Armitage is a village in

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

, England on the south side of the

Trent and Mersey Canal The Trent and Mersey Canal is a canal in Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Cheshire in north-central England. It is a "narrow canal" for the vast majority of its length, but at the extremities to the east of Burton upon Trent and north of Middle ...

south just outside of the market town of

Rugeley Rugeley ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cannock Chase District in Staffordshire, England. It lies on the north-eastern edge of Cannock Chase next to the River Trent; it is situated north of Lichfield, south-east of Stafford, nort ...

and north of the city of

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west of B ...

, and noteworthy for the

Armitage Shanks Armitage Shanks is a British manufacturer of bathroom fixtures and plumbing supplies, now part of the group Ideal Standard. In 2004, Armitage Shanks had eight factories in the United Kingdom, the largest in Armitage, Staffordshire. Armitage Sh ...

sanitary porcelain factory. With the adjacent village of Handsacre, it forms the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of Armitage with Handsacre. The area of Armitage with Handsacre had a population of 5,335 at the 2011 Census.

Amenities

Armitage has a variety of village amenities including a Londis, a fishing shop, a newspaper shop, and the Croft Primary School. Armitage is also the home of

. Its parish

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

, St. John the Baptist church, is located at the north end of the village. The organ of St John the Baptist church is of particular interest due to its size, age and history. The organ was built in 1789 for nearby

Lichfield Cathedral Lichfield Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England, one of only three cathedrals in the United Kingdom with three spires (together with Truro Cathedral and St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh), and the only medie ...

, but moved here in 1865, commissioned by the then organist Josiah Spode (IV) who resided at nearby Hawkesyard estate, also known as Spode House.

Etymology and location

The name comes from the

Middle English Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is a form of the English language that was spoken after the Norman conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century. The English language underwent distinct variations and developments following the Old English p ...

''Ermitage'', meaning ' Hermitage', in turn derived from the

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intelligib ...

''ermitage'', from a tradition that a hermit lived between the church and the

River Trent The Trent is the Longest rivers of the United Kingdom, third-longest river in the United Kingdom. Its Source (river or stream), source is in Staffordshire, on the southern edge of Biddulph Moor. It flows through and drains the North Midland ...

. It does not appear in the ''

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

'', although Handsacre does. Armitage is now part of Armitage with Handsacre, although this is due to growth—historically they were once separate villages. It lies close to Hill Ridware along with the

Hamstall Ridware Hamstall Ridware is a village and civil parish in the Lichfield district of Staffordshire, England. It is in the Trent Valley, and lies close to the villages of Hill Ridware, Mavesyn Ridware and Pipe Ridware. It is eight miles north of the c ...

Mavesyn Ridware Mavesyn Ridware is a village and civil parish in Lichfield District, Staffordshire, England. The parish had a population of 1,048 in 2001, increasing to 1,128 at the 2011 Census. It includes the villages of Hill Ridware, Rake End, Pipe Ridware a ...

, Pipe Ridware and Longdon. It lies close to the town of

and a few miles north of

. It is located on the

West Coast Main Line The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...

, the nearest stop being Rugeley. With continuous growth in the area Armitage and

are growing closer together.

Robert Rock

Robert Rock Robert Rock (born 6 April 1977) is an English professional golfer. He played on the European Tour from 2003 to 2022. He has won twice on the tour, the 2011 BMW Italian Open and the 2012 Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship. He lost to Irish amateur ...

, a professional golfer, was born in Armitage in 1977, then grew up in nearby Rugeley.

References

External links

* Lichfield District Villages in Staffordshire {{Staffordshire-geo-stub

Amenities

Etymology and location

Robert Rock

See also

References

External links