Cheshire is a county in
North West England.
Rock salt
Halite (), commonly known as rock salt, is a type of salt, the mineral (natural) form of sodium chloride ( Na Cl). Halite forms isometric crystals. The mineral is typically colorless or white, but may also be light blue, dark blue, purple, pi ...
was laid down in this region some 220 million years ago, during the
Triassic
The Triassic ( ) is a geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system which spans 50.6 million years from the end of the Permian Period 251.902 million years ago (Year#Abbreviations yr and ya, Mya), to the beginning of the Jurassic Period 201.36 ...
period. Seawater moved inland from an open sea, creating a chain of shallow salt marshes across what is today the
Cheshire Basin
The Cheshire Basin is a late Palaeozoic and Mesozoic sedimentary basin extending under most of the county of Cheshire in northwest England. It extends northwards into the Manchester area and south into Shropshire. The basin possesses something of t ...
. As the marshes evaporated, deep deposits of rock salt were formed.
History of salt workings in Cheshire
Northwich
A settlement, ''Condate'', was built during Roman times at the current location of
Northwich. It is believed that the Romans built this settlement due to the strategic river crossing of the
Weaver and the presence of the brine springs. The Romans used lead salt pans to extract the salt from the brine. Salt pans and first-century brine kilns have both been found around the Roman fort.
The salt beds beneath Northwich were re-discovered in the 1670 by employees of the local Smith-Barry family.
The family were actually looking for
coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen.
Coal is formed when ...
when they accidentally discovered
rock salt
Halite (), commonly known as rock salt, is a type of salt, the mineral (natural) form of sodium chloride ( Na Cl). Halite forms isometric crystals. The mineral is typically colorless or white, but may also be light blue, dark blue, purple, pi ...
in the grounds of their house,
Marbury Hall,
Marbury Marbury may refer to:
Places
*Marbury, Cheshire
Marbury is a small village located at in the civil parish of Marbury cum Quoisley, within the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is administer ...
, north of Northwich with salt extraction starting shortly afterwards. Salt was also extracted in the area immediately north east of Northwich, including the villages of
Marston (including the
Lion Salt Works
The Lion Salt Works is the last remaining open pan salt works in Marston, near Northwich, Cheshire, England. It closed as a work in 1986 and is now preserved as a museum.
History
John Thompson Junior and his son Henry Ingram Thompson, a membe ...
) and
Wincham
200px, Map of civil parish of Wincham in the former borough of Vale Royal
Wincham is a civil parish and village in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is about three miles nort ...
(including the
New Cheshire Salt Works
The New Cheshire Salt Works Ltd was a salt manufacturer formerly located in Wincham, north east of Northwich in Cheshire, UK. Run by the Stubbs family, it operated between around 1923 and 2006. It produced white or brine salt from naturally oc ...
).
In the 19th century it became uneconomical to mine salt, and so solvent extraction using water as a solvent was used. 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. The collapse of a number of mines led to salt mining to move to
Winsford
Winsford is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the River Weaver south of Northwich and west of Middlewich. It grew around the salt mining industr ...
.
There are two chief museums of the industry in the Northwich area, the most recent addition being the
Lion Salt Works
The Lion Salt Works is the last remaining open pan salt works in Marston, near Northwich, Cheshire, England. It closed as a work in 1986 and is now preserved as a museum.
History
John Thompson Junior and his son Henry Ingram Thompson, a membe ...
museum. The Salt Museum of Thomas Ward and
John Brunner was founded in the 19th century and is now housed in the
Weaver Hall Museum and Workhouse.
Middlewich
Following the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
invasion, Middlewich was named ''Salinae'' on account of the salt deposits around it, as it was one of their major sites of salt production.
During this time the Romans built a
fort
A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
at Harbutts Field (SJ70216696), to the north of the town and recent excavations to the south of the fort have found evidence of further Roman activity
including a well and part of a preserved
Roman road.
Salt manufacture has remained one of the principal employers in
Middlewich
Middlewich is a town in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, east of Chester, east of Winsford, southeast of Northwich and northwest of Sandbach. The population at the 2011 Census was 13,595 ...
for most of the past 2,000 years. Salt making is mentioned in the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
, and by the 13th century there were approximately 100 "wich houses" packed around the town's two brine pits.
By 1908 there were nine industrial scale salt manufacturers in the town, with a number of open pan salt works close to the
Trent and Mersey Canal.
Nantwich
The origins of the settlement at
Nantwich
Nantwich ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It has among the highest concentrations of listed buildings in England, with notably good examples of Tudor and Georgian architecture. ...
date to
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
times when salt from Nantwich was used by the Roman garrisons at
Chester and
Stoke-on-Trent as both a preservative and a condiment. Salt has been used in the production of
Cheshire cheese
Cheshire cheese is a dense and crumbly cheese produced in the English county of Cheshire, and four neighbouring counties, Denbighshire and Flintshire in Wales and Shropshire and Staffordshire in England.
History
Cheshire cheese is one of ...
and in the tanning industry, both industries being products of the dairy industry based on the
Cheshire Plain
The Cheshire Plain is a relatively flat expanse of lowland within the county of Cheshire in North West England but extending south into Shropshire. It extends from the Mersey Valley in the north to the Shropshire Hills in the south, bounded b ...
around Nantwich.
In the
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
, Nantwich is recorded as having eight salt houses. The salt industry peaked in the late 16th century when there were 216 salt houses, but the industry ended in 1856 with the closure of the last salt house. Similarly the last tannery closed in 1974, but the clothing industry remains important to the area.
