Potterspury

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Potterspury
High Street, Potterspury 2007 - geograph.org.uk - 436921.jpg
Narrow private access to the High Street, Potterspury from the A5
Northamptonshire UK location map (2021).svg
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Potterspury
Location within Northamptonshire
Population1,453 
OS grid reference SP7543
•  London 61 miles (98 km)
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Towcester
Postcode district NN12
Dialling code 01908
Police Northamptonshire
Fire Northamptonshire
Ambulance East Midlands
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Northamptonshire
52°05′09″N0°53′52″W / 52.0858°N 0.8977°W / 52.0858; -0.8977

Potterspury is a populous village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. The nearest main town is Milton Keynes, 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. [1]

Contents

The village's name is a concatenation. It was originally cognate with Perry and sometimes written as such, implying pear 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. [2] [n 1] An alternative is "Estpury", seen in 1452. [3]

Geography

Potterspury is on the A5 road, formerly the Roman road of Watling Street between Towcester six miles to the north and Stony Stratford a mile to the south. The village sits at the edge of Whittlewood Forest, a relatively large ancient woodland to the west that was part of the original estate of the Duke of Grafton. Much of this is an SSSI, recognising its biodiversity and providing strong protection against built environment encroachment. Parts are open to the public in the Spring but most footpaths and bridleways adjoin the area, some linking into the Chiltern Hills (Chilterns).

Stony Stratford and Towcester have nearby substantial shopping areas.

Nearby villages comprise Wicken, Deanshanger, Grafton Regis, Alderton and Yardley Gobion.

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 to Bernard the Scribe. [4] The Queen's Oak which stood nearby until 1997 was reputed to be the site of the first meeting between Edward IV and his queen Elizabeth Woodville. [5]

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.

Education

Potterspury Lodge school frontage Potterspury Lodge School front.JPG
Potterspury Lodge school frontage

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. [n 2] Most leavers go on to Elizabeth Woodville School, formerly Kingsbrook School, in Deanshanger, as their secondary school. John Hellins was a mathematician and astronomer who, as parish priest at Potterspury, founded and taught in the village school. [6]

Notes and references

Notes

  1. ↑ Britain's most populous place prefixed Potters is Potters Bar, 40 miles away; Paulerspury is less than 2.
  2. ↑ The latter has about 115 children, aged 4–11.

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References

  1. ↑ "Office for National Statistics: Potterspury (Parish) : Usual Resident Population, 2011" . Retrieved 19 April 2016.
  2. ↑ "Key to English Place-names".
  3. ↑ Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas; image seen at: http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT3/H6/CP40no764/aCP40no764fronts/IMG_0557.htm  ; 6th entry, at the start of the 2nd line "Estpury alias vocat' Potterespury" (with the abbreviation for Northamptonshire in the margin)
  4. ↑ Michael Jones, ‛Ferrers, Robert de, first Earl Ferrers (d. 1139)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 (accessed 28 October 2007).
  5. ↑ The Arboricultural Association Journal. Arboricultural Association. 1965. p. 233.
  6. ↑ "John Hellins Primary School - Inspection Report" [ permanent dead link ], Ofsted, 1 March 2007.
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