There’s plenty to see, both ancient and modern, in the place once described as a ‘pratie [pretty] market town but fowle by the smoke of many salt houses’
Some Cheshire towns are built on agriculture, others on industry. The shifting fortunes of Northwich reflect different foundations – salt. Cheshire’s three ‘wyches’ (a Saxon word meaning salt), namely Northwich, Nantwich and Middlewich, date to Roman times. The Romans called Northwich Condate (‘where rivers meet’) and discovered natural brine springs in the heart of the Cheshire countryside.
A legacy of mining, subsidence and rebuilding ensued, with more than 150 ‘wyches’ or ‘salt houses’ in the market-charter town by 1600. The Tudor antiquary, John Leland, had described Northwich not long before as a ‘pratie [pretty] market town but fowle by the smoke of many salt houses’. The land has been shifting under the feet of its residents ever since, leading to the Great Subsidence of 1880 and the subsequent Brine Pumping Act of 1891. As flooding continued, however, the local newspaper likened Northwich to Venice and, when trains came in the Victorian era, Northwich became an unlikely tourism hotspot. Following the opening of the railway from Altrincham to Northwich in 1863, amateur photographers arrived to capture the sinking buildings, as well as for day trips to Delamere Forest.
The recent Northwich Townscape Heritage Project improved the front elevations of timber-framed buildings and restored lost heritage features. Today, the riverside town, based on the Weaver, may be dominated by the modern Barons Quay retail development, but the majority of its five heritage buildings can be found along Witton Street.
Northwich is also a good base to visit the Anderton Boat Lift and Lion Salt Works, while the town hosts events for the annual Heritage Open Days in September. There’s a monthly Artisan Market (second Saturday of the month) plus summer festivals devoted to literature – and piña coladas – in honour of musician Rupert Holmes, creator of Escape (The Piña Colada Song), who lived there as a boy.
HERITAGE BUILDINGS
Start your self-guided walk on Witton Street, the main thoroughfare. The cornerstone is the Grade II-listed Brunner Library, donated to the town by the local MP Sir John Brunner in 1909 after the original library building, dating from 1883, subsided. The free library was designed by the architect A. E. Powles on the same site. The building was once home to the Salt Museum but is currently closed, pending refurbishment, with temporary library services in the Weaver Hall Museum.
Another nearby landmark building is the Grade II-listed RAOB Building, opened in 1913 as the Constitutional Club. It was later used by the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes (RAOB) club (hence the present name) and remains one of the best-preserved examples of timber-framed buildings in town. Both the library and the RAOB Building are built of a timber-framed construction with steel ring beams and jacking points to enable them to be lifted if subsidence necessitates.
Other examples of the timber-framed design include The Salty Dog bar with its ornate façade of carved figurines overlooking the High Street below. On Witton Street, The Penny Black, built around the time of WWI but not opened until post-war 1919, is now part of the J D Wetherspoon pub chain. It retains many of its original features as the town’s former main Post Office. It was also the town’s largest ‘liftable’ building and described by the architectural historian, Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, as ‘super, black and white’. The pub takes its name from the world’s first adhesive postage stamp, issued in May 1940.
The former Plaza Cinema looks unloved. The Art Deco building, with its Grade II-listed façade, opened its doors in 1928 as a cinema. It was a bingo hall until 2011 and then a venue for music events. The building, designed by architects William & Seager Owen and featuring two cherubs supporting an early film camera set into an arch over the entrance, is now closed due to concerns for the safety of the structure.
MAKE A DAY OF IT
Drink at…
The Penny Black, a landmark building as the town’s former Post Office, has been reborn as part of the Wetherspoon pub chain. Expect all-day food and local ales, including Cheshire Cat from Weetwood Ales. jdwetherspoon.com/pubs/the-penny-black-northwich
Eat in…
BEAR, located opposite the Odeon cinema in the Barons Quay development. Opens daily with an all-day menu, al fresco dining and views across the River Weaver. bemorebear.co/pages/Northwich and baronsquay.co.uk
Check out…
Lion Salt Works, a restored open-pan salt-making site (closed Mondays) for hands-on exhibits exploring the town’s salt heritage. lionsaltworks.westcheshiremuseums.co.uk
More from…
The Northwich Townscape
Heritage Project (northwich-th.co.uk); the Northwich & District Heritage Society promotes the town’s history through talks and community events. northwich-heritage.org.uk
David Atkinson is a freelance writer and Green Badge tourist guide to Cheshire and North Wales. His latest book is A Dark History of Chester (Amberley); davidatkinson.tours
CHESHIRE STORIES
Leaving Witton Street behind, venture past the modernist buildings of Chester Way and follow the distant spire towards Grade I-listed St Helen’s Church. It’s considered the oldest building in the town, with sections dating back some 650 years. Pevsner described it as the ‘oldest and most beautiful building in Northwich’ for its oak-panelled roof, stained- glass windows by Kempe, Wailes and Gibbs, and Tudor carving. It remains a community hub, hosting a luncheon club on the day of my visit. There has been worship on this site since around 1350, sitting above the salt works on the confluence of the Weaver and Dane rivers, with revisions to the church in Tudor and Victorian times. The church is currently fundraising for its Tower Room Project to create a new public space.
From here, cross the churchyard and follow the waymarked Riverside Path to the fringes of the town on the London Road. En route, pass the Weaver Valley, spanned by Northwich Viaduct, some of the 48 sandstone arches of its 900m length clearly in view. The Weaver Hall Museum and Workhouse (adults/concession £4.30/3.10) traces Northwich through the ages. The former Victorian workhouse, now part of West Cheshire Museums along with Lion Salt Works and Chester’s Grosvenor Museum, is divided between ground-floor exhibits about life in the workhouse and an upper floor dedicated to the town’s industrial history.
Look out for stories of Cheshire history, including the Cheshire Archers recruited as royal bodyguards in the 14th century, and Cheshire’s grisly claim to have the first and last recorded use of the scold’s bridle – a spiked mouthpiece for wives who nagged their husbands, or gossiped about neighbours.
The main exhibition, however, focusses on heritage, particularly the formation of Brunner Mond alkali works in 1873 to make soda ash from salt and subsequent merger to form Imperial Chemicals in 1926.
This led to the ICI chemical company and the breakthrough discovery of polythene at the Winnington plant in 1933.
Finish your walk by heading back into town for an al fresco coffee in Barons Quay at the Coffee House. Despite the modernist setting, there are hints of the town’s somewhat hidden past. Notably, a nearby set of mosaics, sponsored by the Northwich and District Heritage Society, symbolises the three cornerstones of Northwich’s story: salt, chemicals and waterways.
Northwich town centre may be in need of some love, and its heritage buildings awaiting careful restoration, but its history remains proudly rich..
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