is a
Wich Town in
Cheshire ,
England . It lies in the heart of the
Cheshire Plain at the confluence of the
River Weaver and
River Dane . The town is approximately eighteen miles (29 km) east of
Chester and fifteen miles (24 km) south of
Warrington .
The area around Northwich has been exploited for its
Salt Pan s since the
Roman Period , when the settlement was known as ''Condate''. The town has been severely affected by salt mining with
Subsidence historically being a large issue. However, recent investment in mine stabilisation is set to change the town with the
'Northwich Vision' providing a roadmap for a programme of development work into the future.
Northwich is situated in the Cheshire Plain. Two rivers meet in the town centre, the
Weaver and the
Dane .
The town is made up of five main districts of
Leftwich , Northwich, Northwich Castle,
Winnington and Witton.
Northwich is surrounded by the following
Civil Parishes within the Vale Royal borough, starting due north and proceeding in a clockwise direction:
Between 1885 and 1983 Northwich gave its name to a
Parliamentary Consituency . Since this date it has formed part of the
Weaver Vale constitency, currently held by
Mike Hall (Labour).
The
Local Government Act 1972 replaced the Urban District Council of Northwich with a new district (now borough) council,
Vale Royal . Vale Royal covers areas previously covered by Northwich UDC (Urban District Council), Northwich RDC (Rural District Council), Winsford UDC and parts of Runcorn RDC. Northwich Town Council now has the powers of a
Parish Council .
The town coat of arms features the
Latin Motto ''"Sal est Vita"'' meaning ''"Salt is Life"'', which can be seen on the town's crest of arms.
During Roman times Northwich was known as ''Condate''. There is archaeological evidence of a Roman auxiliary fort within the area of ''Castle'' dated to 70AD. This and other North West forts were built as the Romans moved north from their stronghold in Chester. The fort at Northwich is thought to have been built to due to the strategic river crossing of the Weaver and the presence of the brine springs.
Salt was very important in Roman society. The Roman word ''salarium'', linked employment, salt and soldiers, but the exact link is unclear. It is also theorised that this is the basis for the modern word ''
Salary ''. Another theory is that the word soldier itself comes from the Latin ''sal dare'' (to give salt). ''See
History Of Salt for further details''.
The Romans used lead salt pans to extract the salt from the brine. Salt pans and 1st century brine kilns have all been found around the Roman fort.
Northwich can be identified through two contemporary Roman documents. The first of these is the
Antonine Itinerary , a 3rd century road map split into fourteen sections. ''Itinerary II'' is called "the route from the Vallum to the port of
Rutupiae ". It describes the route between
Hadrian's Wall in northern England and
Richborough on the
Kent coast. The station Condate is listed 18 miles from
Mamucium (now
Manchester ) and 20 miles from
Deva Victrix (now
Chester ). ''Itinerary X'' is called "the route from Glannoventa to Mediolanum" and details the route between
Ravenglass fort,
Cumbria and
Mediolanum (now
Whitchurch ,
Shropshire ). In this description Condate is described as 19 miles before the routes end at Whitchurch and, again, as 18 miles from Manchester.
The second document is the 7th century
Ravenna Cosmology . Again this document refers to Condate between the entries for Salinae (now
Middlewich , Cheshire) and
Ratae (now
Leicester ,
Leicestershire ), at the time the capital of the
Corieltauvi tribe.
That salt production continued throughout the centuries can be seen through
John Leland's description of the town in 1540:Crossley, Fred H. - ''Cheshire'', 1949:
The salt beds beneath Northwich were re-discovered in the 1670 by employees of the local Smith-Barry family.
1 The family were actually looking for coal when they accidentally discovered
Rock Salt in the grounds of their house, Marbury Hall,
Marbury , north of Northwich. Soon salt mining started again. This mining area is now known as ''Dairy House Meadow''.
During the 19th century it became uneconomical to mine for the salt. Instead hot water was pumped through the mines that dissolved the salt and the resultant brine was pumped out and the salt extracted from the brine. This technique was known as ''wild brine pumping'' or ''natural brine pumping'' but weakened mines and led to land subsidence as mines collapsed.
This subsidence affected the town and the surrounding landscape. For example collapses in 1880 formed ''Witton Flash'' as the River Weaver flowed into a huge hole caused by subsidence.
By removing underground
Salt , the salt industry caused huge areas of
Subsidence , and this allegedly accounts for many old
Timber-framed houses in the town centre, which were better able to withstand the movement of the ground. Some houses were built on a base of steel girders which could be jacked up to level the house with each change in the underlying ground.
The town's historical links with the salt industry is celebrated in its
Salt Museum which is today located in the town's old
Workhouse .
It was in 1874 that
John Brunner and
Ludwig Mond founded
Brunner Mond in Winnington and started manufacturing
Soda Ash using the
Solvay ammonia-soda process. This process used salt as a main raw material.
