Tea Gardens

Upwey Wishing Well

Upwey

Church Street - page 1/2

Reverend AS  Bryant was vicar from 1924 to 1958, living at the Rectory next to the church (now Batchfoot House).  In March 1960 Reverend AL Jones was appointed vicar, living at the Rectory, 650 Dorchester Road.

In 1964 the churchyard was extended and on 6 October 1965 a service of consecration was held,  attended by the school children.

In 1975 Reverend Jones also became vicar of St Nicholas at Buckland Ripers. Reverend Jones retired in 1980.  The Benefice was reviewed and since 1981 has included the Church of England Parishes of Bincombe with Broadwey, Upwey and Buckland Ripers.

Reverend R Simmons has been in post since 1992 and lives at the Rectory on Littlemoor Road, Broadwey.

This picture shows the Rectory (now Batchfoot House) centre back.  To the left are the Rectory coach houses which were demolished in the mid 1950’s to make way for the church car park.  On the right is Clovelly Cottage..

The building in the centre was the bus shelter/public toilets built in 1948. Managed by the council they were closed in 2003 and after being sold in recent years have been converted to a Gallery.

The Wishing Well has been a visitor attraction for over 100 years, with excursions from Weymouth by Horse-Bus and later by coach and the service bus which ran from Weymouth to the Wishing Well.

Several enterprising locals had set up Tea Gardens to provide visitors with refreshments which also provided employment for villagers.

The picture shows the site pre 1936.  In 1951 the tea room was rebuilt and continued to trade until the mid/late 1960’s.  In addition to cream teas, they offered lobster or crab salads and toffee apples made on the premises.  

The produce was mainly local – strawberries from the garden behind the house, watercress from a nearby stream and shellfish from Weymouth or West Bay. Often they would see a coach pull up at the Well and by the time the visitors called in for a cup of tea - a freshly baked batch of scones would be waiting to tempt them.

The water gardens were originally part of watercress beds which ran from the Well to the Mill.  In 1977 the beds nearest the mill were redeveloped into a Trout Farm. Mr Harrison who ran the hatchery said ‘it’s a very good site as water rises nearby and is very pure’.  The occasional escape of a few trout into the stream kept local boys busy fishing.  The area was developed as an extension of the water gardens in 2001.

Church Street