Blidworth

Blidworth is a village and civil parish approximately five miles east of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 4,457. Its history can be traced back to the 10th century, although many of the current houses were built in the first half of the 20th century to provide housing for workers at Blidworth Colliery (1926–1989). These are mainly in estates north of Dale Lane, known as New Blidworth. The area around Main Street, west of Beck Lane and including the church, is Old Blidworth, containing some of the oldest buildings. Blidworth Bottoms is a hamlet about 0.5 km south of Old Blidworth. Blidworth seems to contain the Old English personal name, Blitha''' + worð '' (Old English) an enclosure, so 'Blitha's enclosure'. The first recorded reference of Blidworth was in the Domesday Book, a national survey which was executed for William I of England in 1086. It is recorded as Blideworde, its recorded population was five households and the total tax assessed was 1.1 Geld Units. Although this is the first recorded reference of Blidworth, the village is much older and was possibly used by the Romans. Up to the end of the 19th century it was a farming community with 150 houses clustered around Main Street (Old Blidworth) and 26 farms and 3 mills, with a population of about 2000. A major change came with the construction of a colliery north of Belle Vue Road in 1921 with the resulting construction of housing for workers. Thus the major part of the population is in an area east of Old Blidworth, between Belle Vue Lane in the north and Dale Lane in the south. Mansfield Road forms the west of this and is the main shopping area. The mine closed in 1989. There is now an industrial estate on Burma Road, north of Belle Vue Lane, as well as a Leisure Centre and the Miners Social Welfare Centre. Other 20th century industries included factories for the manufacture of shoes, hosiery, textiles and metal products.