Local History and Interest

The original part of Blidworth village is recorded in the Doomsday Book which was commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1066

Bowmen

Blidworth is also famous for its ‘Bowmen’ who fought with King Henry V who reigned from 1413 – 1422, and they were renowned for their archery skills

Sticking two fingers up

It is said that the act of sticking two fingers up at someone, a non too polite gesture, originated with Blidworths’ Bowmen. When firing arrows, the archer uses two fingers to draw back the string on the bow

The act of sticking two fingers up was to show the enemy that they still had their two fingers and were still able to draw their bows and fire their arrows

Old Windmill

Across the road from us you can just see the brick bottom remains of a very old windmill. The top half was made of wood and was still intact up until the early 1900’s

St Mary's Church

Almost next door to us just a couple of minutes walk from here, stands the historic church of St. Mary’s of the Purification. Its’ original tower is known to date back to the 15th century making it over 500 years old and the building has seen many changes over the years.

Formally known as the Chapel of St. Lawrence, part of the original church fell down on 11th September 1736 and according to parish records, this was “due to a bad state of repair and unskilfull workmanship undermining one of the pillars”.

It was rebuilt between 1739-40 and further enlarged and modified in 1839 when the three bell tower was raised another 5 feet in height.

Cradle Rocking Ceremony

This is one of the few churches in Britain to still perform the ancient ‘Cradle Rocking Ceremony’ said to represent and celebrate the time that Jesus was presented in the temple.

Druids Stone

Approximately half a mile away from us is the ‘Druids Stone’. This is a large single rock formation with a hole through it and in days gone by, children with whooping cough would be passed through the hole in hopes of a cure.

Industrial Revolution

Not far down the hill from us, there used to stand a group of terraced cottages where they had stocking making frames.

This was one of the sites attacked by the ‘Ludites’ in their fight against the industrial revolution.

Rev William Lee

The inventor of the stocking frame - Rev William Lee - was born in 1563 in a neighbouring village called Calverton.

As there was little scope for his invention in the area at the time, Rev Lee decided to move his family to London.

Having no transport, they walked the 150 miles or so, carrying the wooden stocking frame.

The monarchy of the time, although reportedly impressed with the invention, refused to grant him a patent, but a French ambassador visiting the court took the invention to the king of France where the machine was put in to use.

Ivanhoe and Fountain Dale

Fountain Dale is an area just a couple of miles from us and the writer Sir Walter Scott was staying at Fountain Dale house.

He was so inspired by the area that he wrote parts of his novel ‘Ivanhoe’ whilst there and called the area Copmanhurst in his book.