1. History
    Great Fire  Market and fairs  Railway 

2. Governance

3. Geography

4. Demography

5. Landmarks

6. Sport and leisure

7. Potton History Society

8. Religious sites

9. Economy

10. Notable people

11. Twinned towns

12. References

13. External links

Potton is a town and civil parish in Bedfordshire, England. It is 10 miles (17 kilometres) from Bedford. Its population in 2011 was 7,789 people.^[1] 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. It is derived from the Old English for "farmstead where pots are made".^[2]

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.{{cn|date=March 2019}} The 13th-century parish church, St Mary's, survived. Rebuilding after the fire has left the town with a number of Georgian buildings.^[3]

Market and fairs

A fair was granted by Henry II in 1227. As of 1831, fairs were held five times a year, in January, April, July and October.^[4] The town's horse fairs were some of the largest in the country, until they ended in 1932.^[3]

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, with a modern library built in their place. The Clock House was opened on 23 July 1956 and used The Shambles' clock, illuminated dials and bell. In spring 2006, the mechanism was replaced with an automatic winding system costing £3,000.^[3]

Railway

The Sandy and Potton Railway opened on 9 November 1857. It was established by Captain Sir William Peel VC, who resided at The Lodge, and was also known as Captain Peel's Railway. When the Great Northern Railway came to Sandy 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 on 22 April 1858 in India. The engine itself is in the collection of the National Railway Museum^[5] and is currently housed at Didcot Railway Centre.^[6] The Potton Barbershop Harmony Club named its male chorus 'Shannon Express' after the locomotive.^[7]

Potton Manor was built in the 1860s. It was requisitioned by the armed forces^[16] 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.^[3]

On 18 September 1945, a B-24 Liberator bomber crashed on the southern edge of Potton Wood.^[9] Four men were killed; the place where it fell can still be seen.^[10]

Governance

Potton Town Council is based at the Community Centre in Brook End,^[11] and is represented on Central Bedfordshire Council. Potton is represented at the House of Commons by Alistair Burt as part of the North East Bedfordshire constituency.^[12]

Geography

Potton is 10 miles (17 kilometres) east of the county town of Bedford, 15 miles (24 km) south-west of Cambridge and 43 miles (69 km) north of London. It is on the B1042 road between the town of Sandy, to the west, and the village of Gamlingay, to the north.^[13]

The parish ranges from 81 metres, in the east, to 33 metres above sea level, in the south-west.^[14] Potton Wood, managed by the Forestry Commission, is in the north-east part of the parish.^[10]

Potton Sands is a geological formation whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.

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.^[15]

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.^[16]

Sport and leisure

Potton has a Non-League football club Potton United F.C., which plays at The Hollow.

For younger players Potton Colts is the local youth football club with teams for children aged 6-16 who want to play^[17].

Potton has a cricket club, Potton Town Cricket Club 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^[18] on Saturdays and The Bedfordshire Cricket League^[19] 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 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.^[4]

Economy

Potton had its own brewery from around 1784^[20] until 1922 when it was bought by the Bedford brewery of Newland & Nash. This company subsequently closed the brewery in Potton and sold the site to the Co-operative Society (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.

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

• Sarah Dazley (1819-1843). Murderer, known as the "Potton Poisoner"^[21], lived in Potton until 1840.
• Joel Beckett (1973- ), actor, born in Potton
• Freddie Hinds (1999- ), professional footballer who plays as a striker for Championship club Bristol City

Twinned towns

• {{flagicon|GER}} Langenlonsheim, (Germany)^[22]

References

External links

• Potton History Society
• [https://www.inpotton.com inPotton.com]

• Eightball (comics)
• Eight-ball (disambiguation)
• Eight Banners
• Eight Banner system
• Eight Banner System
• Eight-bar blues
• Eight-bit
• Eight-bit clean
• Eight Bit Theater
• Eight-cell stage
• Eight circuit model of consciousness
• Eight-circuit model of consciousness
• Eight circuit theory
• Eight Consciousnesses
• Eight Crazy Nights
• Eight Days a Week (disambiguation)
• Eight Deer Jaguar Claw
• Eighteen Kingdoms
• Eighteen Schools
• Eighteenth Air Force
• Eighteenth Amendment
• Eighteenth Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland
• Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
• Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte
• Eighteenth Century