Blithfield is a

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 authority ...

in the

East Staffordshire East Staffordshire is a local government district with borough status in Staffordshire in England. It has two main towns: Burton upon Trent and Uttoxeter. Villages in the area include Abbots Bromley, Stretton, Tutbury, Barton-under-Needwood, ...

district of

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

, England. It includes the settlements of Admaston (a small hamlet in Staffordshire), Newton along with

Blithfield Hall Blithfield Hall (pronounced locally as Bliffield), is a privately-owned Grade I listed country house in Staffordshire, England, situated some east of Stafford, southwest of Uttoxeter and north of Rugeley. The Hall, with its embattled towers ...

, home of the Bagot family since 1360. It is situated southwest of

Uttoxeter Uttoxeter ( , ) is a market town in the East Staffordshire district in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is near to the Derbyshire county border. It is situated from Burton upon Trent, from Stafford, from Stoke-on-Trent, from De ...

and north of

Rugeley Rugeley ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cannock Chase District in Staffordshire, England. It lies on the north-eastern edge of Cannock Chase next to the River Trent; it is situated north of Lichfield, south-east of Stafford, nort ...

. Blithfield and Admaston comprise of land, with Newton occupying . The nearest railway stations are Rugeley Trent Valley and Rugeley Town .

History

A parish like Blithfield is normally formed around a small settlement. Blithfield used to be centered around the Parish Church. At the end of the 1800s Church and State divided and this area is now represented as "a local authority by the Blithfield Parish Council and the Church of England by the Parochial Church Council". The population in Blithfield decreased from 439 people in 1801 to 262 people in 1961. According to the 2001 census it has a population of 225, situated within 96 households. The number of houses has stayed relatively stable since 1830, fluctuating from 81 houses in 1830, dropping to 65 in 1920 and then steadily increasing until 2001. 173 of the 225 people in 2001 were between the ages of 16 and 74.

Blithfield Reservoir Blithfield Reservoir is a large raw water reservoir in Staffordshire, England, owned by South Staffordshire Water. Some 800 acres (324 hectares) of reservoir was formed on land sold by Baron Bagot to the South Staffordshire Water Works (SSWW) i ...

takes up much of the parish and the area is home to the

Bagot goat The Bagot goat is a breed of goat which for several hundred years has lived semi-wild at Blithfield Hall, Staffordshire, England. In 2010 it was considered "critically endangered" by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, as there were fewer than 100 ...

Etymology

The first part of the name "Blithfield" is simply an alternative spelling of the word "Blythe", which originates from Old English word "blitha" meaning 'gentle'. The second part stems from the Old English "feld", which meant 'open or accessible land'. However, by the time Blithfield became its name, it might "just as well be interpreted in the modern sense of 'field'".

Domesday book

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 manusc ...

'', commissioned by William the Conqueror, is a land survey, which was completed in 1086. Its purpose was to assess the extent of the land and of resources owned in England, and the amount of the taxes that could be raised at the time.

Church

St Leonard's Church dates from the 13th century, it is set away from the modern village of Admaston, and lies just west of the modern

. The church was built between the 13th and 19th centuries. In the late 13th and early 14th centuries, four "bay arcades" were built. The base of the western tower and the windows were constructed in the 14th century, and the "

clerestory In architecture, a clerestory ( ; , also clearstory, clearstorey, or overstorey) is a high section of wall that contains windows above eye level. Its purpose is to admit light, fresh air, or both. Historically, ''clerestory'' denoted an upper l ...

above the nave" was added in the 15th century. The upper part of the tower, with stained glass in the west window is thought to date back to 1525. The rest of the church dates to the 19th century. The remains of a 13th- or 14th-century cross can still be seen in the churchyard. The church contains tombs of the Bagot family as well as an original helmet, ancient stained glass windows and a floor paved in Minton tiles. Parish registers of the church begin in 1538. The churchyard contains a

war grave A war grave is a burial place for members of the armed forces or civilians who died during military campaigns or operations. Definition The term "war grave" does not only apply to graves: ships sunk during wartime are often considered to b ...

of a

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

officer of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

.
CWGC Casualty Record.

Medieval Blithfield

The "late-Saxon" settlement of Blithfield, which appears in the Doomsday Book, "Doomsday" did not last, and the last documented evidence of the village was in 1334. This site of the original village is now defined as a "

Deserted Medieval Village In the United Kingdom, a deserted medieval village (DMV) is a former settlement which was abandoned during the Middle Ages, typically leaving no trace apart from earthworks or cropmarks. If there are fewer than three inhabited houses the convent ...

(DMV)" with hardly any visible remnants. However, the site is strongly thought to have been located within the grounds of

. The original mansion of

, was built with a moat in the 1390s by Sir John Bagot. It is thought, however, that the Lord of Blithfield was unhappy with some of the work done on the hall, so in 1398 the carpenter, Robert Stanlowe, was sued. The present hall is now largely 16th century, with additions of c1740 and of the later 18th century, and is Grade I listed.

Modern Blithfield

Blithfield reservoir

is the most apparent modern construction. It was opened by Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in October 1953 after six years of building. The project was proposed by the " South Staffordshire Water PLC" who, during the 1930s and 1940s purchased 2,350 acres (952 ha) of land in the Blythe Valley, to put into action their plan, much of this land (1,585 acres/642 ha) was bought from Lord Bagot, the owner of Blithfield Hall. The reservoir itself covers a smaller area of land, approximately 790 acres (320ha). Ownership of the farmland bordering the reservoir allowed control over farming methods and thus minimised any risk of water pollution. It was originally planned to start building the reservoir in 1939, but this was postponed until 1947, due to the onset of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. A bridge, now carrying the

B5013 road B roads are numbered routes in Great Britain of lesser importance than A roads. See the article Great Britain road numbering scheme The Great Britain road numbering scheme is a numbering scheme used to classify and identify all roads in Gre ...

, separates the water of the reservoir into two unequal parts, the shallower section is used mainly for fishing and the deeper section, close to the dam, is for the sailing boats. Before the

was built, the land consisted mostly of fields with small areas of woodland. The land was predominantly used by farmers for rearing animals and growing crops.

South Staffordshire Water PLC

The South Staffordshire Water plc, have granted a lease to the West Midland Bird Club for the purpose of observing and recording birds. It is one of the most important sites for wetland birds in the Midlands. The site was first opened in the 1970s and this continues, ensuring that the changes in the birdlife of the site are able to be observed and recorded

References

External links

Blithfield Parish CouncilOS map link
{{authority control Villages in Staffordshire Borough of East Staffordshire