Hawkesyard Estate

Mary Spode, widow of Josiah Spode III, bought the Estate in 1839 for her 6 year old son Josiah IV, great-grandson of Josiah Spode and the Hall was much altered and extended. The intricate cast iron Orangery was added, along with the beautiful manicured gardens, statues and other outer buildings. Six underground tunnels were constructed to allow the Estate workers to move quickly around the locality, two of which led to Lichfield and Armitage. During the Spode occupancy the Hall was known as Spode House and Josiah went on to be appointed High Sheriff of Staffordshire in 1850. On Spode's death in 1893 the Estate was entrusted to his niece, Helen Gulson, who had a vision of the 'the Lord in all his glory' in the gardens of the Hall. The vision led to the building of the church at Hawkesyard and the alter was placed on the very spot where the apparition took place. Helen Gulson left the Hall, Church and grounds to the Dominican order in 1894 and moved into the Gulson House on the Estate. In 1898 the Order built a new priory within the grounds, which was occupied by nuns until the early 20th century. The convent was changed to a monastery and the monks ran a boarding school for young aspiring Dominican students and a theological training centre.

Set on the edge of the Cannock Chase countryside lies Armitage Park, the history of which can be traced back to 1270 when local gentry used the land for hunting. In 1337 Simon de Rugeley commissioned the construction on Hawkesyard Hall but by 1660 the hall lay in ruins. It wasn't until 1759, when the estate was purchased by Nathaniel Lister, that the hall really took shape. Lister, a poet, author and founder of the Census, had married Martha Fletcher, a Lichfield heiress, and they rebuilt the Hall in its present location.