Blyton

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 53.440515
longitude= -0.711932
official_name= Blyton
population = 1,086 (2001 Census)
shire_district= West Lindsey
shire_county = Lincolnshire
region= East Midlands
constituency_westminster=
post_town= GAINSBOROUGH
postcode_district = DN21
postcode_area= DN
dial_code= 01427
os_grid_reference= SK855945
london_distance= 153 mi (246 km) S
map_type=Lincolnshire Blyton is a village and civil parish within the West Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is four and a half miles (7.2 km) northeast of Gainsborough has a total resident population of 1,086. [cite web |url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadAreaSearch.do?a=7&c=blyton&d=16&i=1001&m=0&enc=1&areaSearchText=blyton&areaSearchType=16&extendedList=true&searchAreas=Search |title=Blyton CP (Parish) |author= United Kingdom Census 2001 |publisher=neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk |accessdate=2007-06-13]

From Blyton, the villages of Laughton lies to the north and Pilham to the southeast, while the course of the River Trent is close by to the west.

History

The name Blyton is thought to be from a combination of Old Norse and Old English "Bligr+ton", meaning "farmstead of a man called Bligr". [Mills, A. D (1991) "A Dictionary of English Place-Names", Oxford University Press.] It appeared in the 1086 Domesday Book as "Blitone".

Heavy rail came to Blyton about 1848, installing a station within the parish. It was part of the Great Central Railway.

During the Second World War, Blyton was the home of a bomber airfield - RAF Blyton which was abandoned in 1954. It was just northeast of town. The B1205 roadway skims the southern border and the A159 runs through the western edge of the old airfield. Today, this former airfield has been converted into "Blyton Raceway", used for motor sports and karting.

There was formerly a Blyton railway station on the line between Gainsborough and Grimsby, which has sinced closed, though the line is still open.

Governance

From a very early time, Blyton formed an ancient parish by the name of "Blyton cum Wharton" within the historic county boundaries of the Parts of Lindsey in Lincolnshire [cite web |url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit_page.jsp?u_id=10403029 |title=A vision of Blyton cum Wharton AP/CP |accessdate=2007-06-13 |author=A vision of Britain through time ]

In March 1886, a detached portion of Pilham parish, known as Pilham Carr, was transferred to Blyton. Some records refer to it simply as Carr.

For governance, the parish was in the Corringham Wapentake in the West Lindsey district in the parts of Lindsey. From 1894 until 1974, Blyton lay within the Gainsborough Rural District in theadministrative county of Lindsey.

Since 1974 Blyton has lain within the shire district of West Lindsey.

Churches

The local Anglican Church is dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours and is of Early English architecture. There is also a Primitive Methodist chapel built in 1851.

References

External links

* [http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LIN/Blyton/ Blyton page at GEN UK&I]
* [http://oldairfields.fotopic.net/c924559.html Photographs of former RAF Blyton airfield]