Armitage-with-Handsacre Parish,Staffordshire, One-Place Study

I grew up in the Parish of Armitage-with-Handsacre in Staffordshire, first in the village of Handsacre, then we moved a few hundred yards up the road to the village of Armitage. The two villages have since merged to become Armitage-with-Handsacre and form the major part of the Parish – until 1963 part of Brereton had been included in the Parish. The names of the scattered clusters of houses outside the village such as Longley Common, Booth Hurst, Holly Bank or Newtown are now largely forgotten.

This website is for sharing the results of my one-place study on the Parish. A one-place study focuses on the history of a specific place and not just the dates and events but also the social history – the people who lived there, what they did for a living, how they lived their lives. A place’s history also includes maps, postcards, wills, the pubs and so much more.

The timeline tab contains a brief chronological history of the Parish and will eventually have links to more detailed stories. Following the postcard trail will take you through a tour of the parish. The surnames and stories tabs contain stories about specific people and events. The buildings tab leads to links to the listed buildings whilst the gallery leads to various picture galleries.

My aim is to include transcripts of historical records, photos, stories, analyses and any other information that can bring the past of the Parish to life.

The search box below allows you to search the whole site and each record page has a table of records with its own individual search box.

If you would like to participate in this study or can contribute I would love to hear from you – please use the ‘contact me’ tab which is at the bottom of every page. You might:

• live or have lived in the Parish
• know about the church, chapels, shops, schools or businesses
• know or have information on any families who have lived in the Parish
• be interested in surnames in the villages
• have photos, stories or documents relating to the Parish
• know about the buildings and farms
• or just like history

Richard Ewing

Picture credit

Handsacre Temple by Gifford Foote – used with permission