both followed this growth. Parishes needed to be close enough for travel to church for worship, an obligation everyone was expected to fulfil. (A parish was normally led spiritually by a rector and governed by a committee of members generally respected in the community which was known as the vestry). Growth of the Colony: 1632 Middle Plantation The interior area of the Virginia Peninsula was not settled until a period beginning in the 1630s when a stockade was completed across the Peninsula between Archer's Hope Creek (later College Creek) and Queen's Creek, each navigable to an opposing river. Dr John Potts figured prominently in the early development. In 1625, he was commissioned a member of the Governor's Council, on which he served for a number of years. In 1628 he was chosen Governor, and held the position from 1629 until the early part of 1630, when he was superseded by Sir John Harvey. Dr Potts had a plantation which he called "Harrop", possibly named in honor of his ancestral home, Harrop, in Cheshire, England, where some of the Potts family resided at that period. (This plantation, patented in 1631, may be related to the Harrop Parish established in 1644, which years later became part of Bruton Parish). On July 12, 1632, Dr Potts obtained a patent for at the head of Archer's Hope Creek. Part of this land was to become the fortified palisade across the peninsula. Palisades, six miles (10 km) in length, were run from creek to creek, and, on the ridge between, a settlement to be called Middle Plantation was made. Middle Plantation consisted of property owned by Colonel John Page (26 December 1628 – 23 January 1692). John Page was a member of the Virginia House of Burgesses and the Council of the Virginia Colony. A wealthy landowner, Page donated land and funds for the first brick Bruton Parish Church. Col. Page was a prime force behind the small community gaining the site for the College of William and Mary, Founded in 1693. He was also a chief proponent of the village (that later became Williamsburg) and donated more land to create the village. The Dr. Potts would have certainly recognized the sanitary advantages of the country around Middle Plantation. As the ridge between the creeks was remarkably well drained, there were few mosquitoes. The deep ravines penetrating from the north and south made the place