Information AboutWitney |
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| towns in oxfordshire | |
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''"Witney" is also the name of a UK Parliament Constituency .'' Witney is a town (population: 22,765 - 2001 Census ) in Oxfordshire , 12 miles west of Oxford and just north of the A40 trunk road. The small town has been famous for its blankets since the Middle Ages. The water for the production of these blankets is drawn from the River Windrush which was believed to be the secret of Witney's high quality blankets. At one time there were five blanket factories in the town, but, with the closure of the largest blanket maker ''Early's'' a few years ago, the town's blanket industry has completely ceased to exist. In recent years, the town has expanded rapidly (with the building of the madley park housing estate), but has still retained some of its charms as a market town on the edge of the , but features a clock that was added in 1683 . Thursday is the traditional market day, but Saturday also sees a market taking place as well. The other main landmark is the Parish Church of St Mary's which was built in the 13th Century and is a fine example of one of several large churches in the area associated with the Medieval wool trade. The town also has a fine Methodist chapel which stands in the middle of the High Street. The town hall dates from the 17th Century , and according to local legend was designed by Sir Christopher Wren , though there is little evidence to support this claim. ''West End'', on the road to Hailey, is one of Britain's best preserved streets, and was the inspiration for the song ''Just an Old Fashioned House in an Old Fashioned Street''. Although it's called West End, it's actually on the northern side of the Town and gets its name from the days many years ago when it was not actually in Witney Parish, but at the west end of the adjoining Hailey village church parish. For many years, Witney had a famous brewery - Clinch and Co which was later taken over by Courage who closed down the brewing operation. However in recent years, on the site of the old brewery, brewing was revived by the establishment of a micro brewery now known as the Wychwood Brewery whose most well known beer Hobgoblin is brewed along with other speciality ales. Witney has two splendid museums - The Cogges Museum housed in the old manor house of Cogges which is dedicated to farming and countryside history and the Witney and District Museum which has many artifacts and documents covering the history of the town. The current leader of the Conservative Party, David Cameron, is MP for Witney. Nearby settlements include Abingdon , Bampton , Bicester , Burford , Carterton , Charlbury , Chipping Norton , Cirencester , Faringdon , Oxford , Swindon , and Wantage . SEE ALSO
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