In the 1640s the jobs of the village were shared between the families who lived there. Some detail exists of this as the farmer and recent widow
Jane Kitchen became the village's constable in 1644. She had the responsibility of the job although she employed William Chappell to do any public tasks. It was a tricky time as the country was at war. Nearby Nottingham was for the parliamentarians and Newark Royalists. Sir John Meldrum laid siege to Newark and Kitchen had the task of sending hens and calves from her own and her neighbours when the siege ended Lord Loughborough troops required feeding. Kitchen kept detailed notes and someone else took over the following year. In 1852, Upton was described as "a handsome village and parish, pleasantly situated on a gentle declivity, two and a half miles east of
Southwell. Its parish is in the liberty of
Southwell and
Scrooby, and contains 640 inhabitants and of land, enclosed in 1795, and exonerated from tithes by allotments to the vicar and appropriator. The Rev. J. Banks Wright is lord of the manor, and owner of about of land. There are a few other small freeholders, but it is mostly copyhold under the
Archbishop, or leasehold under the Chapter of
Southwell. The latter are appropriators and patrons of the vicarage, which is valued in the King's books at £4 11s 5½d, now at £91, and is enjoyed by the Rev. Frederick William Naylor, who erected a neat Sunday School in the village, and resides at the vicarage house, a neat mansion erected a few years ago. The church is a small gothic fabric, dedicated to
St Peter, with a chancel and handsome tower, in which are four bells. There is a small
Methodist chapel. Upton Hall is the delightful seat of the Dowager
Lady Galway. It is a large, elegant mansion, surrounded by pleasure grounds, from which extensive and beautiful prospects are seen. It was built by the late Thomas Wright Esq., on the site of the old manor house. J.C. Wood of Normanton, and W. Esam of Averham Park have estates here." == Notable residents ==