Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
1,543 people call this village in Wiltshire, South West home.
Potterne’s best grade is for safety — 12.5 violent or sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year, plus 3.7 home and vehicle crimes. Cost of living is another plus: the median home sold for £335,000, 5.6 years of area income. The weak point is schools: primary results beat 15% of towns in England; secondary results beat 36% of towns in England. Incomes are on the low side: mean household income £53,079; 3.5% of 16 to 64s claim unemployment benefits.
Figures: crime, police.uk, averaged Sep 2023 to Aug 2026 · prices, HM Land Registry, the last three years · income, ONS · claimants, DWP. With fewer than 2,500 residents, Potterne has subject grades but no overall one.
The 3 things Potterne does most differently from other towns.
Each subject compared with the 2,160 UK towns with an overall grade (schools within England), ordered by how far Potterne is from typical. American towns are graded separately.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Historic England lists them inside Potterne’s built-up area.
27% of its homes were built before 1919, against 15% in the typical UK town.
Explore the history →Data highlights are ordered by what stands out in Potterne.
The heritage lists give each building’s grade but not its age, so we don’t say which is oldest.
Potterne has 56 listed buildings on Historic England’s list: 2 Grade I, 1 Grade II*. Its listed buildings include the Church of St Mary, Grade I. 27% of its homes were built before 1919, above Wiltshire’s towns (20%) and England’s towns (16%) alike.
Historic England list, October 2026 · Valuation Office Agency, homes by build period · OGL
A year of reports to August 2026 adds up to 38 offences in Potterne and 5 cases of nuisance behaviour. For its size, Potterne records less crime per resident than 83% of the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people. Violence and sexual offences made up just over two thirds of the total.
Not gradedAnti-social behaviour, shoplifting and other theft are shown but left out of the Safety Grade, which counts violence and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident.
data.police.uk street-level crime · points inside the ONS built-up-area boundary · OGL · The police category of violence and sexual offences includes harassment and stalking.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in lockdown, so 35% of workers were mainly at home; shares here are of those who travelled.
Driving is how 88% of commuters got to work at the census. Just over a third of commuters travelled under 5 km, below both Wiltshire’s towns (44%) and England’s towns (45%). The 2026 claimant rate among 16 to 64s was 3.5%. Of the commuters living in Potterne, 3% work in the town itself.
ONS Census 2021, method of travel and distance to work · ONS small-area income · DWP claimant count · OGL
22% live in social housing, higher than both Wiltshire’s towns (16%) and England’s towns (18%). Households that own their home make up 68%. The £335,000 median rests on 47 standard sales inside the built-up area (September 2023 to August 2026).
| By type | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| Detached | £371,500 | 22 |
| Semi-detached | £279,950 | 19 |
| Terraced | £260,000 | 5 |
HM Land Registry Price Paid · ONS private rents · MHCLG / Welsh Government council tax · ONS Census 2021 tenure · OGL
There is no GP practice in Potterne: the nearest is 1.9 miles off. A disability affects nearly a fifth of people here. Life expectancy here is 86.8 for women and 81.6 for men (2019–23). The nearest A&E to Potterne is Royal United Hospital Bath, 17.2 miles away.
| Census 2021 | Potterne | Wiltshire | England |
|---|---|---|---|
| Good or very good health | 80% | 83% | 82% |
| Bad or very bad health | 4.9% | 4.4% | 5.2% |
| Disabled (Equality Act) | 19% | 17% | 17% |
ONS Census 2021, general health and disability · OHID Fingertips, life expectancy 2019–23 · OGL · Young towns look healthier on these answers, which aren’t adjusted for age; the Health Grade uses measures that are, such as life expectancy and early deaths.
People aged 15 to 24 make up a tenth of the town, below Wiltshire’s towns (10%) and England’s towns (12%) alike. Retirement age and beyond: 28% of residents are 65 or older. The median resident of Potterne is 52.5 years old.
53% women, 47% men
About 88 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
| Potterne | Wiltshire | England | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 15 | 13% | 18% | 18% |
| 15–24 | 9.9% | 10% | 12% |
| 25–44 | 15% | 26% | 27% |
| 45–64 | 33% | 27% | 25% |
| 65+ | 28% | 19% | 18% |
| No qualifications | 18% | 16% | 18% |
| Apprenticeship | 6.3% | 5.7% | 5.3% |
| A levels or similar | 16% | 18% | 17% |
| Degree level | 30% | 31% | 34% |
ONS Census 2021 · Wiltshire and England: all residents of their built-up areas · OGL
Museums, castles, gardens and days out in and near Potterne. Best known first.
CastleDevizes Castle1.8 km outside town, to the north
MuseumWiltshire Heritage Museum1.8 km outside town, to the north
MuseumKennet and Avon Canal Museum2.3 km outside town, to the northMuseumMuseumMarket Lavington Museum3.9 km outside town, to the southHistoric siteHistoric siteDevizes White Horse4.9 km outside town, to the northPhotos: each place’s Wikidata image, from Wikimedia Commons under the licence below (our copy, resized).
The nearest built-up areas, from ONS’s 2022 boundaries. See them on the map →
| Town | People | Miles | Overall | Cost | Safety | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potterne | 1,543 | — | — | B+ | A | B+ |
| Devizes | 19,491 | 2 | B− | A− | C− | C+ |
| Market Lavington | 1,810 | 2.9 | — | A− | B | B+ |
| Littleton Panell | 1,334 | 3.2 | — | C+ | A | B+ |
| Bromham | 1,066 | 4.7 | — | B+ | A | B+ |
| Bowerhill | 3,976 | 5.5 | A− | B+ | B+ | A− |
| Melksham | 18,277 | 6.4 | C+ | A− | C | C |
| Berryfield | 1,094 | 6.5 | — | B | D | B+ |
Market Lavington, Littleton Panell, Bromham and Berryfield have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. People: Census 2021. Miles: centre to centre.
That is 14.9 times the typical UK town for its size. Its Grade I buildings include Church of St Mary.
GCSE results trail 64% of towns in England, and primary results trail 85% (Department for Education, Attainment 8 and Key Stage 2). Places are handled by Wiltshire council.
Village in Wiltshire, England
Potterne is a built-up area of 1,543 people, in the Wiltshire council area. TownRatings uses ONS’s 2022 built-up areas as towns: the physical town, as people mean the word, rather than a council district, so its figures cover the town itself.
Built from ONS geography and Census 2021
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · HM Land Registry Price Paid (standard sales, September 2023 to August 2026) · ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026, by council) · MHCLG and Welsh Government council tax, Band D 2026–27 (with parish precepts in England) · data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS small-area life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, 2019 to 2023 (England and Wales), OHID Fingertips small-area indicators (England) and Census 2021 health, adjusted for age · ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023) · DWP claimant count via Nomis (January to August 2026) · Historic England, National Heritage List for England (listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, battlefields, World Heritage Sites), October 2026, inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary · Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties by build period (31 March 2025) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.