Blisworth

Infobox UK place
country = England
official_name = Blisworth
latitude = 52.102789
longitude = -0.938019
civil_parish = Blisworth
population = 1786 (2001 Census)
london_distance = 66 miles (106 km)
shire_district = South Northamptonshire
shire_county = Northamptonshire
region = East Midlands
constituency_westminster = Daventry
post_town = NORTHAMPTON
postcode_district = NN7
postcode_area = NN
dial_code = 01604
os_grid_reference = SP727534

Blisworth is a village and civil parish in the South Northamptonshire district of Northamptonshire, in England. It is 6 miles south of Northampton, 4 miles north of Towcester and about 10 miles north of Milton Keynes. There are approximately 1,300 occupied properties in the village and a few small businesses in and around the village. A little way out of the village to the north, along Northampton Road, there is a small garden centre and nursery and a large derelict site, the location of a former abattoir.

Administration

The local district council is South Northamptonshire where Blisworth is in Blisworth and Roade ward together with the small hamlet of Courteenhall. The ward elects two members, currently Conservative. The Northamptonshire County Council division has one member (Conservative).

The Member of Parliament is currently Tim Boswell, Conservative, for the parliamentary constituency of Daventry. Mr Boswell has stated that he will not seek re-election next time. However, for the next (2008, 9 or 10) General Election there are boundary changes. The Boundary Commission has now placed the village in the new parliamentary constituency of South Northamptonshire, like Daventry also considered a safe Conservative seat.

Facilities

The village has its own primary school, Blisworth Community Primary School (see external links), with around 200 children. The school takes in a number of children from surrounding areas including the southern outskirts of Northampton. The local secondary school, Roade School, is the only Sports College in Northamptonshire. Apart from Blisworth, the catchment area extends to Grange Park, Stoke Bruerne and several other villages in the area.

There is a small well-stocked supermarket/post-office/newsagent, being the only shop. There is a modern well-equipped doctor's surgery in Stoke Road serving several surrounding villages as well as Blisworth itself.

The village has a pub, The Royal Oak. A second pub, The Sun, Moon and Stars, near the canal closed some years ago. After several years of neglect the listed building was the subject of a compulsory purchase order by South Northants Council in 2007 and may now be restored for community use. There is also a hotel - 'The Walnut Tree Inn' - see under buildings.

The village has two churches, one Church of England, where the church parish includes Stoke Bruerne and the other a Baptist Chapel.

Blisworth also has a football club, Blisworth F.C.

Transport

The village is the site of the Blisworth Tunnel of the Grand Union Canal and one of the longest on the English canal system. The tunnel runs south to the nearby village of Stoke Bruerne. The canal runs to the south-west side of the village and a bridge carries the main road though the village. The bridge is partly original, partly widened, as the main road carried the A43 trunk road until a by-pass was constructed.

The A43 (Northampton-Oxford) Milton Malsor and Blisworth by-pass was opened on 21 May 1991. The by-pass runs to the west of the two villages, now following a newly-created route from Tiffield. The road joins the M1 London to Yorkshire motorway at a new junction created at that time, 15A, at West Hunsbury, Northampton. From Northampton to Blisworth the by-pass closely follows the trackbed of the Blisworth to Northampton railway, long since closed. The new road makes a slight detour near the Northampton arm of the canal at the 'staircase' of locks near Rothersthorpe. The road's construction followed many years of long campaigns in the two villages.

The London and Birmingham Railway, under the surveying and construction control of Robert Stephenson, bypassed Northampton and opened a station in Blisworth in 1839. In 1842, after much discussion, Lord Grafton agreed to fund a new station as long as it was a "first class" station - ie, all trains stopped at it. Ford Lane became Station Road, the location of Blisworth station. In 1845 a branch line on to Peterborough was completed via Northampton, and in 1866 a single-track line was built to Banbury. Blisworth station closed in January 1960 and both branch lines have also long since gone. The main railway line remains, electrified in the 1960s and is now part of the West Coast Main Line running 125mph trains from London Euston to Glasgow. The Northampton Loop of the line leaves the main line at Roade, north of Blisworth cutting (see external link) and just south of Blisworth, taking trains on into Northampton and north to re-join the main line at Rugby.The one-time Stratford Upon Avon & Midland Junction Railway ran from Blisworth station. Find out more at www.smjr.info

Notable buildings

* Blisworth Station Hotel: opposite the site of the former Blisworth station is the former Blisworth Station Hotel, now called the 'Walnut Tree Inn', built by Richard Dunkley for Thomas Shaw, the proprietor of the former Angel Hotel (now Fat Cats Café Bar) at 23 Bridge Street in Northampton.
* Robert Stephenson's railway bridge. (see text)
* Many traditional Northamptonshire local stone cottages, often thatched, and other buildings line the Towcester and Stoke Roads. All, including the following, are private houses for viewing from public roads and paths only:
* Grafton House, Towcester Road (built 1797);
* Village Hall, Stoke Road. The original school building (rebuilt 1799 after fire);
* Blisworth House, Church Lane (rebuilt 1702);
* Blisworth Stone Works, Stoke Road (built c. 1821);
* The Old Toll House, Blisworth Arm (built c. 1800);
* Blisworth Mill, Towcester Road. An old flour mill, built 1879, recently converted into luxury apartments but used over the period 1900 to c. 1985 as a warehouse, a WWII food storage building, a wine-bottling factory and a spice and herbs processing and packaging factory;
* Grafton Villas, Northampton Road, near the railway bridge (built 1820).

Externals links

* [http://www.blisworth.org.uk/images/Nonroot02/in-touch01.html] Research on the village
* [http://www.blisworth.org.uk/images/Nonroot01/Research.html] Research on families
* [http://www.blisworthprimary.org.uk/ Blisworth Community Primary School]
* [http://www.blisworthtunnel.org.uk/ Blisworth Tunnel preservation group]
* [http://www.blisworth.org.uk/images/ The Blisworth Website] includes historical photos of the village and many articles about the history, transportation, people and buildings of Blisworth.
* [http://www.blisworth.org.uk/images/Rails.htm Pictures of Blisworth station]
* [http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/RAblisworth.htm Blisworth Cutting]
* [http://www.williampipernarrowboats.com/ Canal boat local hire]
* [http://www.roadeschool.northants.sch.uk/ Roade's local High School including Post 16, the only Sports College in the county]
* [http://www.southnorthants.gov.uk/ South Northants District Council]
* [http://www.northamptonshire.gov.uk/ Northamptonshire County Council]
* [http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&time=&date=&ttype=&q=Blisworth&sll=51.490736,-0.609362&sspn=0.036608,0.079823&ie=UTF8&z=13&iwloc=addr&om=1 Map location on Google]
* [http://www.smjr.info The Stratford Upon Avon & Midland Junction Railway]

Image gallery

Grafton Villas, Northampton Road, November 2007
Blisworth House main entrance, January 2008