Sitting aside the gorgeous river Windrush, just west of Oxford, one can find the idyllic town of Witney. This town has lived and breathed in accordance with this fantastic river ever since its inception in the Middle Ages. In those days, Witney was widely known throughout the land for its wool blankets. These blankets were of such high quality that people journeyed to the town from all around to purchase these beloved garments. Many attributed this quality to the Windrush and the water was used for treating the wool, further bolstering this argument. By the 1700s High Street had its own blanket hall where these wares were weighed and measured and five blanket factories permeated the town including Early's, the most successful blanket maker in the country.
Early's was shut down in 2002 and much of the blanket trade collapsed alongside it. Fortunately, the many centuries in which blanket making was the town's claim to fame allowed Witney to construct many beautiful buildings and courtyards over the years that still stand to this day. The Witney Market is one of the oldest squares in the entire town, having been constructed during the rise of the blanket industry. Witney still holds the traditional market day on Thursday, thankfully, and visitors from neighboring towns can come bear witness to one of the oldest traditional markets in all of England.
Most visitors to Witney come not for the market, however, but for the architecture scattered throughout the town. On the road to Hailey, at West End, one can find one of the most preserved streets in England. Not too far away is the famed Witney Workhouse. This remarkable edifice, built by George Wilkinson in the 1830s, is itself filled with quite a bit of history; In World War I it was a storage space for prisoners of war. Later it became an engineering factory among other things. The Workhouse was torn down, rebuilt, and demolished again over the years and has had many incarnations as a factory, a chapel, and countless other things.
Because of Witney's close ties to its historical roots, it is little wonder that the town pays due homage to its past by way of the museums that dot Witney's landscape. The Cogges Manor Farm Museum is particularly notable in that the building itself is a classic piece of art. Built in the 1200s, the manor house that is home to the museum is the perfect site for a landmark dedicated to honoring the history of the town's agricultural and farming lineage. The ancient farm of Cogges can also be found surrounding the manor and visitors can walk around the site as if they were Norman planters from the 13th Century. A more traditional history can be found in the Witney and District Museum, which houses relics more related to other aspects of the town's past. No matter which museum you visit, however, you can be sure that the colorful and fascinating history of Witney will thrill and awe even the most jaded of observers.
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