Church Bridge Mooring, Upwell
The mooring is very popular with our boaters, with a cafe, butchers, Co-op and post office store, all within a short walk, with St Peters open to visitors. Next to the village hall can be found a playground for the younger boaters.
St Peters Church
The construction of St Peters commenced in the 13th century and stands very close to where the old market place granted by King John used to be and served the area of Welle or Wella. The church was dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Paul, there isn’t much evidence of the 13th century that remains, apart from some of the lower sections of the tower which date back to that period.
The tower used to have a wooden spire but was removed in 1842. Due to ever expanding congregations, most Fenland churches evolved over the years. The image below is probably the earliest of its kind Circa 1817. The original engraved lithograph is taken from a drawing by J.S. Cotman of Norwich.
Upwell Village
After the Romans invaded the area, they created settlements. In order to sustain themselves they dug out drainage channels to drain the land so they could grow crops and have somewhere for their animals to graze, but over time, after their retreat back to Europe, they soon fell into decay.
Up to the late 12th Century, Upwell was a part of an area named Welle or Wella of which Outwell was included too. By the early 13th century, the entire area was taken over by the monks of Ely and Ramsey. Much of the area was still marshland until the monks organised land drainage and rented it out in return for eels as payment. The monks belonged to two of the largest priories in the area, known as “Mirmound” (spelling varied) the Gilbertines Monks Order and “Molycourt” the Benedictine Monks Order. There were many arguments between the monks of Ely and Ramsey monasteries as to the quota of eels they should each receive and it was around this period (13th century) the two villages were divided forming Upwell and Outwell.
Upwell to Wisbech Tramway
Less than a mile away from the mooring is a memento commemorating the Upwell to Wisbech tramway, where the line terminated. The memento is one of 6, celebrating the life of the tramway and the great influence it had on the area in the form of trade and transporting produce grown in the local orchards and fields. The tramway of course used to bring goods up from Wisbech too, such as coal. The tramway gave the Rev W Awdry the inspiration to create a character called “Toby” in the world famous series of childrens books called “Thomas the Tank Engine”. The Rev W Awdry’s parish was located in Emneth, which was located on the tramway route between Upwell and Wisbech, where he saw the steam tram going about its work. The steam tram was eventually replaced by a diesel tram in the 1950’s. There are now 6 Tramway mementos along the old tramway route, the first one located outside the Upwell Health Centre (the old Goods Yard and station). Please go to our Tramway page on the Well Creek Trust website if you would like to know more about the Tramway and the work behind the mementos.
All of the above information was obtained from a local history book called “Discovering Upwell” author William P Smith. The book can be purchased via the Well Creek Trust website.