Bedfordshire 
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POTTON, a market town and parish in the hundred of BIGGLESWADE, county of BEDFORD, 11½ miles (E.) from Bedford, and 48 (N. by W.) from London, containing 1498 inhabitants. A great part of this town was destroyed by fire in 1783, on which occasion the damages were estimated at £25,000, exclusively of the expense of temporary erections in the adjacent fields, for the accommodation of the inhabitants, until their houses could be rebuilt. It is pleasantly situated at the foot of a hill, on the high road from London to Cambridge, and consists principally of one long street: the inhabitants are supplied with water by means of several small rivulets, and the adjacent neighborhood is highly respectable, and contains some genteel and handsome mansions. The market is on Saturday, chiefly for corn and straw-plat, but the business done is very inconsiderable. In 1227, a fair was granted by charter of Henry III.: at present, fairs are held on the third Tuesday in January, the last Tuesday in April, first Tuesday in July, and the Tuesday before the 29th of October, all which are noted for the sale of horses and sheep. The living is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Bedford, and diocese of Lincoln, rated in the king's books at £13.6.8., and in the patronage of the Crown. The church is dedicated to St. Mary. There is a place of worship for Baptists. Three several bequests have been made for the instruction of children ; in 1711, of £50, by Dame Constance Burgoyne; in 1712, of £30, by Alexander Atkinson, and in 1170, of £400, by John Caryer; which are vested in land, and, with the sum of £3.16.8. per annum, a proportion of the town land receipts, are applied to the instruction of about thirty of both sexes.
[A Topographical Dictionary of England - Samuel Lewis - 1831]
A Cemetery of 2 acres was formed in 1880, at a cost of £1,000, and has a mortuary chapel, used in common by all denominations: it is now under the control of the parish council.
[Kelly's Directory - Bedfordshire - 1898]
The 1851 Census Index for Potton can be found in the 1851 Index to Census of Bedfordshire, Volume 3, Book 2 available from the Bedfordshire Family History Society.
Church of England
The Church of St. Mary, standing on an eminence a short distance from the town, is an edifice of stone in the Perpendicular style, and consists of chancel, nave of five bays, aisles and north porch, with parvise or priest's chamber, and an embattled western tower with a circular turret, at the north-east angle and containing 5 bells: there is a Norman font, a piscina, and remains of the stairs to the rood loft: on the east wall of the porch are traces of an ancient brass with a chalice in the centre : there are stained windows, two of which were erected by J. P. Wagstaff esq. J.P., D.L., as memorials to his father and mother, and in 1889 the chancel and aisles were reroofed and reseated: there are 500 sittings. The register dates from the year 1614.
[Kelly's Directory - Bedfordshire - 1898]
Non-conformist
There is a Congregational chapel, built in 1848, and seating 500 persons. The Wesleyan chapel was rebuilt and enlarged in 1850, and will seat nearly 300; a minister's residence was added in 1893. There is also a Baptist chapel, with sittings for 400 persons, and a burial ground.
[Kelly's Directory - Bedfordshire - 1898]
Church of England
The parish record transcripts for the St. Mary are available on microfiche for the period 1614-1812 from the Bedfordshire Family History Society.
Genweb Bedfordshire contains a descriptive page about Potton.
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[Last updated 16 March 2003 Martin Edwards]