Simply Bliss … the former Bliss Tweed Mill built in 1872 by the Oxfordshire, England, UK, town of Chipping Norton, in which wool from local and Shetland sheep was spun and woven into khaki cloth for WW1 British Army uniforms.


Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England, UK: an iconic landmark chimney rises m (165 ft) above Bliss Mill, a mansion-style former tweed mill built in 1872 by Lancashire architect George Woodhouse (1829-1883) for textile manufacturer William Bliss to make fine tweed cloth from both Cotswolds and Shetland wool. The main 5-storey spinning building is faced with Cotswold limestone and styled to resemble a country house, with square towers at each corner topped by stone urns. The high Tuscan-style chimney from the furnace that powered the mill's steam machinery rises from a graceful, ribbed, lead-sheathed dome, above a circular tower bearing a clock and the date 1872. Inside, cast iron columns support transverse beams bearing brick vaults. The tweed cloth was woven in a lower, multi-gabled building next to the spinning mill. At one time, the mill employed up to 700 spinners, weavers and other workers. They went on strike from December 1913 to June 1914, over the right to join a trade union, but the business prospered during the 1914-18 First World War, fulfilling large orders for horse blankets and for khaki cloth to make British Army uniforms. Bliss Mill was converted into luxury apartments in 1988, eight years after it closed. It is now set in extensive grounds with landscaped gardens and a small lake. Its residents have the use of amenities such as indoor parking, a heated swimming pool, tennis and squash courts and a gymnasium.


Size: 3872px × 2592px
Location: Bliss Mill, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England, UK
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

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