A light breeze ruffles the surface of the lake before the former Bliss Tweed Mill at Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England, UK, blurring the lines of of its round clock tower, capped by a distinctive, lead-sheathed dome and a lofty smokestack. The mill closed in 1980 but is now split into luxury apartments.
Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England, UK: a breath of wind ruffles the surface of the lake in the landscaped gardens of the former Bliss Tweed Mill, gently blurring the reflected outline of its round clock tower, capped by a distinctive ribbed dome sheathed in sheets of lead. The tower supports a graceful, Tuscan-style chimney that once drew smoke from the furnace boiling water for the mill’s steam-driven spinning machines. The smokestack rises to a height of 503 m (165 ft) and is a well-known landmark in the rolling Cotswolds countryside. This image was captured close to the surface of the lake in the extensive grounds enjoyed by the mill’s current occupants, leaseholders who bought luxury apartments created inside the mill after it closed in 1980. They can also use indoor parking, a heated swimming pool, tennis and squash courts and a gymnasium. The clock tower bears the date ‘ 1872’, the year in which the spinning mill was built for Victorian textiles manufacturer William Bliss. The 5-storey building was designed by Lancashire architect George Woodhouse in the style of an English stately home: faced with Cotswold limestone and embellished by square corner towers topped by urns. The wool, once spun in the brick-vaulted interior, was woven in a lower, multi-gabled building nearby. Bliss Mill produced tweed cloth from both Cotswold and Shetland wool. Good quality tweed was in demand in Britain’s late-Victorian and Edwardian eras, and at one time, the mill employed 700 spinners, weavers and other staff. The business thrived during the 1914-18 First World War due to big orders for khaki cloth for British Army uniforms. Bliss Mill today is a well-preserved reminder of the Cotswold woollen industry and of Britain’s wider industrial heritage.
Size: 2592px × 3872px
Location: Bliss Tweed Mill, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England, UK.
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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