Potton is a town 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

Central Bedfordshire Central Bedfordshire is a Districts of England, local government district in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. It is administered by Central Bedfordshire Council, a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority. It was created ...

district of

Bedfordshire Bedfordshire (; abbreviated ''Beds'') is a Ceremonial County, ceremonial county in the East of England. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Hertfordshire to the south and the south-east, and Buckin ...

, England, about east of the county town

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population was 106,940. Bedford is the county town of Bedfordshire and seat of the Borough of Bedford local government district. Bedford was founded at a ford (crossin ...

. The parish had a population in 2021 of 5,727. In 1783 the Great Fire of Potton destroyed a large part of the town. The parish church dates from the 13th century, and is dedicated to St Mary. Potton's horse fairs were some of the largest in the country.

History

The village's name was spelled ''Pottun'' in 960 AD and ''Potone'' in the 1086

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

. It is derived from the Old English for "farmstead where pots are made". Evidence of early-middle

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

settlement in the form of ditches, a pit and

sherds This page is a glossary of archaeology, the study of the human past from material remains. A B C D E F ...

of pottery was found in 2009 by archaeologists at Vicarage Farm off the B1042 Gamlingay Road. The parish of Potton underwent parliamentary inclosure twice - once in 1775, and again in 1832.

Market and fairs

Potton was granted a

market charter A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

by William II in 1094. Potton's market was one of the largest in

in the Tudor and

Stuart Stuart may refer to: People *Stuart (name), a given name and surname (and list of people with the name) * Clan Stuart of Bute, a Scottish clan *House of Stuart, a royal house of Scotland and England Places Australia Generally *Stuart Highway, ...

periods, but declined after the Great Fire in 1783. Corn and straw plait were the principal goods in 1831. A fair was granted by

Henry II Henry II may refer to: Kings * Saint Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor (972–1024), crowned King of Germany in 1002, of Italy in 1004 and Emperor in 1014 *Henry II of England (1133–89), reigned from 1154 *Henry II of Jerusalem and Cyprus (1271–1 ...

in 1227. In 1831, fairs were held in January, April, July and October. The town's horse fairs were some of the largest in the country, until they ended in 1932. The Shambles provided folding market stalls in the town square before brick buildings were put in place by Samuel Whitbread, the Lord of the Manor, in 1797. They became dilapidated in the 1930s and were demolished after the Second World War. A new library was built in their place, incorporating the old clock from the Shambles with illuminated dials and bell. The library building is called Clock House and was opened on 23 July 1956. It serves as a focal point in the centre of the market square. In spring 2006, the clock mechanism was replaced with an automatic winding system costing £3,000.

Great Fire

The Great Fire of Potton started in a stack of clover in a field in the area of what is now Spencer Close, in 1783. King Street, half the Market Square and some of the Brook End area were destroyed. It was reported to have burned for a day. Local people raised £6,000 to help those most in need. The 13th-century

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

, St Mary's, survived. Rebuilding after the fire has left the town with a number of Georgian buildings.Potton Town Guide (2006)

Railway

The Sandy and Potton Railway, also known as Captain Peel's Railway, opened on 9 November 1857. It was established by Captain Sir William Peel VC, who resided at The Lodge. When the Great Northern Railway came to

Sandy Sandy may refer to: People and fictional characters *Sandy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Sandy (surname), a list of people * Sandy (Iranian music band), Iranian singer, comp ...

in 1850, Captain Peel had a branch line built to his estate and on to Potton. The railway's locomotive was named Shannon, after the frigate Captain Peel was commanding. He never saw his railway; he died of

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus (often called Smallpox virus), which belongs to the genus '' Orthopoxvirus''. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (W ...

on 22 April 1858 in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The engine itself is in the collection of the

National Railway Museum The National Railway Museum (NRM) is a museum in York, England, forming part of the Science Museum Group. The museum tells the story of rail transport in Britain and its impact on society. It is the home of the national collection of historical ...

and is currently housed at

Didcot Railway Centre Didcot Railway Centre is a railway museum and preservation engineering site in Didcot, Oxfordshire, England. The site was formerly a Great Western Railway engine shed and locomotive stabling point. Background The founders and commercial backers ...

