on the northern margin of the Paleogene deposits of the Hampshire Basin. The north of the parish is on chalk with the Lambeth Group and London Clay to the south. There is a history of brickmaking in the Parish.

Area names such as Blackdown, White Hill and Greenhill relate to the difference in colour of the soil and to the nature of the farming. Much of the surrounding area is now in arable cultivation, but to the south, north and west of the village there is some dairy farming and pasture.

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To the north and east, the fields are generally undulating and there are many large arable enclosures. Crops of wheat, barley, peas, beans, rape and linseed are widely grown, whilst cattle, sheep and pigs graze in the open fields.

The parkland to the South of Upham House, the dairy farms to the north and west of the village and the clay meadows of lower Upham have smaller enclosures and fine hedgerows. Traditional farming methods have created here an enclosed landscape with numerous mature oak trees, typical of the pasture on clay landscape.

The meadows of Lower Upham have interesting species of flora and fauna, the soil is of heavy clay and an underground stream keeps the water table at a relatively high level.