Potton, Bedfordshire

Description
Potton, a small market-town and a parish in Beds. The town stands in a picturesque tract, near the Bedford and Cambridge branch of the L. & N.W.R., on which it has a station, 1 mile S of the boundary with Cambridgeshire, 4 miles NE of Biggleswade, and 2 1/2 E of Sandy station on the G.N.R. A great portion of it was destroyed by fire in 1783. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Sandy. Area of the parish, 2676 acres; population, 1907. There is a parish council consisting of thirteen members. The industries of Rotton include the manufacture of bead work for ladies' dresses and bonnets, leather leggings, shoes, fellmongery, wool stapling, and the making of parchment. There are also works for the manufacture of agricultural implements and a steam flour-mill. Much of the land is laid out in market gardens, the produce being disposed of in some of the larg& towns of the midlands and in London. Coprolites are found here in considerable quantities. The market-house stands in a large open square, and has a clock-turret. Fairs are held on the third Monday and Tuesday in January after the 12th (" old style "), and Easter Monday and Tuesday; there is also a statute or hiring fair about three weeks previous to 11 Oct. The town is well drained, and has an excellent water supply derived from springs. The manor belonged to John of Gaunt, passed to the Burgoynes, and belongs now to the Whitbread family. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Ely; net value, £328 with residence, in the gift of the Lord Chancellor. The church stands on an eminence a short distance from the town, and is a building of stone partly Norman and partly Perpendicular, consisting of chancel, nave,. N and S aisles, S porch, and an embattled western tower. It was partly restored in 1889. There are Baptist, Congregational, and Wesleyan chapels. A cemetery of 2 acres was formed in 1880, and has a mortuary chapel. The charities are worth about £240 a year.