List of Potter Treasures Now Online

The home of the Dennis Potter Archive & Exhibition, the Dean Heritage Centre is now fully reopened following a period of  temporary closure due to the UK Covid lockdown. Staff and volunteers are back on site, visitors are streaming through the doors, school groups are being welcomed and a series of special events have already kicked off. Housed at the museum, the Dennis Potter Exhibition offers the general visitor an introduction to his life and career, and his significance in British culture of the latter half of the twentieth century. For the dedicated Potter fan or researcher, the wider museum, including the on-site Potter audio trail, provides a marvellous context giving an insight into the place that meant so much to him - the Forest of Dean. But this is not all the museum has to offer because stored behind the scenes in a climate controlled fire proof vault are the Dennis Potter papers. This incredible collection of invaluable documents was secured for the museum in 2012 by the joint efforts of the museum team, academics at the University of Gloucestershire, the local Voices in the Forest CIC, and the support of Professor John Cook. A grant from the National Lottery made the purchase of the papers and the setting up of the archive and exhibition possible. Now, after years of work by dedicated museum staff and specially trained volunteers the papers are  catalogued. Amongst the many treasures in the collection are drafts of Potter's unfinished novel Country Boy, numerous journalism, handwritten notebooks, and never-produced screenplays. There are also drafts, rehearsal scripts, correspondence and production ephemera connected to his many well-loved drama series such as Pennies from Heaven, and The Signing Detective. The full catalogue is now available from the Dean Heritage Museum website and visits to view the material in person can also be booked. A word of warning: If your travelling from afar - make sure to book yourself accommodation as you'll want more than one day amongst these precious Potter treasures!