Monument record 1223 - Potterspury

Known as Perie in the Domesday Book in 1086, but with variant spellings of Pery and Pirie and Estpirie [East Pury to distinguish it from Paulerspury]. By 1287 the name had changed to Potterspury.

{1} Brass rubbing of Agnes, wife of Cuthbert Ogle (1616).

{8} A quarter of the houses that existed in 1727 in the Northamptonshire village of Potterspury survive today. This has been demonstrated from documentary evidence and buildings survey work. The starting point is a map of 1727, which shows each building in detail in respect of the number of storeys and bays and the positions of windows, doors and chimneys. The house sketches are compared with the existing surviving houses and show strong agreement on detail. Supplementing the map with other contemporary documents, a complete picture of the 1727 village has been reconstructed. Following this picture through the later documentary sources and examining the nature of surviving and lost buildings, has enabled a full history of each house to be established. For the period 1727 to 1910 the paper identifies the main periods of loss, the factors leading to loss and the nature of new and replacement houses.

{15} Perie at Domesday in 1086 with variant spellings Pirie, Pery, Estpirie. In 1287 it is called Potterisperie. The name Perie is derived from 'peartree' and East to distinguish it from Paulerspury. Morton stated 'It [has] the largest as well as the oldest Pottery on all those parts. Its antiquity appears by the common appellation of the town, the name being changed long since from East Pury to Potters-Pury on the account'.

<1> Brass Rubbings at Ashmolean Museum, (unchecked) (Catalogue). SNN41806.

<2> THOMAS R., 1725, Map of Potterspury, (unchecked) (Map). SNN60784.

<3> Collier; Adams, c1727, Map of Potterspury, (unchecked) (Map). SNN20527.

<4> 1776, Potterspury Enclosure Map, (unchecked) (Map). SNN19374.

<5> 1847, Potterspury Tithe Map, (unchecked) (Map). SNN60786.

<6> GOLDBERG A., 1907, A Short History of Potterspury, (unchecked) (Uncertain). SNN47220.

<7> Higginbotham P., 2002, The Workhouse: Banbury & Northamptonshire Extract, (unchecked) (Extract). SNN102266.

<8> Conlon R., 2008, Renewal and Replacement in A Northamptonshire Parish: Housing in Potterspury 1727-1910, (unchecked) (Report). SNN106198.

<9> Clay P.; Courtney P.; Cooper L., 1996, An Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment and Survey for The Salcey to Deanshanger Pipeline Duplication, Phase 3, (unchecked) (Report). SNN62532.

<10> Hardwick, S.H., 1895, Our Tramps (Potterspury Union Workhouse), (unchecked) (Book). SNN107474.

<11> Hindmarch E., 1999, Archaeological Watching Brief At 19, Woods Lane, Pottersbury, Northamptonshire, September 1999, (unchecked) (Report). SNN100024.

<12> Hall D., 2001, The Woodland Landscapes of Southern Northamptonshire, p.33-46 (unchecked) (Article). SNN102520.

<13> Jones R.; Page M., 2006, Medieval Villages in An English Landscape: Beginnings and Ends (Book). SNN106311.

<14> Christopher Dyer, Richard Jones, Mark Page, 2005, The Whittlewood Project: Medieval Settlements and Landscapes in the Whittlewood Area, https://doi.org/10.5284/1000289 (Digital archive). SNN116553.

<15> Gover J.E.B.; Mawer A.; Stenton F.M. (Eds.), 1933, The Place-names of Northamptonshire, p. 105 (Series). SNN5881.

Record last edited

Sep 22 2025 9:34AM