About Potton Hall

The previous owner of Potton Hall was a gentleman named Alan Foster.  He was an electronic organ enthusiast and converted a barn on the property to house his collection of musical instruments in the early 1990s.  A sound-engineer friend of his commented on the great acoustics of the building and suggested that the building would be a wonderful venue for classical recordings and this is how things started.  During Alan’s time at Potton Hall, the recordings were on a small scale and it was in the mid-90s that Jeremy first came to the Hall when he produced a cd for the pianist Hamish Milne.

He loved it and was always delighted when projects took him there over the next few years.  Then, early in 2003, he came to produce a cd at Potton Hall and heard that Alan Foster had sadly died and that Potton Hall was going to be sold.

Jeremy had just heard that the Birmingham Radio 3 department was to be located to Manchester and this got him thinking that maybe he could take over the running of Potton Hall and safeguard it’s future as the remarkable recording studio that it is.

Having both worked in the classical music world for many years, Jeremy and Helen already knew many of the musicians who have recorded at Potton Hall through their previous jobs.  The classical music world is a very tight-knit community, so many of the people who come are friends of Jeremy and Helen, or have mutual acquaintances of the Hayes, so it is a lot of fun having the musicians around.  It has to said that in general, musicians are lovely people, and those who have made a career of it in such a competitive world are hard-working and determined as well as talented, so professionalism is a key factor in what goes on in the recording studio at Potton Hall.

Two years ago saw the completion of the renovation of two holiday cottages at Potton Hall and these have been met very enthusiastically by families and particularly keen birdwatchers and walkers who love the proximity to Minsmere.