Woodgreen Blanket Factory

Situation
On Woodgreen at the north end of Witney, on the Woodstock Road.

Physical structure

Woodgreen Mill, as seen in an early 19th century print.

This three-storey Cotswold stone structure was probably built around 1830 [1]. The building has uniform rows of stone arch-headed windows and loading doors on each floor. The Witney Tithe map of 1840 shows a long range of buildings here including weaving shops, outbuildings, a house, yard and gardens. From the evidence of an early 19th century print, a cross wing was added at the north-eastern end at some date probably in the mid-19th century. It is also possible that the Victorian period the roof may have been altered as the print appears to show a taller roof on the building [2].

Owners
Owned and occupied by John Early (1783 - 1862), an important blanket manufacturer in the town who also co-owned New Mill. He was succeeded by Henry Early, whose business failed in the 1890s [3] and then by one of John Early's grandsons Charles William Early (1850 - 1943). In recent years the building has been converted into housing.

What was the site used for?
This 19th century factory was not sited near a water source and therefore may have been intended largely for handloom weaving, with storage and warehousing on upper floors. It was not a mill in the full sense as only certain parts of the blanket making process seem to have been carried out here: having no water source, for instance, meant that fulling must have been carried out at other locations in the town. The factory here ended its working life as joinery [4].

Clare Sumner