SHUTTLES, bales of cloth and even the hooter that once called people to work at Westbury mills will be on display when county archivist Steve Hobbs unravels the town’s long woollen heritage.

The town has been home to mills as far back as the Domesday Book, when six mills already existed in the area. By the late 19th century mills owned by Abraham Laverton were producing world famous cloth.

The last of the mills, Angel and Bitham, closed in the 1960s. Now the only reminders of the town’s important woollen heritage are the mill buildings, converted into homes.

The town’s heritage society has a range of artefacts that bring the history of the mills alive. They include the impressive statue of Hercules that once graced the top of the Bitham Mill engine through to wooden shuttles and rolls of cloth produced at Angel Mill.

The talk on Tuesday, November 27, will give people a chance to hear about the rise and fall of the industry that was so important to the town.

It takes place at 7.30pm in the Methodist Church in Station Road. Tickets can be purchased on the door, at the heritage centre in the High Street, or online at www.westburyheritagesociety.org.uk