Blithbury is a small village in
Lichfield District
Lichfield () is a local government district in Staffordshire, England. It is administered by Lichfield District Council, based in Lichfield.
The dignity and privileges of the City of Lichfield are vested in the parish council of the 14 km ...
,
Staffordshire, England. Part of the
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...
of
Mavesyn Ridware
Mavesyn Ridware is a village and civil parish in Lichfield District, Staffordshire, England. The parish had a population of 1,048 in 2001, increasing to 1,128 at the 2011 Census. It includes the villages of Hill Ridware, Rake End, Pipe Ridware an ...
, it lies near the
River Blithe, about north of
Handsacre
Handsacre is a village in the English county of Staffordshire, England.OS Explorer Map 244: Cannock Chase & Chasewater: (1:25 000) : , 3 miles north-east of
Rugeley
Rugeley ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Cannock Chase District in Staffordshire, England. It lies on the north-eastern edge of Cannock Chase next to the River Trent; it is situated north of Lichfield, south-east of Stafford, n ...
, and 3 miles south of
Abbots Bromley.
The
public house
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...
bears the name ''The Bull and Spectacles''. In the 19th century it had the more common name of ''Bulls Head''.
In the first half of the 12th century religious houses for monks and nuns were founded at Blithbury. Within a few decades only the nuns are mentioned. The order was associated with the nuns of
Black Ladies Priory
Black Ladies Priory was a house of Benedictine nuns, located about 4 km west of Brewood in Staffordshire, on the northern edge of the hamlet of Kiddemore Green. Founded in the mid-12th century, it was a small, often struggling, house. It wa ...
,
Brewood
Brewood is an ancient market town in the civil parish of Brewood and Coven, in the South Staffordshire district, in the county of Staffordshire, England. Located around , Brewood lies near the River Penk, eight miles north of Wolverhampton ...
, and was eventually absorbed by them, so that there is no mention of the nuns of Blithbury after the early 14th century.
According to
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author and screenwriter, best known for ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' developed into a " ...
' 1983 humorous dictionary "
The Meaning of Liff", a Blithbury is "A look someone gives you by which you become aware that they're much too drunk to have understood anything you've said to them in the last twenty minutes".
References
External links
Villages in Staffordshire
Lichfield District
{{Staffordshire-geo-stub