The chemical industry used the subsided land for the disposal of waste from the manufacture of
Soda-ash . The waste was transported through a network of cranes and rails to the produce ''limebeds''. This was a dangerous alkaline substance and caused the landscape to be abandoned as unusable.
Brunner Mond later amalgamated with three other chemical companies in 1926 to form
Imperial Chemical Industries , better known as ICI, which was for many years one of Europe's leading chemical companies in both chemical production and research.
In 1975 ''Marbury Country Park'' was the first area to be reclaimed from dereliction and has become a popular recreational area.
In 1987 more land was reclaimed to form ''Furey Wood'' and over later years,
Cheshire County Council's Land Regeneration Unit reclaimed what is now known as Anderton Nature Park, Witton Flash, Dairy House Meadows, Witton Mill Meadows, and Ashton's and Neumann's Flashes. Much of the funding for the creation of these public areas has been supplied from the
North West Development Agency and now extends to approximately 323 hectares of public space.
In February 2004 a £28 million programme to stabilise the abandoned salt mines underneath Northwich was begun.
2 The work was funded by the .
The four mines identified for work were Baron's Quay, Witton Bank, Neumann's and Penny's Lane. These mines were chosen because their subsidence was causing problems for the town centre.
When they were abandoned the mines were left with supporting salt pillars. Modern salt mining leaves around 30% of the salt to form the pillars but, because of the wild-brine pumping, the 19th century mines under Northwich were left with sometimes only 5% of the salt to form the pillars which has since been found to be inadequate. To provide additional support in the 1920s
Brine was used to flood the mines. However ground movement has been detected and has effectively ceased development in Northwich town centre.
The current stabilisation plan involves removing millions of litres of brine from the four mines and replacing it with a mixture of
Pulverised Fuel Ash (PFA),
Cement and salt. The PFA arrives by rail; the cement and salt by road. The grout is mixed at Brunner Mond, Winnington from where it is pumped via a pipeline into the mines through a series of
Borehole s around the town.
The removed brine is pumped in the opposite direction to Winnington and then taken by train to
British Salt in
Middlewich . Here the brine is put to use in many products such as water softeners and road de-icers.
The project continues and is expected to finish in 2007.
Following the stabilisation of the mines, Northwich is to be developed in line with the 'Vision for Northwich'.
3 The vision, if completed, will see the old concrete County Council buildings and Magistrates Court demolished and replaced with more modern buildings.
New housing developments continue to appear around Northwich. A few years ago, the Drill Field, the world's oldest football ground was demolished to make way for more houses.
Population of Northwich over the last 200 years has been:
- : 1,338
- : 1,377
- : 17,611
- : 17,489
- : 19,259
The 2001 Census shows the population of Northwich to be 19,259. This was composed of 9,761 (50.3%) males and 9,498 (49.3%) females. There were 8,253 households
4.
Based on the 2001 Census, Northwich had 13,928 people aged between 16 and 74. Of these, 8,908 (64.0%) people were categorised as "economically active"; 4,268 (30.6%) were "economically inactive"; 455 (3.3%) were unemployed.
5
Allied to the extraction of salt was a bulk chemical industry, which became concentrated at the three
ICI sites at Winnington, Wallerscote and Lostock. The first industrially practical method for producing
Polythene was accidentally discovered at the Winnington works in 1933.
6
Other major local employers include:
- Frank Roberts & Sons Bakery has been associated with the town since 1887 and continues to be based near the town at Rudheath on the A556.
- Morrisons supermarket has a large distribution centre on the A530 south of the town.
- Orange and Barclays Bank both have contact centres at Gadbrook Park, off the A556 south of the town.
There are also major employers in nearby
Hartford .
Dole ,
France .
Northwich and its surroundings has a number of schools and colleges. Some of these include:
Northwich is home to the
Harlequin Theatre which produces six plays every year.
It is also home to the Purple Cactus Comedy Club, based at the Northwich Memorial Hall, a Monthly Comedy Club which has grown from a small town venue to one of the biggest and busiest comedy clubs in the country.
The Regal cinema was closed in 2007.
Northwich has a rich musical history, with a number of locals being part of bands such as
Placebo . Most notable however are the
Charlatans , who've had consistent chart success since 1990, and who formed in Northwich. The Weaverdale cafe in the town centre was used on the front of their 1999 singles compilation "
Melting Pot " and Pickmere lake features on the cover of their 2004 album "
Up At The Lake ".
Over the
August Bank Holiday Weekend Northwich Festival
is held at Moss Farm Sports Complex. Featuring 4 days of music and sport with the main attraction for the Monday being the UK Strongman-North Competition [http://www.ukstrongman-north.co.uk .
