Newland Glove Factory

Situation
In the Newland area of Witney, to the east of where Early's Newland Warehouse was located.

Physical structure
This was a small factory primarily for glove making but also, according to the 1899 6-inch Ordnance Survey map of the area, a blanket factory. Kelly's 1903 Directory also lists the business as being glove and blanket manufacturers [1]. It consisted of a three-storey stone building, which fell victim to a fire in April 1926 and was rebuilt as a single level brick factory. This took two years to complete and in the intervening period the workers were relocated to Corn Street Mill [2]. The building was demolished and the site cleared in 2001. It is now a housing estate.

Owners
The owner of the factory was William Pritchett, a Woodstock glove maker who established himself at Newland in Witney some time around 1830. His son William entered into a partnership in 1885 with a William Webley (also from a Woodstock gloving family) and they set up the new mechanised and steam-powered glove factory in Newland [3]. Pritchett and Webley also had a blanket making and bicycle business based at Worsham Mill although the blanket business failed in the early 20th century [4].

What was the site used for?
It is unclear to what extent Pritchett's were involved in the blanket industry at this site although we do know that the firm certainly had some blanket interests at Worsham Mill. Pritchett's business at this factory never managed to recover from the fire of 1926 and eventually closed down. It later was sold to Compton and Webb, uniform hat manufacturers [5].

Clare Sumner