. The Potton Barbershop Harmony Club named its male chorus '

Shannon Express Shannon Express was a male barbershop chorus based in Potton, Bedfordshire, England. The chorus formed in 1978 and twice won the British Association of Barbershop Singers (BABS) gold medal, in 1995 and 1998. The chorus met every Thursday from 7 ...

' after the locomotive. Former Potton railway station

Potton railway station Potton was a railway station on the Varsity Line which served the small town of the same name in Bedfordshire. Opened in 1857 as part of Sir William Peel's Sandy and Potton Railway, the station was initially situated further south near the Bi ...

, which opened in 1862 and served the

Varsity Line The Varsity Line was the main railway line that linked the English university cities of Oxford and Cambridge, operated by the London and North Western Railway. In World War II, the line became a strategic route for freight avoiding London, a ...

between

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, was closed in 1968. The railway was partly to blame for the decline of Potton market but made London accessible for the district's

market garden A market garden is the relatively small-scale production of fruits, vegetables and flowers as cash crops, frequently sold directly to consumers and restaurants. The diversity of crops grown on a small area of land, typically from under to s ...

ers.

Potton Manor

Potton Manor was built in the 1860s. It was requisitioned by the armed forces and used as a laboratory during the war and as a car factory by Eva Pokorova and Otto van Smekal. The Champion car built in Potton was purchased from the National Motor Museum by Potton History Society, whose aim it is to restore the vehicle to full working order. The house was finally demolished in the early 1980s.

Land Settlement Association

In March 1935 the first

Land Settlement Association The Land Settlement Association was a UK Government scheme set up in 1934, with help from the charities the Plunkett Foundation and the Carnegie Trust, to re-settle unemployed workers from depressed industrial areas,Sir Malcolm Stewart Sir Percy Malcolm Stewart, 1st Baronet (9 May 1872 – 27 February 1951), was an English industrialist and philanthropist. He incorporated the London Brick Company in the 1920s, which was at the time reputed to be the largest brick-making c ...

, Potton's last Lord of the Manor. Its purpose was to resettle unemployed men from coal mining areas in the north of England. Pig and poultry farming plus horticulture were the main activities, augmented by a central farm. Potton provided the model for a further 20 such estates across the country.

Air crash

On 18 September 1945, a

B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models desi ...

bomber crashed on the southern edge of Potton Wood. Four men were killed; the place where it fell can still be seen.Forestry Commission: Potton Wood

Geography

Potton is east of the county town of

, south-west of

and north of London. The B1042 road links the town to

and

Wrestlingworth Wrestlingworth is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Wrestlingworth and Cockayne Hatley, in the Central Bedfordshire district of the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England about east of the county town of Bedford. The 2 ...

and the B1040 to

Biggleswade Biggleswade ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Central Bedfordshire in Bedfordshire, England. It lies on the River Ivel, 11 miles (18 km) south-east of Bedford. Its population was 16,551 in the 2011 United Kingdom census, This figur ...

and

Gamlingay Gamlingay is a village and civil parish in the South Cambridgeshire district of Cambridgeshire, England, about west southwest of Cambridge. The 2011 census gives the village's population as 3,247 and the civil parish's as 3,568. In addition ...

. Area and landscape classification The parish covers an area of about 1,085 hectares. Potton Brook flows centrally, north to south through the parish and is the dividing point between two National Character Areas (NCAs) designated by

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

. West of Potton Brook lies within The Bedfordshire Greensand Ridge (NCA 90). East of the Brook forms part of The Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire Claylands (NCA 88). Central Bedfordshire Council has further classified the landscape into landscape character areas (LCAs). The town and west of the parish lie on the Everton Greensand Ridge (LCA 6C), land surrounding Potton Brook is part of the Dunton Clay Vale (5G) and Potton Wood and its surrounds are on Cockayne Hatley Clay Farmland (1C). Altitude The town centre is above sea level. The land slopes from north to south and reaches a high of at Potton Wood in the north-east of the parish. Geology, soil type and land use The town is mainly surrounded by arable farmland. There are areas of woodland to the south-east of the town at Pegnut Wood, alongside Potton Brook at the north-eastern edge of the town and at Potton Wood in the north-east corner of the parish. There is a sand quarry to the north-west of the town. Potton lies on Potton Sands; a geological formation whose strata date back to the

Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous (geochronology, geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphy, chronostratigraphic name) is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 143.1 ...

age. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation. There is a band of alluvium along the course of Potton Brook and a strip of

gault The Gault Formation is a geological formation of stiff blue clay deposited in a calm, fairly deep-water marine environment during the Lower Cretaceous Period (Upper and Middle Albian). It is well exposed in the coastal cliffs at Copt Point in Fo ...

to the east of the town. Potton Wood lies on

boulder clay Boulder clay is an unsorted agglomeration of clastic sediment that is unstratified and structureless and contains gravel of various sizes, shapes, and compositions distributed at random in a fine-grained matrix. The fine-grained matrix consists o ...

