Potterspury is a populous village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

West Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire is a unitary authority area covering part of the ceremonial county of Northamptonshire, England, created in 2021. By far the largest settlement in West Northamptonshire is the county town of Northampton. Its other signif ...

. The nearest main town is

Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city and the largest settlement in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of its urban area was over . The River Great Ouse forms its northern boundary; a tributary ...

, the centre of which is about 7 miles south-east. At the time of the 2011 census, the parish's population (including Furtho) was 1,453 people. The village's name is a concatenation. It was originally cognate with Perry and sometimes written as such, implying

pear Pears are fruits produced and consumed around the world, growing on a tree and harvested in the Northern Hemisphere in late summer into October. The pear tree and shrub are a species of genus ''Pyrus'' , in the family Rosaceae, bearing the p ...

tree or orchard. Several places are named such regionally. The helpful (disambiguatory) prefix 'Potters', seen by the 15th century, is a nod to the very old, important potteries here. An alternative is "Estpury", seen in 1452.

Geography

Potterspury is on the

A5 road A5 Road may refer to: ;Africa *A5 highway (Nigeria), a road connecting Lagos and Ibadan * A5 road (Zimbabwe), a road connecting Harare and Francistown ;Americas * Quebec Autoroute 5, a road in Quebec, Canada * County Route A5 (California) or Bowm ...

, formerly the

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

Watling Street Watling Street is a historic route in England that crosses the River Thames at London and which was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the Middle Ages. It was used by the ancient Britons and paved as one of the main R ...

between

Towcester Towcester ( ) is an affluent market town in Northamptonshire, England. It currently lies in West Northamptonshire but was the former administrative headquarters of the South Northamptonshire district council. Towcester is one of the oldest ...

six miles to the north and

Stony Stratford Stony Stratford is a constituent town of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. Historically it was a market town on the important route from London to Chester (Watling Street, now the A5). It is also the name of a civil parish with a town cou ...

a mile to the south. The village sits at the edge of

Whittlewood Forest Whittlewood Forest is a former medieval hunting forest east of Silverstone in Northamptonshire in England. It is managed by the Forestry England. There are tracts of ancient woodland within it and old ditches can be found at the edges of several ...

, a relatively large

ancient woodland In the United Kingdom, an ancient woodland is a woodland that has existed continuously since 1600 or before in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (or 1750 in Scotland). Planting of woodland was uncommon before those dates, so a wood present in 16 ...

to the west that was part of the original estate of the

Duke of Grafton Duke of Grafton is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1675 by Charles II of England for Henry FitzRoy, his second illegitimate son by the Duchess of Cleveland. The most notable duke of Grafton was Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke ...

. Much of this is an

SSSI A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

, recognising its biodiversity and providing strong protection against built environment encroachment. Parts are open to the public in the Spring but most

footpath A footpath (also pedestrian way, walking trail, nature trail) is a type of thoroughfare that is intended for use only by pedestrians and not other forms of traffic such as motorized vehicles, bicycles and horses. They can be found in a wide ...

s and

bridleway A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding horses, riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now s ...

s adjoin the area, some linking into the

Chiltern Hills The Chiltern Hills is a chalk escarpment in England. The area, northwest of London, covers stretching from Goring-on-Thames in the southwest to Hitchin in the northeast - across Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Bedfordshire. ...

(Chilterns). Stony Stratford and Towcester have nearby substantial shopping areas. Nearby villages comprise Wicken,

Deanshanger Deanshanger () is a village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, west-northwest of Milton Keynes. In 2007 it was joined with the civil parish of Wicken to form Deanshanger ward, returning two councillors. The population of the civil pari ...

Grafton Regis Grafton Regis is a village and civil parish in the south of the English county of Northamptonshire. The population of the civil parish (including Alderton) at the 2001 census was 152. This increased to 253 at the 2011 census. The village is ea ...

, Alderton and

Yardley Gobion Yardley Gobion ( ) is a village in the south of the English county of Northamptonshire off a by-pass of the A508 Northampton to Milton Keynes road. The village's name means 'rod wood/clearing', where they were made or acquired. Henry Gubyun h ...

Landmarks

The parish church, with medieval elements, is dedicated to Saint Nicholas. Its foundations date to at least 1087 when it (implying its rectory, its main church lands) was granted by

Robert de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby Robert I de Ferrers, 1st Earl of Derby ( 1068 – 1139) was born in Derbyshire, England, a younger son of Henry de Ferrières and his wife Bertha (perhaps l'Aigle). His father, born in Ferrières, Normandy, France accompanied William the Conqu ...

to Bernard the Scribe. The

Queen's Oak The Queen's Oak was a tree located near Potterspury in Northamptonshire. It is traditionally the site of the first meeting between Elizabeth Woodville and her future husband, Edward IV. The tree was badly burnt in 1994 and died in 1997. Ass ...

which stood nearby until 1997 was reputed to be the site of the first meeting between

Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...

and his queen

Elizabeth Woodville Elizabeth Woodville (also spelt Wydville, Wydeville, or Widvile;Although spelling of the family name is usually modernised to "Woodville", it was spelt "Wydeville" in contemporary publications by Caxton, but her tomb at St. George's Chapel, Wind ...

Facilities

The high street has is a small grocery/stationery shop with post office and a village hall. The village pubs ''The Talbot'' on the A5 and ''The Cock'' on the High Street. There is a sports and social club at Meadow View, the ground of Potterspury Football Club. A spa is, quite centrally placed, on Poundfield Road, named Cloud 9, adjoining Potterspury House Restaurant.

Education

Educational provision in the village includes the specialist education needs school Potterspury Lodge School, which helps children with learning difficulties, and John Hellins Primary School. Most leavers go on to

Elizabeth Woodville School The Elizabeth Woodville School, in Northamptonshire, England, is a secondary school with academy status, run by the Tove Learning Trust. It was formed by the merger of Roade Sports College and Kingsbrook Specialist Business and Enterprise Colle ...

, formerly Kingsbrook School, in Deanshanger, as their

secondary school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' secondary education, lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) ...

John Hellins :''This subject should not be confused with his grandson John Hellins, 1829–1887, clergyman and entomologist''. John Hellins FRS ( 1749 – 5 April 1827) was a British autodidact, schoolteacher, mathematician, astronomer and country parson. ...

was a

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History On ...

and

astronomer An astronomer is a scientist in the field of astronomy who focuses their studies on a specific question or field outside the scope of Earth. They observe astronomical objects such as stars, planets, natural satellite, moons, comets and galaxy, g ...

who, as

parish priest A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

at Potterspury, founded and taught in the village school."John Hellins Primary School - Inspection Report"

Ofsted The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is a Non-ministerial government department, non-ministerial department of Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's government, reporting to Parliament of the U ...

, 1 March 2007.

Notes and references

Notes

References

External links

Village websiteJohn Hellins Primary School website.
*
Cloud 9 SpaPotterspury House Restaurant
{{authority control Villages in Northamptonshire West Northamptonshire District Civil parishes in Northamptonshire