High Street, Potterne, Devizes

LOT 40
FOR SALE BY ONLINE AUCTION
THURSDAY 12th FEBRUARY 2026
GUIDE PRICE £180,000+

3/4 Bedroom end-terrace cottage believed to date from the 1600's and requiring renovation. Situated in the heart of the village the attractive cottage still retains many period features including fireplaces, exposed walls and panelling.

The Grade II listed thatched cottage comprises on the ground floor; entrance hall, living room, dining room, kitchen/breakfast room, utility and cloakroom. On the first floor; landing, 2 bedrooms with en-suites, further bedroom, study/bedroom 4 and family bathroom. There is a staircase to 2 useful attic rooms.

There is a paved courtyard garden to the rear, at the front is a cobbled area which provides parking.

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For further information please go to our auction site.

Situation - Potterne has local stores, primary school, Church and public house. The market town of Devizes is about 2 miles away and provides a wider range of leisure, shopping and employment opportunities.

Viewings - To arrange a viewing, contact: Devizes Office.

There will be numerous pre-arranged open house viewing slots lasting for 30 minutes and you can book in by contacting the Auctioneers.

If you have any concerns with viewings, please contact the relevant Strakers office and we would be happy to discuss them with you and hopefully put you at ease.

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Information From Client - Please find below some comments from the current seller.

The Old Post Office was built in the 1600’s and started life as a cattle farm. Originally it was separated from its older neighbours on the High Street with an alleyway between the buildings.

The central part of the High Street range was built in the 1400’s, with the central Manor believed to have been the summer palace of the Bishop of Salisbury. Potterne is within the See of Salisbury (the church region led by the Bishop of Salisbury covering most of Wiltshire, Dorset and the Channel Islands) and St. Mary’s Church has some fine Purbeck Marble pillars thought to be left over from the building of Salisbury Cathedral, due to the Bishop’s connection.

Next to the manor was the servants’ quarters and then the stable block (now 7 & 8 the High Street), and then the alleyway which was closed up in the 1800’s, becoming the reading room downstairs and the study
ursery above of the Old Post Office, and thus joining it to the finest Tudor range in the county.

The Dairy behind the Post Office was built as an extension in the 1700’s, the plaque on its front showing that it was registered for private fire insurance, thus showing the local fire brigade it was eligible for protection.

There is a cattle cellar (half height) under the Dairy, the steps down to which are behind the dishwasher in the kitchen, and the steps up to the Dairy are now the larder to the left of the oven. In later years, when the Dairy was made a separate dwelling, the outside cellar door entrance remained part of the Old Post Office, but the Dairy owners have a ‘right of way’ through it to their cellar. Likewise, the Old Post Office has a right of way over The Dairy garden paths to reach Coxhill Lane.

The Postal system began in 1516 with Henry VIII appointing a Master of the Posts, but just for the crown. It became public in 1635 when Charles I opened it to everyone, and the General Post Office (GPO) was established by Charles II in 1660.

At some point in the late 1600’s or 1700’s the cattle farm / dairy became the Post Office. You can see the holes in the beam in the sitting room where the wrought iron bars came down onto the counter, and the two doors leading to the alleyway were for the staff behind the counter (nearest to the fireplace) and the customers in front of the counter (nearest to the road). These two original doors are now stored up in the attic.

Prosperity from running the post office allowed for upgrades to the building. The panelling in the dining room was installed in the 1700’s and is believed to have come from a ship. This is not original to the room as there is a doorway in the panelling that doesn’t exist in the building.

The cupboard in the corner is the oldest loo in the county – a hole in the floor – stemming from times when chamber pots were used behind a screen in the dining room!

The gate across the stairs in the dining room is an early example of a dog gate, and there is a matching pair in Hampton Court Palace.

The beams throughout the property show the changing fashions of different periods. In the sitting room, stretching into the hall, the beam has a simple carving at each end, the kitchen one is simply chamfered. In the main bedroom the beam is hacked with an axe to age it, but then by the 1700’s the fashion was to plaster over them to a smooth perfect shape, as is the case in the back bedroom (although the perfect shape has been slightly lost over the years).

Previous restorations have revealed odd shoes, one 200 years old the other 300, lodged in the rafters in the attic. It was a tradition of the times to leave a shoe in the works for good luck. They were exhibited in Devizes Museum for many years, but are back in the house and considered to be part of the fabric of the building and are to stay with it. Having done extensive renovation to the Old Post Office myself, I added one of my shoes to keep the tradition, all three were to be in a display case in the attic, but unfortunately my renovations completed the ground and first floors, and then cash ran out for the top floor!

It is a wonderful, cosy home, ideal for entertaining and with scope for reconverting the attic rooms to use; another double bedroom above the back bedroom, and a sewing or craft room above the blue room (there is wallpaper from the 1700’s on that staircase, when it was last used as a bedroom). The space above the main bedroom would be great for a model railway or hobby room, or simply massive storage options. Thatch is warm in the winter and cool in the summer, and the courtyard garden is a real sun trap and surprisingly peaceful. Five minutes walk up Coxhill Lane brings you to a children’s play park or big fields for dog walks, and leads on to some lovely country walks with picturesque views.

The works I undertook included planning permission for windows in the attic to upgrade the rooms from storage, and as the works were started at the time, it should still be in place.

The house has so many other historical quirks, such as salt cupboards by the fireplaces, and warming recesses in the kitchen inglenook. All the open fires work well, but the chimneys need to be swept before they are lit again.

But I hope you enjoy this lovely home as much as I and my predecessors have, and am happy to answer any questions or advise if you would like.

Reserve & Guide Price - Generally speaking Guide Prices are provided as an indication of each seller's minimum expectation. They are not necessarily figures which a property will sell for and may change at any time prior to the auction. Virtually every property will be offered subject to a Reserve (a figure below which the Auctioneer cannot sell the property during the auction) which we expect will be set within the Guide Range or no more than 10% above a single figure Guide.

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Disclaimer - These particulars, whilst believed to be accurate are set out as a general outline only for guidance and do not constitute any part of an offer or contract. Intending purchasers should not rely on them as statements of representation of fact, but must satisfy themselves by inspection or otherwise as to their accuracy. No person in this firms employment has the authority to make or give any representation or warranty in respect of the property. All measurements and distances are approximate only. Your home is at risk if you do not keep up repayments on a mortgage or other loan secured on it.