Winsford
From the 1830s, salt became important to
Winsford
Winsford is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the River Weaver south of Northwich and west of Middlewich. It grew around the salt mining industr ...
, partly because the salt mines under
Northwich had begun to collapse and another source of salt near the
River Weaver
The River Weaver is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire, northern England. Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1720 and the work, which included ...
was needed. A new source was discovered in Winsford, leading to the
development of a salt industry along the course of the
River Weaver
The River Weaver is a river, navigable in its lower reaches, running in a curving route anti-clockwise across west Cheshire, northern England. Improvements to the river to make it navigable were authorised in 1720 and the work, which included ...
, where many factories were established. By 1897, Winsford had become the largest producer of salt in Britain. As a result, a new town developed within a mile of the old ''Borough of Over'' which had been focused on Delamere Street. Most of the early development took place on the other side of the river, with new housing, shops, pubs, chapels and a new church being built in the former hamlet of
Wharton. As the wind usually blew the smoke away from Over, it became the place for the wealthier inhabitants to live. However, people who worked on the barges and other people working in Winsford started to develop along the old Over Lane (now High Street). The old borough tried to remain separate but had been connected by the 1860s.
Current salt manufacturing in Cheshire
The manufacture of white salt for food and allied industries is now concentrated in Middlewich, in the manufacturer,
British Salt
British Salt Limited is a United Kingdom-based chemical company that produces pure white salt. The company is owned by Tata Chemicals Europe after a buy out from private equity company LDC in April 2010. It is based in Middlewich, Cheshire, emplo ...
, who sell under the name
Saxa, and also through third parties e.g. supermarket own brands. Salt produced by British Salt in Middlewich has 57% of the UK market for salt used in cooking.
The UK's largest
rock salt
Halite (), commonly known as rock salt, is a type of salt, the mineral (natural) form of sodium chloride ( Na Cl). Halite forms isometric crystals. The mineral is typically colorless or white, but may also be light blue, dark blue, purple, pi ...
(
halite
Halite (), commonly known as rock salt, is a type of salt, the mineral (natural) form of sodium chloride ( Na Cl). Halite forms isometric crystals. The mineral is typically colorless or white, but may also be light blue, dark blue, purple, p ...
) mine is at
Winsford
Winsford is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the River Weaver south of Northwich and west of Middlewich. It grew around the salt mining industr ...
.
It is one of only three places where
rock salt
Halite (), commonly known as rock salt, is a type of salt, the mineral (natural) form of sodium chloride ( Na Cl). Halite forms isometric crystals. The mineral is typically colorless or white, but may also be light blue, dark blue, purple, pi ...
is commercially mined in the UK, the others being at
Boulby Mine,
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...
and
Kilroot
, translit_lang1 = Irish
, translit_lang1_type = Derivation:
, translit_lang1_info =
, translit_lang1_type1 = Meaning:
, translit_lang1_info1 = Church of the redhead
, image_sk ...
near
Carrickfergus
Carrickfergus ( , meaning " Fergus' rock") is a large town in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It sits on the north shore of Belfast Lough, from Belfast. The town had a population of 27,998 at the 2011 Census. It is County Antrim's oldest ...
,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
.
Irish Salt Mining and Exploration Company
/ref>
Rock salt
Halite (), commonly known as rock salt, is a type of salt, the mineral (natural) form of sodium chloride ( Na Cl). Halite forms isometric crystals. The mineral is typically colorless or white, but may also be light blue, dark blue, purple, pi ...
extraction began at Winsford in the 17th century. Initially it was used only as salt licks for animals, and to strengthen weak brine. In 1844 Winsford Rock Salt Mine was opened, and is claimed by its operator, Salt Union Ltd., to be "Britain's oldest working mine".
See also
* History of salt
Salt, also referred to as table salt or by its chemical formula NaCl (sodium chloride), is an ionic compound made of sodium and chloride ions. All life depends on its chemical properties to survive. It has been used by humans for thousands of ...
* History of salt in Middlewich
Middlewich, a town in northwest England, lies on the confluence of three rivers – the Dane, the Croco and the Wheelock. Most importantly for the history of salt making, it also lies on the site of a prehistoric brine spring.
Following the R ...
* Lion Salt Works
The Lion Salt Works is the last remaining open pan salt works in Marston, near Northwich, Cheshire, England. It closed as a work in 1986 and is now preserved as a museum.
History
John Thompson Junior and his son Henry Ingram Thompson, a membe ...
* Weaver Hall Museum and Workhouse, Northwich
* Open pan salt making
Open-pan salt making is a method of salt production wherein salt is extracted from brine using open pans.
Virtually all European domestic salt is obtained by solution-mining of underground salt formations, although some is still obtained by t ...
* Cheshire Brine Subsidence Compensation Board
The Cheshire Brine Subsidence Compensation Board was created by the Cheshire Brine Pumping (Compensation for Subsidence) Act 1952.
It pays compensation caused by any subsidence damage in Cheshire attributable to the practice of brine pumping.
...
References
Further reading
* Calvert, A F (1915), Salt in Cheshire, London: E and F N Spon
* Hewitson, C (2015), The Open Pan: The Archaeology and History of the Lion Salt Works, Lion Salt Works Trust Research Report 6
* Lightfoot, Tom (2000), ''Open Pan Salt Making in Cheshire: An Illustrated Description'', Lion Salt Works Trust Research Report 1
External links
Weaver Hall Museum and Workhouse, Northwich
Salt Manufacturers' Association
Salt Manufacturers' Association
Salt Manufacturers' Association
Winsford Rock Salt Mine
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salt In Cheshire
Chemical industry in the United Kingdom
Economy of Cheshire
Manufacturing in England
Salt production