Guy's Cliff or Gibbeclive Mill

Guy's Cliff, near Warwick and more or less in the heart of England, started off as a hermitage, a place where an unknown person gave spiritual guidance to Guy of Warwick in about 929 AD.  Guy went off to fight in the Crusades but legend has it that he returned to spend some years in a cave at Guy's Cliff.  Later, in 1423, a chapel was established on the site.

After the Dissolution of the Monasteries by Henry VIII, the land fell into private hands and a substantial house was built.  The house, land, and mill were sold in 1701.

The mill, originally called Gibbeclive Mill, was owned by the Abbey in Kennilworth in the 12th century until the Dissolution of the Monesteries. It stands on the River Avon. It remained a working mill until 1938, then in 1952 it was converted into a restaurant known as the Saxon Mill.  In fact it had been known as the Saxon Mill for years before that.  Recently the restaurant has had a glass floor installed so that the water can be seen rushing by below.  Little did I know that the card I picked up could turn out to be a forerunner of an ad!

The reverse of the card is unfortunately marked where someone has glued it into a scrap book, but the postmark is very clear showing it was posted from Stratford on Avon at 1:30 pm on 28 July 1915.  The section for the message confirms that the card was published after 1907 and is headed:

This space may now be used for communication between all foreign countries within the Postal Union.

The publisher was Boots Cash Chemists, in their "Real Photograph" Series.  The history of Boots could very easily take up a whole book. Suffice it to say, they no longer produce postcards but the company is a leading retailer and dispensing chemist in the UK.

G is for Guy's Cliffe.  A post for ABC Wednesday.