Background
Potter was born in Guildford, Surrey to Jack Potter, an engraver who worked on printing blocks for Bank of England bank notes, and his wife Florence.
Potter was born in Guildford, Surrey to Jack Potter, an engraver who worked on printing blocks for Bank of England bank notes, and his wife Florence.
After school he studied Architecture at the Regent Street Polytechnic. After the war he returned to Salisbury and began a professional partnership with William Randoll Blacking, who had studied under Sir Ninian Comper and was known for his design and conservation work on ecclesiastical buildings.
Potter moved to Salisbury in 1935 aged 26, establishing an architectural practice there. Within three years he was commissioned to design Street Francis Church in the city, which has subsequently become a listed building. In the Second World War he served the Royal Engineers in northern India where he was involved in constructing road and rail networks to enable troop movements to the war in the Far East.
Potter"s designs included military and residential buildings (such as the extensive extension to South Stoneham House in Southampton) but his primary focus was on church architecture.
In 1958 his Church of the Ascension, Crownhill in Plymouth was consecrated and in 1959 he started work on Street George"s Oakdale in Poole. Potter"s practice expanded in 1967, being renamed the Brandt, Potter, Hare Partnership and opening an office in Southampton.
Potter"s work was not purely focussed on new builds, he was involved in substantial renovation works to a number of well known buildings including Chichester Cathedral, Oxford"s Bodleian Library, Street Peter Mancroft (the largest church building in Norwich) and Street Stephen Walbrook, All Souls Church, Langham Place and Street Paul"s Cathedral, all in central London. He became well known for creating community rooms under the foundations of ancient church buildings and earned the nickname "The Mole" as a result.
In addition to his work on the buildings themselves, Potter was noted for his designs of fixtures and fittings including organs, crosses, candlesticks and fonts.
Potter was awarded the Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1993.