The Cross Guns
Introduction
The photograph on this page of The Cross Guns by Neil Owen as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
The Cross Guns
Image: © Neil Owen Taken: 29 Mar 2021
The pub has a history much older than the canal now beside it. With parts thought to be originally from the 1490s, the pub was known as the Carpenter's Arms in the Tudor era. However, from 1794 the 9th (Bradford on Avon) Battalion of the Wiltshire Rifle Volunteers was formed and used the area for rifle practice; the name then changed to the Cross Guns. Shortly after, the Kennet and Avon Canal opened up right alongside. The chimney is part of the old Avoncilff cloth mills. There were mills here from the sixteenth century, working grist and corn principally on the Winsley side. This mill by the pub began life fulling in the eighteenth century before being taken over as a cloth mill by Moggeridge & Joyce. That line of work ended in the 1960s - the pub and mills closed and the canal ran dry. Fortunately, determined owners and many volunteers have revived this historic site.
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Image Location
Latitude
51.338749
Longitude
-2.281607