ANCIENT Armit Road and medieval meadows are at the centre of a councillor’s attention after he discovered deeds and documents detailing the history of two fields in Friezland.
Cllr Max Woodvine is aiming to showcase the historical site by signposting the footpath around the Armitroad Field with shields of the Coat of Arms of King Edward III.
He said: “These are the fields of Friezland and they are as special today as they were all those centuries ago.
“I’d like to say they’ll be safe for centuries to come both nothing is certain. However, since I learned about the hidden history I have wanted to showcase this to Saddleworth.
“I hope when people see that shield they will see Armitroad Field differently and will see it as being as special as I do – something to celebrate having and enjoy having.”
The history of the fields can be dated back to 1343, when King Edward III ruled England, and they made up a single meadow in Quickmere, one of Saddleworth’s four meres.
‘Ermeterode in the Quyke’ came under the ownership of Richard de Staveley that year after it was given to him “at the Quyk on the Tuesday after the feast of Saint Mark in the 17th year of the reign of Edward III” according to the deed from April 29, 1343.
Over the centuries the name for the fields developed to ‘Grasscroft and the Ormeroid’ in 1598, which stayed in usage until 1606, before becoming ‘Armetroyd’ in 1742, ‘Armetroide’ in 1772 and finally ‘Armitroad’ in 1790. This name and spelling has survived ever since.
The names for the field – which has been split in two since the construction of the Huddersfield Narrow Canal – derived from Old English with ‘royd’ referring to a clearing in a wood.
There is no reference to any actual Armit Road until 1796 when access was built to adjacent Royal George Mills and this road was eventually referred to in 1818 when it was described as seven yards wide and leading “out of the armitroad meadow on the north side thereof…”
It was the mill-owning Whithead family, who owned the fields throughout the 19th century, and Ordnance Survey maps from 1848 onwards that show the road with the ancient name Armit Road later being applied to it.
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