Writing in 1928, Victor Strode Manley, as part of his Regional Survey Of Warminster And District, made the following notes concerning Upton Scudamore:
Situation [of Upton Scudamore]. On high, waterless ground near the deep Biss Bottom whose springs from the chalk supply Trowbridge nine miles away whilst the village is often in a state of drought. Recently a windmill has been given to feed a water tower. A track leads down to the springs and is called Hollywell, little doubt a corruption of Holy Well. It would thus seem that the springs decided the site of the original village, perhaps in prehistoric times.