Potsgrove, Bedfordshire
Historical Description
Potsgrove or Pottesgrove, a parish in Beds, 2½ miles S of Woburn, and 4½ S by E of Woburn Sands station on the Bedford and Bletchley branch of the L. & N.W.R. Post town and money order and telegraph office, Woburn. Acreage, 1417; population of the civil parish, 157; of the ecclesiastical, with Battlesden, 238. The Duke of Bedford is lord. of the manor and sole landowner. The living is a rectory,. annexed to the rectory of Battlesden, in the diocese of Ely; ' joint net value, £285 with residence, in the gift of the Duke of Bedford. The church is a small building in the Decorated style, consisting of chancel, nave, S porch, and a western belfry of wood. There is a Congregational chapel.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Bedfordshire | |
| Ecclesiastical parish | Potsgrove St. Mary | |
| Hundred | Manshead |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1663.
The Bedfordshire and Luton Archives and Records Service (BLARS) hold the registers for Potsgrove: Baptisms 1663-1965, Marriages 1663-1986, Burials 1663-1979, Banns 1783-1819, 1874-1950. Transcripts in either book or microfiche form for registers prior to 1813 can be purchased from the BLARS (see website for details).
Churches
Church of England
St. Mary (parish church)
The church of St. Mary, a small edifice of the 14th century, consists of chancel, nave, south porch and a western belfry of wood, containdng 3 bells: the chancel retains a Decorated rood screen, and on the north side a sepulchral recess with an obtuse foliated arch: there are two good two-light Decorated windows on the north and south of the nave with remains of stained glass: the east window and north doorway are Perpendicular: in the church are brasses to William Saunders, gent. 1563, and Isabel his wife, but in a much mutilated condition, and now affixed to a board on the south wall of the chancel: of the male effigy, in civil dress, only the upper part remains, and of the female, only the centre; half the inscription is also missing: these brasses are palimpsest, and the male figure is cut out of a large Flemish brass, c. 1360-70: the church was restored in 1881, at a cost of £1,450, and affords 90 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Potsgrove was in Woburn Registration District from 1837 to 1899 and Ampthill Registration District from 1899 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Potsgrove from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Potsgrove (St. Mary))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Bedfordshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Potsgrove are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Bedfordshire papers online:
- Bedfordshire Times and Independent
- Biggleswade Chronicle
- Luton Times and Advertiser
- Luton News and Bedfordshire Chronicle
Poor Law
Potsgrove was in Woburn Poor Law Union from 1835-1899 when it transferred to Ampthill Poor Law Union. For further detailed history of the Ampthill Union see Peter Higginbotham's excellent resource: Ampthill Poor Law Union and Workhouse.
Visitations Heraldic
A full transcript of the Visitations of Bedfordshire 1566, 1582, and 1634 is available online.