History
Blockley village developed as a mill town during the 9th Century, using the reliable, spring-fed streams to power the 12 water mills later recorded in the Domesday Book. The mills were variously used for grain, timber, cider, flax, wool and silk over the years. After their boom years during the first half of the 19th Century, they went into relatively rapid decline with the collapse of the local silk trade.
Although most of the mill buildings remain, none of them retains any working machinery and all but one have been converted into domestic premises. The small, densely packed mill workers’ houses remain one of the village’s characteristic features, lining the narrow, steeply-sided valley alongside the main stream and High Street.
In the mills’ heyday, the village had over 60 shops, seven inns and four banks, as well as two piano factories and the Vulcan iron foundry and works. The village now boasts one community-owned shop and café with a part-time Post Office service, a hotel, a pub and several small business units.
