Potterne is a 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
in the
county
A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
of
Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...
, England. The village is south of
Devizes
Devizes () is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman architecture, Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-cent ...
and lies on the
A360 which links Devizes to
Salisbury
Salisbury ( , ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers River Avon, Hampshire, Avon, River Nadder, Nadder and River Bourne, Wi ...
. The civil parish includes the hamlet of Potterne Wick.
History
There is evidence of occupation from the
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...
era with flint tools, including axe heads, being found from this period. An early
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 ...
site, dating to between 700 BCE and 500 BCE, has been found close to Blackberry Lane. Roman remains, including pottery, coins and four skeletons, have been found near Blounts Court.
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 ...
of 1086 recorded three landholdings at ''Poterne'', with six mills and a large population of 107 households.
The ancient parish consisted of the tithings of Potterne,
Worton, and
Marston. Worton and Marston were made into a separate ecclesiastical parish in 1852, and two civil parishes in 1894.
Local government and services
The civil parish elects a
parish council. It is in the area of
Wiltshire Council
Wiltshire Council, known between 1889 and 2009 as Wiltshire County Council, is the Local government in England, local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Wiltshire (district), Wiltshire in South West England, and has its headquarters a ...
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 ...
, which is responsible for all significant local government functions.
Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service have their control centre on the outskirts of the village, in the grounds of the manor house. Prior to the amalgamation of the Dorset and Wiltshire services in 2016, the manor house (a late 18th century building, extended 1888–9) was the headquarters of
Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service. The house was offered for sale in 2017.
Parish church

A priest, and land held by the
Bishop of Salisbury
The Bishop of Salisbury is the Ordinary (officer), ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Salisbury in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers much of the counties of Wiltshire and Dorset. The Episcopal see, see is in the Salisbur ...
, was recorded at Potterne in
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 ...
of 1086.
The
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...
of St Mary was built in the 13th century and has survived with little change, beyond work to the tower in the 15th century and
restoration by
Ewan Christian
Ewan Christian (1814–1895) was a British architect. He is most frequently noted for the restorations of Southwell Minster and Carlisle Cathedral, and the design of the National Portrait Gallery (London), National Portrait Gallery. He was Arch ...
.
Pevsner describes it as "An
Early English parish church of exceptional purity and indeed classicity" and linked this to the Bishops' ownership of the manor.
The church is
cruciform
A cruciform is a physical manifestation resembling a common cross or Christian cross. These include architectural shapes, biology, art, and design.
Cruciform architectural plan
Christian churches are commonly described as having a cruciform ...
, with a substantial tower over the crossing, and original
lancet window
A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a sharp pointed arch at its top. This arch may or may not be a steep lancet arch (in which the compass centres for drawing the arch fall outside the opening). It acquired the "lancet" name from its rese ...
s. It is built of rubble stone, with ashlar to the upper tower. The south porch was added in the 14th century, and in the 15th the tower was made higher and given an elaborate battlement.
Restoration in 1870–2 included re-roofing and the removal of galleries,
and the stained glass is from various dates in that century.
The tower has six bells, the oldest cast by William I Purdue c. 1580. The octagonal font and most of the oak pulpit are from the 15th century;
A 10th-century font was found during the 1872 restoration and now stands at the west end of the nave.
The organ was built in 1723 by Jordan of London and recased in 1938. The church was recorded as
Grade I listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...
in 1962.
Since the 11th century, the church has been linked to All Saints at
West Lavington as
tithe
A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in money, cash, cheques or v ...
s from both churches endow a
prebendary
A prebendary is a member of the Catholic Church, Catholic or Anglicanism , Anglican clergy, a form of canon (priest) , canon with a role in the administration of a cathedral or collegiate church. When attending services, prebendaries sit in part ...
at
Salisbury Cathedral
Salisbury Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is an Church of England, Anglican cathedral in the city of Salisbury, England. The cathedral is regarded as one of the leading examples of Early English architecture, ...
.
From 1967 the benefice was held in plurality with Worton and since 2017 the parish has been part of the Wellsprings benefice, which extends to
Seend,
Bulkington
Bulkington is a large village and former civil parish near Bedworth, in the Nuneaton and Bedworth district of Warwickshire, England.OS Explorer Map 232 : Nuneaton & Tamworth: (1:25 000) : In the 2011 census the ward had a population of 6,146 d ...
and
Poulshot.
