Unless stated otherwise the books below are all available from the Ridware History Society. Prices given are for a printed copy and exclude any delivery costs.
A History of Armitage Potbank Part 2; 1900 – 1945, by Richard Ewing £10.00
The potbank has been at the heart of Armitage-with-Handsacre village life since its origins in 1809. Volume 1 of Richard Ewing’s comprehensive history covered the rise of the pottery and development under Edward Johns, when it became an internationally recognised brand for sanitary ware. Volume 2 begins with the acquisition of the pottery by the Corn brothers, and continues through two world wars to the death of Edmund Corn in 1945. During this time the Edward Johns branding was changed to Armitage Ware, labour relations became an important issue and industrial diseases like silicosis were recognised. The pottery expanded hugely, acquiring land and housing for its workers.
The story of the potbank is also the story of Armitage-with-Handsacre. Richard Ewing has incorporated much material demonstrating the social life of the village during this period, bringing to life the workers and management, the men who went off to fight in the wars, the houses they lived in, the pubs they drank in and the close-knit families who worked at the pottery generation after generation.
A History of Armitage Potbank, Part 1: 1809-1900, by Richard Ewing. £8.00
This excellent history of the Armitage pottery covers its troubled early history, and then its incredible rise under the leadership of Edward Johns as a producer of sanitary ware. Extensive research has gone into the development of its products and the daily lives of the men who worked there, providing a snapshot of life in a Victorian industrial village.
Ceramics in Armitage with Handsacre, by Heather Brown. £10.00
From clay pipe manufacturing to the design of Bunnykins china, and not forgetting Armitage Shanks toilets and washbasins, Armitage has a rich history of ceramics production. Illustrated with colour photographs.
Armitage with Handsacre Soldiers of the First World War, by Roy Fallows. £7.50
Individual studies of the men who were killed in the First World War and who appear on the village war memorial. Also information about some who survived.
Mavesyn v Handsacre: The Skirmish by the River Trent, by Ridware Study Group. £5.00
There is a local legend that on the eve of the Battle of Shrewsbury in July 1403, Sir Robert Mavesyn, a supporter of the King, and Sir William Handsacre, a supporter of Hotspur, met and fought on the banks of the Trent. Handsacre was killed and Mavesyn continued to Shrewsbury, where he too was killed. Members of the Ridware Study Group researched the facts behind the legend and report their findings.
The High Bridges: Crossing the River Trent between Handsacre and Ridwares, by Ridware Study Group. £5.00
There has been a crossing of the River Trent between Mavesyn Ridware and Handsacre since earliest times. Originally, the crossing was a ford across the river and this was subsequently replaced by a series of bridges. This publication explains the history of the series of bridges over the River Trent and their significance to the local developing communities, the economy and to the travelling public.
A Daisy For Dorothy by Pat Read – Bloomsbury Publishing
This book traces the wartime experiences of George and Nan Scragg, a working-class couple from Armitage who wrote more than 2000 letters to each other while separated by the war. Their surviving letters and mementoes reveal not only a portrait of wartime Britain, but also give a portrait of their marriage and a way of life in Britain now irrevocably lost.
Notes for a history of Armitage by W.G. Wright – A.C. Lomax’s Successors
Written in 1950 this has chapters on Historical Background, Armitage Parish Church, Hawkesyard, Handsacre Hall, Handsacre v Mavesyn 1403, Armitage Pottery, Miscellany and Lists of former Residents.