Description

SP 3026-3126 CHIPPING NORTON

1169/4/90 Bliss Tweed Mill

3.7.1980
II*

Tweed cloth mill; converted into apartments. 1872, as dated below clock on the circular chimney stack, by George Woodhouse, a Lancashire architect specialising in mill structures. Bliss Mill is an exceptional design, rivalling Lister Mills, Bradford and the earlier ones at Saltaire. Built of local limestone, the elevations of the spinning mill proper, of 5 storeys, one treated in a manner that owes much to a Barry-type conception of the country house, with square belvedere staircase towers to the corners segmented by balustraded parapets with pairs of urn finials. The top storey windows have twin arcaded lights. The dominating feature is the chimney stack rising from an engaged circular tower, a sophisticated aesthetic solution to a functional requirement, with a ribbed leaded dome providing the transition to the lofty Tuscan order shaft of the stack proper. The multi-gabled weaving shed adjoins. The internal construction is of cast iron columns supporting transverse beams bearing the longitudinal segmental brick vaults which spring from slender I section girders. A remarkable opulent design in a park-like setting.

Listing NGR: SP3043426696

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Bliss Tweed Mill at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17531909

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bristol (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Care and Repair