Winding bobbins AT Blanket factory

Winding Bobbins at a Blanket Factory – Witney, Oxfordshire, 1898

This evocative photograph from 1898 captures a moment of intense concentration in a blanket factory in Witney, Oxfordshire—an area famed for its woollen textiles since the Middle Ages. Two women sit among a forest of looms and mechanical spindles, carefully winding bobbins with thread, their gazes briefly meeting the camera amidst the clatter and hum of industrial labour.

The image speaks volumes about the Victorian textile industry, where women and girls formed the backbone of production. Witney’s woollen mills were particularly renowned for high-quality blankets, exported across the British Empire. The long hours, relentless noise, and delicate machinery demanded both endurance and precision from the workers, many of whom started in childhood.

📍 Witney, West Oxfordshire District, England
🗓️ Year: 1898
🔎 Suggested tags: Industrial Revolution, textile mills, Victorian factory women, Witney blankets, UK wool industry, historical labour photos

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