. The soil at the centre and west of the parish is of low fertility and is freely draining and slightly acid with a sandy texture. Alongside Potton Brook the soil is loamy and sandy with naturally high groundwater and a peaty texture. East of the brook is a strip of freely draining slightly acid loamy soil. There are highly fertile lime-rich loamy and clayey soils with impeded drainage at and to the south of Potton Wood.

Demography

At the time of the 2001 census, Potton had 4,473 inhabitants living in 1,869 households. The ethnic origin of 95.5% was British. 73.9% were Christian, 1.3% followed another religion and 24.9% stated no religion or were not religious.

Governance

There are two tiers of local government covering Potton, at

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

(town) and

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

level: Potton Town Council and

Central Bedfordshire Council Central Bedfordshire Council is the local authority for Central Bedfordshire, a local government district in the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire, England. The council is a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functi ...

, based at

Chicksands Chicksands is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Campton and Chicksands in the Central Bedfordshire district of Bedfordshire, England. The village is on the River Flit and close to its parish village of Campton and the tow ...

. Potton Town Council has 15 members and meets at the Community Centre in Brook End. The building was formerly the town's fire station and had been built in 1887. The town is represented by a single councillor on

and by the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Member of Parliament Richard Fuller for the

North East Bedfordshire North East Bedfordshire was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2024. Further to the completion of the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies, the seat was abolishe ...

constituency at the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

Public transport

Centrebus (South) runs an hourly, daytime, Monday to Saturday service to Biggleswade and

Hitchin Hitchin () is a market town in the North Hertfordshire Districts of England, district of Hertfordshire, England. The town dates from at least the 7th century. It lies in the valley of the River Hiz at the north-eastern end of the Chiltern Hills ...

(journey time one hour) via

and Dunton (service 188) or via

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a List of United Kingdom locations: Stu-Sz#Su, location * S ...

(service 190) and to

direct (service 188) or via

and Everton (service 190). Ivel Sprinter runs a return trip each Wednesday to Cambridge (journey time 43 minutes) and every Thursday to St. Neots (38 minutes). The nearest railway stations are

and

Public services

The water supplied by

Anglian Water Anglian Water Services Limited is a water company that operates in the East of England. It was formed in 1989 under the partial privatisation of the water industry. It provides water supply, sewerage and sewage treatment to the area formerly ...

for the Potton Public Water Supply Zone (RW50) is chloraminated and classed as hard. The supply comes from groundwater

borehole A borehole is a narrow shaft bored in the ground, either vertically or horizontally. A borehole may be constructed for many different purposes, including the extraction of water ( drilled water well and tube well), other liquids (such as petr ...

s. There is a

waste water treatment Wastewater treatment is a process which removes and eliminates contaminants from wastewater. It thus converts it into an effluent that can be returned to the water cycle. Once back in the water cycle, the effluent creates an acceptable impact on ...

works on Biggleswade Road and a water tower on Hatley Road. The Eastern Power Area of

UK Power Networks UK Power Networks (UKPN) is a distribution network operator for electricity covering South East England, the East of England and London. It manages three licensed distribution networks (Eastern Power Networks, South Eastern Power Networks and Lo ...

is the

distribution network operator A distribution network operator (DNO), also known as a distribution system operator (DSO), is the operator of the electric power distribution system which delivers electricity to most end users. Each country may have many local distribution netwo ...

for electricity.

Cadent Gas Cadent Gas is a British regional gas distribution company that owns, operates and maintains the largest natural gas distribution network in the United Kingdom, transporting gas to 11 million homes and businesses across North West England, We ...

owns and operates the area's gas distribution network. The two nearest general hospitals are

(Bedford Hospital NHS Trust) and

Lister Hospital, Stevenage The Lister Hospital is an NHS hospital based on the outskirts of Stevenage in Hertfordshire. It is operated by the East and North Hertfordshire Teaching NHS Trust along with the New QEII Hospital in Welwyn Garden City. History The Lister Hosp ...

