Potters Bar

The origin of the Potters element of the town's name is uncertain but is generally thought to be either a reference to a Roman pottery, believed to have been sited locally, or alternatively to the Pottere family who lived in neighbouring South Mimms parish.[6] The Bar is thought to refer to the gates leading from the South Mimms parish and into the Enfield Chase parish, or possibly from a toll on the Great North Road,[6] said to have been by what is now the disused Green Man pub, or at the current entrance to Morven House.

Potters Bar is located on the Great North Road, one of two road routes from the City of London to the north of England.[7] The road was originally numbered as the A1, and later the A1000.

Potters Bar was historically part of Middlesex[8] and formed the Potters Bar Urban District of that county from 1934.[9] From 1894 to 1934 its area had formed the South Mimms Rural District.[10] In 1965 the district was transferred to Hertfordshire County Council while most of the rest of Middlesex County Council became part of Greater London.[11][12]

The urban district covered an area of 6,129 acres (24.80 km²).[9] In 1939 it had a population of 13,681, increasing to 24,613 in 1971.[13] In 1974 the urban district was abolished and the area became part of the borough of Hertsmere. Having been part of Middlesex, the area continued to form part of the Metropolitan Police District; with the creation of the Greater London Authority it was transferred to the Hertfordshire Constabulary in 2000.[14]

As of the 2021 census, Potters Bar still had a Christian majority, making it more Christian than both England and Wales as a whole and the rest of Hertsmere. Potters Bar has a significant Jewish community and an Orthodox synagogue, but as a percentage of the overall population, the Jewish community, which numbers over 600, pales in comparison to every other settlement in Hertsmere, the most Jewish borough in the country.

Darkes Lane, Potters Bar, looking north towards the railway bridge

The A1 was built as a major 'arterial' road and a crossroads at Bignells Corner linked it to the Barnet – St Albans road. Potters Bar is now also served by junctions 23 and 24 of the M25 motorway.[1]

Potters Bar railway station is the highest on the line between London's King's Cross railway station and York. The Great Northern route serves various North London suburbs to the south before terminating at either King's Cross or Moorgate station. Northbound, the railway runs to Hatfield, Welwyn Garden City, Cambridge, and Peterborough.[18]

The nearest London Underground station is at Cockfosters, which is approximately 2.5 miles (4.0 km) south on the A111 from junction 24 of the M25.

Potters Bar has a bus depot that services local bus routes as well as some London bus routes. The 84 bus route runs north-west to St. Albans. Other routes include the 298 to Arnos Grove, the 313 to Enfield and Chingford, the 242 to Waltham Cross, the 398 to Watford and the 610 to Enfield and Hatfield. There are also school bus services run from various places to Dame Alice Owen's School and to Chancellor's School.

Route Number	Route	Operation	Operator
84	St. Albans St Peters Street to Potters Bar Station via the High Street	Daily	Sullivan Buses
242	Waltham Cross Bus Station to Potters Bar Station via Cuffley, Cheshunt. Extended to Welwyn Garden City via Hatfield on Sundays	Daily	Metroline (Mon-Sat) TrustyBus (Sun)
298	Potters Bar Cranbourne Road to Arnos Grove Station via Cockfosters	Daily	Sullivan Buses
313	Potters Bar Station to Chingford Station via Enfield	Daily	Arriva London
306B	Potters Bar Station to Watford via Elstree	Sat	Sullivan Buses
398	Potters Bar Station to Watford via Radlett	Mon-Fri	Sullivan Buses
610	Cockfosters to Luton via Welham Green and Hatfield Business Park	Mon-Sat	Uno
PB1 Circular	Circular via Shillitoe Avenue, Potters Bar Station , High Street and Oakmere	Mon-Sat	Uno

There are eight churches in Potters Bar. These include St Mary the Virgin and All Saints' Church at the top of the Walk,[20] the first Anglican parish in the town created from the parish of South Mimms in the 1800s.[21] The Church contains stained glass including some "fine portraits" of several saints as well as tributes to John Keble, and Randall Davidson. There is a Madonna Window in memory of John Goodacre, a long-time schoolmaster at Potters Bar.[22][23] Other churches include Our Lady and St Vincent (Roman Catholic), King Charles the Martyr, Christ Church, Potters Bar Baptist Church, St John's Methodist Church[24] and the Causeway Free Church. Potters Bar Spiritualist Church is on Hill Rise.[25] There was briefly a Salvation Army in Station Road.[26] There is also the Jain Temple at the Oshwal Centre, which "recreates a general Māru-Gurjara aesthetic".

There are six primary and infant state schools in Potters Bar and the surrounding area; they are Cranborne School, Ladbrooke JMI, Little Heath Primary, Oakmere Primary, Pope Paul RC Primary and Wroxham School.

Mount Grace School is a mixed grant maintained School in Potters Bar opened in 1954.[27]

Lochinver house school is an all-boys preparatory school in Potters Bar, which opened in 1947.[28]

Stormont School is an all-girls preparatory school in Potters Bar, which opened in 1944.[29]

Dame Alice Owen's School is a mixed grant-maintained school in Potters Bar.[30] Founded in 1613 and based in Islington until 1973, it is unusual in its 'Visitation' and 'Beer Money' traditions.[31]

The town also houses many veterinary medicine (mostly third, fourth and fifth-year) students from the Royal Veterinary College.

Potters Bar has a King George's Field in memorial to King George V, which is situated behind the Furzefield Centre. There is a swimming pool and leisure centre run by Hertsmere council, which is home to St Albans and Hertsmere Canoe Club.[32] Also in the town are Potters Bar Town F.C., Potters Bar Swimming Club (PBSC),[33] a Scuba diving Club (the Potters Bar Sub Aqua Club), a tennis club, a cricket club. The Wyllyotts Centre is a theatre, cinema and events venue, and is also the location of the town's museum.[34] Potters Bar is also home to the Hertfordshire Showband (formally known as the Marching Blues).[35]

In December 2018, the golf course at Potters Bar closed after 95 years.[36]

In 1983, the area around Potters Bar was used for the on-location filming of the comic-horror film Bloodbath at the House of Death. Also, in 2005, David Walliams and Matt Lucas shot two scenes for the third season of the comedy Little Britain: one scene at Mount Grace School gym, the other at a wedding shop on the High Street.[37] Potters Bar is also home to a performing arts school, Top Hat Stage School, which has been running classes at Elm Court Community Centre since 1994.

• Amanda Abbington, actress[38]
• Acker Bilk, clarinetist, divided his time between Pensford, Somerset, and Potters Bar[39]
• Bernard Butler, musician, record producer, and guitarist in Suede.[40]
• Roger Fenton, Crimean war photographer who lived at Mount Grace manor house
• Martin Freeman, actor[38]
• Tony Jacklin, golfer, whose home golf club was Potters Bar Golf Club[41]
• Terry Lightfoot, jazz musician, born in Potters Bar[42]
• Storm Thorgerson, graphic designer, born in Potters Bar[43]
• Dolly Shepherd, parachutist and entertainer, born in Potters Bar.
• John Yianni, board game designer (notably of Hive), born in Potters Bar[44]

• Viernheim, Germany
• Franconville, Val-d'Oise, France (since 1973)

Notes

References

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Potters Bar.

• Media related to Potters Bar at Wikimedia Commons
• The Potters Bar Society
• pottersbar.org – local information