Potterne is a village in the English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 county

Counties of the United Kingdom

The counties of the United Kingdom are subnational divisions of the United Kingdom, used for the purposes of administrative, geographical and political demarcation. By the Middle Ages counties had become established as a unit of local government, at least in England. By the early 17th century all...

 of Wiltshire

Wiltshire

Wiltshire is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. It contains the unitary authority of Swindon and covers...

. The civil parish of Potterne includes the hamlet of Potterne Wick. In the census of 2001, the village had a population of 1,570. It is located slightly to the south of Devizes

Devizes

Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The town is about southeast of Chippenham and about east of Trowbridge.Devizes serves as a centre for banks, solicitors and shops, with a large open market place where a market is held once a week...

 and lies on the A360 which passes from Devizes

Devizes

Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. The town is about southeast of Chippenham and about east of Trowbridge.Devizes serves as a centre for banks, solicitors and shops, with a large open market place where a market is held once a week...

 to Salisbury

Salisbury

Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city in the county. It is the second largest settlement in the county...

. Potterne is the second-most populated village in Wiltshire, second to Market Lavington

Market Lavington

Market Lavington is a large village with a population of about 2,300 on the northern edge of Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, near the market town of Devizes.-Status:...

 which has a population of over 2000 according to the census of 2001. Potterne is known as 'The Place of Springs' since there are many springs all around the village. This title was used by the old primary school (Potterne CEVC Primary School) on its emblem.

The village is home to a successful cricket club, founded as part of the village sports team in 1936. Currently the team plays in the Wiltshire Cricket League and also boasts a successful youth set-up. It is also home to a famous footballer, William Neil Hindon Twinesteiger, who currently plays for AFC ANC, a hugely successful Cardiff-based football club backed by a wealthy conglomerate of Arabian investors, headed up by Sir Thomas Eveleigh and the well-known homosexual playboy Ryan Clarke III.

The village used to have three pubs, but now only has 'The George & Dragon'. It also has a post office, village hall, village shop, church, deer sanctuary, youth club, 'Bright Sparks Community Preschool', the Key Stage 1 half of 'Five Lanes Primary School' (The Key Stage 2 half is located in Worton - a nearby village) and an independent prep school (The Mill School). There is also a playing field and a park.

Many of the residents of Potterne are part of the 'Potterne Panto Group' which present pantomimes nearly every February (see below for more details). Recently, the village has held Christmas markets in December which have attracted many visitors.

The village has several farms, with many residents working in agriculture, either within the parish or beyond. There are many other small businesses operating in the village such as interior designers, household crafts, landscaping and tourist accommodation.

Recent pantomimes

• February 2008.......Jack and the Beanstalk
  Jack and the Beanstalk
  Jack and the Beanstalk is a folktale said by English historian Francis Palgrave to be an oral legend that arrived in England with the Vikings. The tale is closely associated with the tale of Jack the Giant-killer. It is known under a number of versions...
  
  
• February 2009.......Mystery in Pantoland

The Potterne Mummers

The village is home to the Potterne Mummers, who re-enact performances of a traditional Mummers play during the week before Christmas in pubs around the Devizes area and ending each year with a performance at the George and Dragon, Potterne, on Christmas Eve. The Potterne Mummers were founded in 1953 by Bernard Baker, a local schoolteacher, who brought together a group to perform a local Mummer's Play which he had found from an archive report from the late nineteenth century. The initial revival of the play only lasted one year, it was performed by Potterne teenagers under the direction of Bernard Baker in 1966, the cast including Nigel Weeks as Valiant Soldier, and it was next performed in 1972, with a cast which included Mick Hiscock. It is now a firm annual tradition and the cast, still including Mick Hiscock, put on their tatter coats and tour the pubs collecting money for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance.

External links

• Official Potterne Village homepage
• Inner Space Interior Design
• Twigs Crafts
• Stable Cottage Self-Catering
• Blounts Court Farm B&B