Lakeside flower display leading to Bliss Mill, now converted to luxury apartments but once a thriving industrial powerhouse at Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England, UK, with up to 700 workers producing top quality tweed and cloth for the British Army’s khaki uniforms. The mill was built for textiles manufacturer William Bliss in 1872, the year recorded on the round clock tower supporting a ribbed, lead-covered dome and a lofty landmark chimney.
Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England, UK: flowers line a lakeside path to Bliss Mill, which once made khaki cloth for the British Army and fine quality tweed, but now caters for the leaseholders of its luxury apartments. The steam-powered mill was designed for Victorian entrepreneur and textiles manufacturer William Bliss by Lancashire architect George Woodhouse (1829-1883). His design salutes the style of English stately homes, with the 5-storey spinning mill faced in Cotswold limestone and embellished with square corner towers topped by elegant balustrades and stone urns. In the central facade, a round clock tower dated 1872, the year of construction, is capped by a graceful, ribbed dome sheathed in lead, which in turn supports a chimney that vented smoke from the mill’s furnace. The wool spun here was woven into cloth in a lower, multi-gabled building nearby. High quality tweed cloth, made from wool sheared from Cotswold and Shetland sheep, was in great demand in late-Victorian and Edwardian Britain and the mill employed up to 700 spinners, weavers and other workers. They went on strike over trade union rights just before the 1914-18 First World War, but the business then thrived thanks to large wartime orders for khaki cloth to make British Army uniforms. Bliss Mill closed in 1980, but was later converted into luxury apartments. Its residents can now enjoy landscaped gardens with a small lake, as well as amenities such as indoor parking, a heated swimming pool, tennis and squash courts and a gymnasium.
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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