Potton, Bedfordshire, England. Geographical and Historical information from 1866.

POTTON:
Geographical and Historical information from the year 1866.

"POTTON, a parish, a small town, and a sub-district, in Biggleswade district, Beds. The town stands in a picturesque tract, near the Bedford and Cambridge railway, 1 mile S of the boundary with Cambridgeshire, and 4 NE of Biggleswade; was extensively destroyed by fire in 1783; carries on straw-plaiting; and has a post-office‡ under St.Neots, a railway station, sevral inns, a market-house with clock-turret, a church, three dissenting chapels, an endowed school with £30 a-year, a national school, and charities £130.

The church stands on an eminence, a short distance from the town; is Norman, in good condition; and has an embattled tower. The Independent chapel is a neat edifice, and was built in 1848. A weekly market is held on Saturday; fairs are held on the third Tuesday of Jan., the last Tuesday of April, Easter Monday and Tuesday, and the Tuesday before 29 Oct.; and there are corn-mills. - The parish comprises 2,200 acres. Real property, £7,437. Pop., 1,944. Houses, 377. The manor belonged to John of Gaunt, passed to the Burgoynes, and belongs now to S. C. Whitbread, Esq. P. Wood is a meet for the Cambridgeshire hounds. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Ely. Value, £450. Patron, the Lord Chancellor. - The sub-district contains also ten other parishes. Acres, 26,125. Pop., 9,280. Houses, 1,919."