Robert James Potter (6 October 1909 – 30 November 2010) was an English architect who was noted for his work on

church buildings Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

. Born in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

, he studied architecture in London before moving to Salisbury where he established his practice. Buildings he designed include St Francis Church in Salisbury, Church of the Ascension in Plymouth and South Stoneham Tower in Southampton. He was also involved in substantial renovations to existing buildings including

Chichester Cathedral Chichester Cathedral, formally known as the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Chichester. It is located in Chichester, in West Sussex, England. It was founded as a cathedral in 1075, when the seat of the ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

Bodleian Library The Bodleian Library () is the main research library of the University of Oxford, and is one of the oldest libraries in Europe. It derives its name from its founder, Sir Thomas Bodley. With over 13 million printed items, it is the second- ...

St Peter Mancroft St Peter Mancroft is a parish church in the Church of England, in the centre of Norwich, Norfolk. After the two cathedrals, it is the largest church in Norwich. It was originally established by the then Earl of East Anglia, Ralph de Gael between ...

(the largest church building in

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

other than the city's cathedrals) and St Stephen Walbrook,

All Souls Church, Langham Place All Souls Church is a conservative evangelical Anglican church in central London, situated in Langham Place in Marylebone, at the north end of Regent Street. It was designed in Regency style by John Nash and consecrated in 1824. As it is d ...

and

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

, all in

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

. His expertise in creating community spaces beneath the foundations of historical church buildings earned him the nickname "The Mole". Potter was awarded the OBE in 1993.

Early life and education

Potter was born in

, Surrey to Jack Potter, an engraver who worked on

printing block Woodblock printing or block printing is a technique for printing text, images or patterns used widely throughout East Asia and originating in China in antiquity as a method of printing on textiles and later paper. Each page or image is create ...

s for

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government of ...

bank note A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued ...

s, and his wife Florence. After school he studied Architecture at the

Regent Street Polytechnic The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Polyte ...

Career

Potter moved to

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

in 1935 aged 26, establishing an architectural practice there. Within three years he was commissioned to design St Francis Church in the city, which has subsequently become a listed building. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he served the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

in northern

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

where he was involved in constructing road and rail networks to enable troop movements to the war in the Far East. He attained the rank of

lieutenant-colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...

during his wartime service. After the war he returned to Salisbury and began a professional partnership with

William Randoll Blacking William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Eng ...

, who had studied under Sir

Ninian Comper Sir John Ninian Comper (10 June 1864 – 22 December 1960) was a Scottish architect; one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architects. His work almost entirely focused on the design, restoration and embellishment of churches, and the des ...

and was known for his design and conservation work on ecclesiastical buildings. Their partnership lasted 11 years, after which Potter established his own firm with a new partner, Richard Hare, based in De Vaux House in Salisbury. Potter's designs included military and residential buildings (such as the extensive extension to

South Stoneham House South Stoneham House is a Grade II* listed former manor house in Swaythling, Southampton; the former seat of the Barons Swaythling before the family moved to the nearby Townhill Park House. The building is owned by the University of Southampton ...

in Southampton) but his primary focus was on church architecture; in 1958 his Church of the Ascension, Crownhill in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

was consecrated and in 1959 he started work on St George's, in Oakdale,

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...

. Potter's practice expanded in 1967, being renamed the Brandt, Potter, Hare Partnership and opening an office in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. Potter's work was not purely focussed on new builds, he was involved in substantial renovation works to a number of well known buildings including

(the largest church building in

other than the city's cathedrals) and St Stephen Walbrook,

and

, all in

. He became well known for creating community rooms under the foundations of ancient church buildings and earned the nickname "The Mole" as a result. In addition to his work on the buildings themselves, Potter was noted for his designs of fixtures and fittings including

organs In biology, an organ is a collection of tissues joined in a structural unit to serve a common function. In the hierarchy of life, an organ lies between tissue and an organ system. Tissues are formed from same type cells to act together in a f ...

crosses Crosses may refer to: * Cross, the symbol Geography * Crosses, Cher, a French municipality * Crosses, Arkansas, a small community located in the Ozarks of north west Arkansas Language * Crosses, a truce term used in East Anglia and Lincolnshire ...

candlestick A candlestick is a device used to hold a candle in place. Candlesticks have a cup or a spike ("pricket") or both to keep the candle in place. Candlesticks are less frequently called "candleholders". Before the proliferation of electricity, candl ...

s and

fonts In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mode ...

. From 1978 to 1984, he was

Surveyor of the Fabric of St Paul's Cathedral The post of Surveyor of the Fabric of St Paul's Cathedral was established in 1675. The role is an architectural one, with the current holder being responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of the cathedral and its buildings. In the past, the rol ...

. In 1989 Potter's designs were used to extend the St Edward the Confessor Roman Catholic Church in

Chandler's Ford Chandler's Ford (originally The Ford and historically Chandlersford) is a largely residential area and civil parish in the Eastleigh (borough), Borough of Eastleigh in Hampshire, England. It has a population of 21,436 in the 2011 UK Census. Cha ...

, Hampshire, the original building of which had been designed by Potter's first professional partner, William Randoll Blacking. Potter was awarded the OBE in 1993.

Personal life

Potter married his first wife, Geraldine Buchanan, when he moved to Salisbury in 1935. They had three children together but divorced in the early 1960s. He married again to Margaret and had two step children. He enjoyed

watercolour painting Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

and sailing, having obtained a

master mariner A master mariner is a licensed mariner who holds the highest grade of seafarer qualification; namely, an unlimited master's license. Such a license is labelled ''unlimited'' because it has no limits on the tonnage, power, or geographic location of ...

's certificate.

Notable works

The notable buildings that Potter designed or worked on include:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Potter, Robert 1909 births 2010 deaths People from Guildford People from Salisbury Architects from Surrey Architects from Wiltshire 20th-century English architects Officers of the Order of the British Empire English centenarians Men centenarians English ecclesiastical architects