Tower Hill

Over the years the road up the hill from the Cemetery to Burford Road has been known variously as; Razor Hill, Union Hill and Waterworks Hill. It is now named after the water tower built in 1903 which burst on 25 February 1904 flooding the house next door and the Workhouse. The tank was repaired only to burst again in July 1905.

This locally produced postcard has the following rhyme on the reverse from the Witney Gazette published two days later: Malcolm Henderson Collection.

Water Tower 1904

"The Bursting Of The Tank"

Water Tower,

Tank on top.

Filled with water,

Went off pop.

Sudden strain,

Sides bent,

Consequently,

Big rent.

Losing water,

Quite a crock,

To the Council,

Quite a shock.

Great sensation,

Council run,

And people too,

To see the fun(?)

Poor little Lamb,

With names below,

So proudly raised,

Dishonoured so.

It's not our fault,

Perhaps they'll say,

But who will have,

To pay, pay, pay?

Water Tower 1905

Water Tower and Kid 1905

Two cards from anonymous publishers showing the 1905 burst. The boy with the bicycle in the right hand picture seems more interested in the photographer than the water tower. Malcolm Henderson Collection.

Tower Hill was formerly called Union Hill because of the Witney Union Workhouse constructed in 1835-6 to house 450 persons. It was built to a design by George Wilkinson (1814-1890) and is similar to the workhouse at Chipping Norton.

During the Second World War Crawford Collets moved to the former Workhouse site from London.

	Left, is an advertisement from the late 1950s and Below, two of the items left behind after Crawfords closed the Witney factory and moved to Halifax. Malcolm Henderson.

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