Crofts Mill

Situation
Built during the first half of the 20th century on a previously undeveloped site known as 'The Crofts', just south of Corn Street in Witney. Unlike most of the other Witney mills, which had needed to be near a water source for power and processing, it was not situated near the river [1].

Physical structure

Crofts Mill - the weaving shed.

Work started on the factory in 1931, although the developers James Walker and Company had already owned the site for ten years before this. The newly built mill consisted of a large single storey red brick weaving shed with a glazed roof. When Crofts Mill first opened it housed around 48 looms. Other structures here included the engine house with its cylindrical brick chimney stack, as well as office buildings and storage sheds, the whole site covering roughly 5,250 square yards [2]. A warehouse extension was built in 1952.

The factory ceased to operate in May 1980 and was demolished in 1983 [3], since when the site has been redeveloped as a housing estate.

Owners
Crofts Mill was completed in 1933 at a cost of about £19,000, having been commissioned by Messrs James Walker and Company of Mirfield, Yorkshire. Being at the time one of the biggest blanket manufacturers in the country they wished to add genuine Witney blankets to their product range, which meant that they had to acquire a factory sited in the town. They used this as a weaving establishment for the next 47 years before closing for good in May 1980 [4].

Crofts Mill - the chimney with the 1952 warehouse in the foreground.

What was the site used for?
Used by Walkers to produce 'guaranteed all pure wool Witney blankets' until they found it unprofitable in the face of fierce competition and dwindling markets for blankets during the 1970s. In the late 1940s Walkers had 50 looms, accounting for ten percent of Witney's total [5]. The site had no spinning department as all yarns for blanket making were sent down from Walker's spinning mills in Yorkshire. The blankets were, however, finished on site, and the factory included equipment for milling and raising blankets.

Clare Sumner