(East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust). Ambulance services are provided by the

East of England Ambulance Service The East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) is an NHS trust responsible for providing National Health Service (NHS) ambulance services in the counties of Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Norfolk and Suffolk, in th ...

NHS Trust.

Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service is the fire and rescue service for the ceremonial county of Bedfordshire in England, consisting of the unitary authorities of Bedford, Central Bedfordshire, and Luton. Bedfordshire Fire Brigade was recrea ...

has a station on Bury Hill staffed by retained firefighters. There is a public library on the Market Square and a post office at Brook End.

Landmarks

A memorial cross to Potton men killed in the First and Second World Wars stands in the cemetery, with a brass plaque bearing the same names in the parish church.

Media

Local news and television programmes are provided by

BBC East BBC East is one of BBC's English Regions covering Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and parts of Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire (including the City of Milton Keynes). It is headquartered in The Forum ...

and

ITV Anglia ITV Anglia, previously known as Anglia Television, is the ITV franchise holder for the East of England. The station is based at Anglia House in Norwich, with regional news bureaux in Cambridge and Northampton. ITV Anglia is owned and operated b ...

. Television signals are received from the nearby

Sandy Heath Sandy Heath transmitting station is a television and radio broadcasting station in England, located between Sandy, Bedfordshire and Potton near the B1042. It is owned by Arqiva, formerly NTL Broadcast. It was built in 1965, originally broadcas ...

TV transmitter. Local radio stations are BBC Three Counties Radio on 95.5 FM,

Heart East Heart East was a regional radio station owned and operated by Global as part of the Heart network. It broadcast to the East of England from studios in Milton Keynes. The station launched on 3 June 2019, following a merger of four Heart station ...

on 96.9 FM and BigglesFM is a licensed community radio station which broadcasts from the town on 104.8 FM and online. Full-time broadcasting began in April 2011. The town is served by the local newspaper, The Biggleswade Chronicle.

Sport and leisure

The Henry Smith Playing Field off Brook End on the eastern edge of the town has a children's play area and skate park. Events such as Picnic in the Park and the biennial Party on Potton are hosted. Potton has a

Non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

club Potton United F.C., which plays at The Hollow. Potton Colts is the local youth football club with teams for children aged 6–16. Potton Town Cricket Club is also based at The Hollow on Biggleswade Road. Both Junior and Senior cricket is played. The adult section runs two teams competing in the Saracens Hertfordshire League on Saturdays and The Bedfordshire Cricket League on Sundays. The club also enter midweek competitions.

Potton History Society

There is an active History Society with a membership of over 100. It meets regularly in the Community Centre in Brook End.

Religious sites

The parish church of St Mary's stands a short distance from the town centre on a small hill. It has a chancel, a nave, aisles and north porch, and a western tower with circular turret containing six bells. A separate cemetery was established in 1880, west of the town on the road to Sandy.

Economy

Potton had its own brewery from around 1784Bedfordshire County Council: Potton Timeline
until 1922 when it was bought by the

brewery of Newland & Nash. This company subsequently closed the brewery in Potton and sold the site to the

Co-operative Society A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democra ...

(the original buildings remain intact). In 1998 brewing returned to Potton when the Potton Brewery Company was re-established, This subsequently closed but a new brewery is currently being planned. The town is also home to Potton Homes, who specialise in mock Tudor style property developments. A sand quarry operated by Breedon Aggregates lies off The Heath to the north-west of the town. Deepdale Trees operate an extensive tree nursery off Hatley Road and there is an adjacent poultry farm. Despite noteworthy local businesses, the town remains very much a commuter town; the majority of people in Potton commute daily to either London, via rail, or to Cambridge.

Notable people

* Joel Beckett (1973- ), actor, born in Potton * Sarah Dazley (1819-1843), murderer, known as the "Potton Poisoner"; lived in Potton until 1840 * Freddie Hinds (1999- ), professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a striker for

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

club

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

References

External links

Potton History SocietyinPotton.com
{{authority control Towns in Bedfordshire Civil parishes in Bedfordshire Central Bedfordshire District