Blyth

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Blythe, Blithe, Blida

In the civil parish of Blyth. In the historic county of Nottinghamshire (Modern Authority of Nottinghamshire, 1974 county of Nottinghamshire).

The alleged site of a Norman castle which had vanished by C16. King writes "Is sometimes supposes to have had a castle; in fact this is the same as Tickhill (Yorks)" However, a castle at Blyth would control a crossing point of the River Ryton of the Great North Road. Blyth Hall is close to the church (Which was both a monastic and a parochial church) and could well have started as a thegnial burh and also could have been converted to a small timber castle. Among the monuments in the church are the fragments of a tomb with the recumbent effigy of a knight of the period of Richard I. All in all Blyth is exactly the sort of place where a castle could well be expected. A high status site with a larger than average church on a crossing point of a major road. The convent was founded in 1088 (I believe they probably used an existing saxon church) and an increase in the status of the manor burh at this time is entirely possible. This said, apparently documents from the priory make it clear that the castle of Blyth was Tickhill. However, Camden records a castle here "A little higher upon the same river I saw Blithe a famous Mercat towne, which Bulley or Busley, a Nobleman of the Normans blood, fortified with a Castle, but now the very rubbish thereof is hardly to be seene, time so consumeth all things. But the Abbay there was founded by Robert Busley and Foulke De Lasieurs, and this is the farthest towne almost in Nottinghamshire Northward", so clearly a reference to Blyth and if almost vanished in Camden's time it's no surprise that nothing now remains. Leland wrote 'Documents at Blyth Abbey suggest there was a castle at Blyth, which was called in Latin 'Blida'. I think that it stood near the abbey, or else the abbey was built on the actual castle site. A Norman by the name of Roger Builli founded Blyth Abbey around the time of William the Conqueror.'

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SK6287

Air Photo from Air Photo and general mapping	1st edition OS Map from Mid to late 19th century maps
Modern Map from Landscape form and features	Modern Map from General location and route planning
Geograph British Isles occasionally has photos of the site and will usually give an idea of the surrounding landscape.

Sources of information, references and further reading

This site's English Heritage (PastScape) Defra or Monument number is 320639
Further information may be available from the holder of the county Historic Environment Record. In particular 'grey' literature, such as watching brief reports, held by H.E.R.s is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded in this website, or elsewhere.

• Web site links
  • http://www.nottsheritagegateway.org.uk/places/castles.htm
• Books
  • King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol2 p381 [reject]
    Armitage, Ella, 1912, The Early Norman Castles of the British Isles (London: John Murray) p219
    Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (Methuen and Co)
    Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England (New York: Macmillan) Vol1 p447 http://www.archive.org/stream/castlesofengland01mack#page/447/mode/1up
• Journal Articles
  • Pyrce, 1940, Montgomery Collections Vol46 p14-15
• Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
  • William Camden, 1607, Britannia [http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/lincseng.html#nots7]
    Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p349, 353