Cotswolds landmark: Tuscan-style chimney rising to m (165 ft) above a graceful lead-shielded dome, balustrades topped by stone urns and a round clock tower dated 1872, the year Bliss Mill opened at Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England, UK, to make high quality cloth for textiles manufacturer William Bliss. Later, in the 1914-18 First World War, it made khaki cloth for the uniforms worn by British soldiers.
Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, England, UK: this iconic Tuscan-style chimney, soaring into a deep blue Cotswolds sky, used to carry furnace smoke up and away from the steam-powered Bliss Tweed Mill. The landmark chimney, rising to a height of m (165 ft), springs from a distinctive, gently curving ribbed dome, sheathed in lead, which in turn caps a round clock tower dated 1872, the year in which the mill was built for Victorian textiles entrepreneur, William Bliss. The 5-storey spinning mill served by the chimney was designed in stately home style by Lancashire architect George Woodhouse (1829-1883). The building is faced in Cotswold limestone and features pairs of round-arched windows and square corner towers topped by stone balustrades and urns. The wool spun in its brick-vaulted interior was woven into cloth in a lower, multi-gabled building nearby. High quality tweed cloth, spun and woven from wool sheared from Cotswold and Shetland sheep, was in great demand in late-Victorian and Edwardian Britain and at one time, the mill employed up to 700 spinners, weavers and other staff. 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: 2533px × 3800px
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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