A light breeze gently ruffles the surface of the lake before the former Bliss Tweed Mill at Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England, UK, blurring the reflected lines of of its round clock tower, capped by a distinctive, lead-sheathed dome and lofty smokestack. The mill, built in 1872, closed down in 1980, but is now divided into luxury apartments.
Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England, UK: a light breeze ruffling the reflected surface of a lake blurs the outlines of the clock tower and lead-sheathed dome of the former Bliss Tweed Mill, which now stands in landscaped gardens enjoyed by its current residents, the owners of luxury apartments created after it closed in 1980. The graceful ribbed dome supports a soaring, 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. 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 strong 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: 3600px × 2400px
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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