WITNEY, a market town in the Banbury parliamentary division of Oxfordshire, England, on the river Windrush, a tribu tary of the Thames, 751 m. W.N.W. of London on a branch of the G.W. railway. Pop. of urban district (1931) 3,409. Witney is the seat of an old-established industry in blanket-making, and gloves and other woollen goods are also made. The great church of St. Mary is cruciform with a lofty central tower and spire. The tower is Early English, but the church exhibits the other styles, including a remarkable Norman porch.
The manor of Witney was held by the see of Winchester before the Conquest. It was sold in 1649, but was given back to the bishopric at the Restoration. In the middle of the 18th century it was leased by the bishop of Winchester to the duke of Marl borough. Witney was a borough by prescription at least as early
as 1278, and sent representatives to parliament with more or less regularity from 1304 to 133o. There is reference to a fulling mill in a charter of King Edgar dated 9o9. In 1641 the blanket makers petitioned the crown against vexatious trade regulations; in 1673 the town is described as "driving a good trade for blankets and rugs." In 1711 the blanket-makers obtained a charter mak ing them into a company, consisting of a master, assistants, two wardens and a commonalty.
See J. A. Giles, History of Witney (1852) ; Victoria County History, Oxon; W. J. Monk, History of Witney (i894)