Northwich has its own fictional hero in the form of the ultimate ghost-hunter, James Boag-Munroe. The creation is the work of local Horror author
Stuart Neild . The first novel, titled ''A Haunted Man'', features Boag-Munroe's adventures in the haunted salt mines that run underneath Northwich, combining fact with supernatural fiction. More novels are on the way featuring Northwich and other
North West locations as the backdrops to the novels. A
Hollywood film and television series is also in development based on the books
7.
Northwich is the home of two non-league football teams,
Northwich Victoria and
Witton Albion . The town has two rugby union sides
Northwich RUFC and
Winnington Park , with Winnington Park also fielding a rugby league side.
The
Thundersprint motorcycling event is held every May
Bank Holiday in Northwich. This event attracts over 130,000 people over the two days, and claims to be the ''world's biggest street bike party''.
Successful long-distance runner,
Paula Radcliffe , hails from nearby
Davenham , while Olympic silver medalist
Shirley Strong comes from
Cuddington .
Northwich has two local newspapers, which are the
Northwich Guardian , published by
Newsquest , and the
Northwich Chronicle , published by
Trinity Mirror . A
Radio Station ,
Cheshire FM , is planned for 2007 which will cover the mid-Cheshire area including Northwich.
The key historical mode of transport is water. Not only are there the two rivers, but also the
Trent And Mersey Canal passes the town. The
Anderton Boat Lift acts as the connector of the canal and river systems and, following a successful restoration project, now houses a successful visitor centre.
The
A556 acts as a bypass to the town to the south and provides access to the
M6 Motorway at Junction 19. Northwich is also signposted from the
M56 Motorway to the north of the town via the
A559 .
Northwich Railway Station is on the
Mid-Cheshire Line between
Chester to
Manchester . There are also stations within close vicinity at
Greenbank , also on the Mid-Cheshire line, and
Hartford (on the
West Coast Main Line ).
Bus routes as at January 2007 are
Cheshire CC Bus Map Colours are as per map, they don't appear anywhere on the buses.:
The parish church is known as St. Helen's Witton. The church initially developed as a Chapel of Ease associated with the parish of
Great Budworth to serve the local community, known as the Chapel of Witton. There is no known date for the creation of this chapel, but it is thought to have existed in the 13th century. None of this building exists in the current church. There is no documentary evidence to indicate the dates of the older parts of the current building. However stones in the fabric of the porch carry inscriptions attributed to "Ricardus Alkoke Capellanus". This name matches documents concerning land in Northwich and
Lostock Gralam dated 1468, but this cannot be used to date the church accurately.Harries, Michael & Lynch, Colin - ''An Illustrated History of Northwich Parish & Church'', 1981, ISBN 0-9507-6480-9
It was not until 7th August 1900 that the parish of Witton (otherwise Northwich) was formed from parts of
Great Budworth ,
Davenham and other surrounding parishes.
The present St Wilfrid's (Roman Catholic) church was built in 1866.
See Also: Salt Museum, Northwich
The Northwich Union Workhouse opened in 1837 following the
Poor Law Amendment of 1834 that standardised the system of poor relief throughout Britain. The building is now the
Salt Museum .
The Dock Road Edwardian
Pumping Station is a
Grade II Listed Building originally built by Northwich Urban District Council in 1913. For over sixty years it was used for pumping sewage from parts of Northwich to the Wallerscote Treatment Works. Before it was built, untreated sewage was discharged directly into the River Weaver, causing widespread pollution.
The station was equipped with two single-cylinder Crossley gas-fired engines and two Haywood Tyler triplex lift and force pumps, capable of pumping 9,600 gallons per hour. In later years, electric pumps, capable of pumping 36,000 gallons per hour replaced these but the originals have been restored.
The current owners are
United Utilities (previously
North West Water ). The station is open to the public
8.
Two
Swing Bridge s, Hayhurst Bridge (built in 1898) and Town Bridge (built in 1899), cross the Weaver at Northwich. The bridges were the first two electrically-powered swing bridges in the world and were built on floating
Pontoon s to counteract the mine subsidence. They were designed by Colonel
John Saner .
A floating hotel is moored near the confluence of the two rivers.
The
Lion Salt Works , the last surviving open pan saltworks in
Cheshire , is in nearby Marston.
All of the following allegedly either are from or lived in Northwich at some point in their lives:
- Tony Dorigo , Former Leeds United & England Defender
- Thomas Manley (b. 1912), footballer and Northwich Victoria manager
- Dewi Morris , Former England Rugby Union Player
- Alan McInally , former professional footballer and now Sky Sports football analyst
- Andy Morrison , former professional footballer and now Worcester City F.C. coach
- Michael Oakes , Former Aston Villa Goalkeeper
- Andy Oakes , Walsall FC, former Derby County , Goalkeeper
- Paula Radcliffe , Marathon Runner
- Dean Saunders , Former Aston Villa & Wales Striker
- Shirley Strong , athlete
- Mike Whitlow , Former Leeds United & Leicester City Defender