Notable buildings
* Porch House, a timber-framed house on the High Street, built c.1480. Bought in 1870 by artist
George Richmond, who restored it with advice from Ewan Christian. Grade I listed. "Remarkably well preserved" (Pevsner).
* The Red House, c.1700, a two-storey garden building for
Walter Grubbe MP at Eastwell House, Grade II*.
* Whistley House, c.1730, a country house northwest of the village, Grade II*.
Blount's Court
A medieval part of what is now Potterne was the manor of Blount's Court, which probably originated in the 13th century. By 1953, the house and property now known as Blount's Court had been owned by the Stancomb family since 1809, when William Stancomb started building the house, for which he revived the ancient name. His son William died in 1941 at the age of 90. Blount's Court, which is now divided into flats, is a large 19th Century 'gothic' building with a porch carried up as a battlemented tower. The centre block is of three stories, the wings are of two. The windows are squareheaded, mullioned, and transomed, the parapets battlemented.
Blount's Court is also the name given to the suburban public street, of about 100 houses, leading up to the private property surrounding the block of flats.
Amenities
The village has a shop with a post office, a village hall, a youth club, a playing field and a park. There is one
pub
A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...
, the ''George & Dragon''.
There is a
preschool
A preschool (sometimes spelled as pre school or pre-school), also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, play school, is an school, educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they ...
and a primary school (Five Lanes CE VC Primary School) which has two sites: for younger children at Potterne and for older children in the nearby village of
Worton. Wiltshire
Scouts
Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...
have their Wiltshire Scout Centre, with six campgrounds, near Potterne Wick.
Potterne Cricket Club, founded as part of the village sports team in 1936, play in the
West of England Premier League
The West of England Premier League (WEPL) is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in the West of England and is a designated ECB Premier League.
Since its inception in 1999, the most successful club has been Bath, having ...
and
Wiltshire County Cricket League.
The Potterne Mummers
The village is home to the Potterne Mummers, who re-enact performances of a traditional
mummers play
Mummers' plays are folk plays performed by troupes of amateur actors, traditionally all male, known as mummers or guisers (also by local names such as ''rhymers'', ''pace-eggers'', ''soulers'', ''tipteerers'', ''wrenboys'', and ''galoshins''). ...
during the week before Christmas in pubs around the Devizes area and ending each year with a performance at the George and Dragon and Potterne social club on Christmas Eve.
The Mummers were founded in 1953 by Bernard Baker, a local schoolteacher, who brought together a group to perform a local mummer's play which he had found from an archive report from the late nineteenth century. The initial revival of the play only lasted one year; it was performed by Potterne teenagers under the direction of Bernard Baker. In 1976 the cast included Nigel Weeks as Valiant Soldier, and it was next performed in 1972, with a cast which included Mick Hiscock. It has been performed every year since and is a firm annual tradition and the cast, still including Mick Hiscock, put on their tatter coats and tour the pubs collecting money for various charities including the Wiltshire Air Ambulance.
The Potterne Mummers were presented to
Prince Philip
Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...
in 2012 at the Queen's Jubilee event at Salisbury Cathedral and were shortlisted for a Community Service award in 2014.
Notable people
*
Nigel Balchin (1908–1970), novelist and screenwriter, born in Potterne
*
Eric Bodington, vicar from 1899, later Archdeacon
*
Thomas Buchanan, vicar 1871–1891, later Archdeacon
*
Edward Byng
Edward Byng (''ca.'' 1676 – 1753), sometimes spelt Bing, was an English portrait artist.
Thought to be a native of Wiltshire
Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire t ...
(c.1676–1753), portrait artist, lived and died in Potterne
*
Francis Fox
Francis Fox (December 2, 1939 – September 24, 2024) was a Canadian politician who was a member of the Senate, Cabinet minister, and Principal Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office, and thus was a senior aide to Prime Minister Paul Mar ...
, vicar 1711–1726,
controversial theologian
*
Walter Medlicott (1879–1970), cricketer, born in Potterne
*
Mavis Wheeler
Mavis Wheeler (née Mabel Winifred Mary Wright, also known as Mavis Cole, 1908 – 14 October 1970) was an English artist's model, the mistress of painter Augustus John, and the wife of prankster Horace de Vere Cole and archaeologist Sir Mort ...
(1908-1970), socialite who owned Pilgrim Cottage in Potterne, where she shot her lover
Lord Vivian in 1954
*
Albert Edward Wilshire (1863–1935), organist and composer, born in Potterne
References
External links
*
Potterne community website
{{authority control
Villages in Wiltshire
Civil parishes in Wiltshire