Blatherwycke is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

in the

North Northamptonshire North Northamptonshire is one of two local authority areas in Northamptonshire, England. It is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area forming about one half of the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Northampto ...

, England. It is about north-east of

Corby Corby is a town in North Northamptonshire, England, located north-east of Northampton. From 1974 to 2021, the town served as the administrative headquarters of the Borough of Corby. At the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 Census, the built-up ...

. It is near Blatherwycke Lake, on the Willow Brook.

Demographics

The population is grouped with the nearby village of Laxton for administrative purposes. The 2001 census reports the population total, with Laxton, as 160 (68 male, 98 female) of which 55 live in Blatherwycke.Office for National Statistics - 2001 census data
/ref> At the 2011 census the population was included in the civil parish of

Bulwick Bulwick is a village and civil parish in North Northamptonshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 152 people, including Blatherwycke and increasing to 171 at the 2011 census. It is about six miles north-east of C ...

History

The name was recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

under "Blarewiche". It has several possible explanations including "bladder-plant specialised-farm", a form of the name "blackthorn" or "settlement where

bladderwort ''Utricularia'', commonly and collectively called the bladderworts, is a genus of carnivorous plants consisting of approximately 233 species (precise counts differ based on classification opinions; a 2001 publication lists 215 species).Salmon, Br ...

grows".Blatherwyke Estate website - includes images of the Hall demolished 1948
Blatherwyke Hall was built in 1720 by Thomas Ripley and the philanthropist

Mary Jane Kinnaird Mary Kinnaird or Mary Jane Kinnaird, Lady Kinnaird; Mary Jane Hoare (1816–1888) was an English philanthropist and co-founder of the Young Women's Christian Association. Kinnaird has one Women's College and a girls' High School in Pakistan and ...

was born there. The hall fell derelict and was demolished in 1948. A large stable building survives with the inscription "D, OB 1770" for Donatus O'Brien. Holy Trinity Church is

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

in origin. There is a monument to Sir Humphrey Stafford (d.1575) the builder of

Kirby Hall Kirby Hall is an Elizabethan country house, located near Gretton, Northamptonshire, England. The nearest main town is Corby. One of the great Elizabethan houses of England, Kirby Hall was built for Sir Humphrey Stafford of Blatherwick, beginnin ...

and also Thomas Randolph (d.1635), the poet and dramatist commissioned by Sir Christopher Hatton.

In popular culture

The village was immortalized in song by the comic

Graham Fellows Graham David Fellows (born 22 May 1959) is an English actor and musician, best known for releasing the 1978 single "Jilted John", which reached #4 on the UK Singles Chart, and creating the comedic character John Shuttleworth in 1986. Jilted ...

as John Shuttleworth.

References

External links

*
Blatherwycke details on northamptonshire-history.org.uk

Villages in Northamptonshire North Northamptonshire Civil parishes in Northamptonshire {{Northamptonshire-geo-stub