A
short thread on Usenet, remembers (from an unnamed William Blake biography)
the suggestion that far from referring to large industrial mills, Blake
probably was merely talking about windmills when he referred to
"dark Satanic mills". Blake lived in Felpham, Sussex, and would not
have seen the industrial mills of Northern England, but in 1808 when he
wrote the words, there were a couple of black tarred windmills in sight
of his cottage.
Where were Blake's "Dark Satanic mills"?