Timothy Armitage (died 1655), was in the year 1647 "chosen pastor of the first independent (or congregational) church in the city of Norwich". This was an offshoot from that of the venerable William Bridge's church at Great Yarmouth. It was erected into a "separate congregation" on 10 June 1644, "in the presence of several of their brethren from Yarmouth, who signified their approbation by expressions of the most tender and endeared affection". The members of both congregations had been exiles in Holland and elsewhere. They returned home on the outbreak of the English Civil War.