The Witney Blanket Company
Witney Blanket Company 'Buttercross Brand' blanket label.
Dates of operation: 1885(c)
Origins and history The Witney Blanket Company was set up in Witney around 1885 as a
blanket finishing and cleaning business and did not manufacture
blankets. Fred Clapper and Sons were the early owners of the
business, selling it in 1895 to a Mr A.A. Barrell who had moved
to Witney from East Anglia. Following the ruling in 1908 that
only blankets made in the town could legally be labelled as
'Witney' blankets, Mr Barrell turned the business into a limited
company and started the then-novel idea of supplying blankets
through mail order. Most of the blankets were made in Yorkshire
but were 'tabbed' (labelled) and finished in Witney. In 1913 he
bought the premises at 39/41 Market Square (near the
Buttercross) and by the end of the First World War he and his
sons decided to expand and built a new factory which became
known as the Buttercross Works.
The mail order side of their business closed in the face of
increasing competition in 1976 and the bedding factory closed
shortly afterwards.
Products and operations Over its lifetime the Witney Blanket Company finished and
supplied blankets, bedding clothing and shoes through the post.
They also had a blanket cleaning service and made quilts,
feather beds and specialist mattresses. Their company logo was
at one time a graphic representation of the Butter Cross in
Witney town centre. The mail order side of their business closed
in 1976 and the bedding factory shortly afterwards.
Premises The Witney Blanket Company Ltd certainly had shop premises in
the town at 39 Market Square, Witney, by 1913 as photographs of
this exist. This may not have been their first premises however,
as according to Bennett's Business Directory for Oxfordshire
1898, the company had been trading in the town since at least
the 1880s [1].
During the 1920s the company built a large two-storey factory
known as the 'Buttercross Works' at The Leys near St Mary's
Church in Witney and moved all its operations to there. The
building, which is fairly typical of its time in design, was
very seriously damaged by fire in 1939 and 1968 but was rebuilt
each time and still houses a retail outlet today.
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