Power Loom House at the Early Blanket Mill

1898

Power Loom House at the Early Blanket Mill – Witney, Oxfordshire, 1898

Step into the heart of the Industrial Revolution with this striking image from 1898, captured inside a power loom house in a blanket mill in Witney, Oxfordshire. Rows of heavy machinery dominate the scene as young women and men work among the rhythmic pounding of looms. The atmosphere, though industrious, is one of intensity and focus, with blankets and wool textiles being produced for markets across the British Empire.

Witney had long been synonymous with high-quality wool products, and by the late 19th century, steam-powered machinery like these looms had transformed the pace and scale of textile production. The workers, some barely teenagers, laboured long hours in noisy, lint-filled air—yet their hands carried centuries of craftsmanship into the modern era.

📍 Witney, West Oxfordshire, England
🗓️ Year: 1898
🔎 Suggested tags: Industrial Heritage, textile workers, power looms, Victorian England, Witney blankets, UK factory history

🧵 Revive the legacy of those who toiled in silence—upload your family’s forgotten photos to Oldpik.com and help weave the human story of our industrial past.

Contributed by OldPik on January 7, 2024

Image

Power Loom House at the Early Blanket Mill
You must be logged in to comment on the photos.
Log in

No comment yet, be the first to comment...

Nearby photos

c. 1922 OldPik

workers attending a machine in Early Blanket Mill

Winding bobbins AT Blanket factory

Oscar Wilde at Oxford

16 km away

Lewis Carroll

16 km away

Twain in academic regalia for acceptance of the D.Litt. degree awarded him by Oxford University

16 km away

The flooded Lake Street

16 km away

Lewis Carroll self-portrait, aged 24 at that time

16 km away

Prince Charles on his way to Cheam School

34 km away

J Plater’s Cart, Van & Carriage Works

39 km away

Children in a country lane

41 km away
c. 1901 OldPik

Chalford in the mid 1900s

46 km away