The name "Blubberhouses" is probably derived from "Blauer Houses", ore blauer being the description of a person who operated bloomery furnaces in pre-Norman times. It is also known that iron smelting took place there in the medieval period when Bridlington Priory held the rights. There are many indications of quarrying and mining across the whole area although minerals other than iron were also involved. At Wood Nook there is very clear evidence of a medieval bloomery including signs of a dam, a slag heap and debris that includes nodules of iron ore and charcoal.
Blubberhouses is in the valley of the River Washburn and more information on this area is available at http://www.washburnvalley.org
Bloomery Site at Blubberhouses
Dam of clay and stones
Slag Heap