SALT
MAKING SITES IN
George Twigg
Background
About twenty
five years ago the Keele Local History Class at Sandbach produced the now well
known Township Field Name Map based on the 1840 Tithe Apportionment. Of
particular interest was a row of interesting field names alongside the River
Wheelock and driven through by the
The project was
reawakened in about 1998 with the publication of John Dodgson’s last volume of
Cheshire Place Names, [Part V Section 2]. This contains the main index and
finally the Introduction in which Dodgson has kindly listed all townships which
contain a salt related place name. Most were already familiar from the earlier
search but there were new additions to our list where the existence of brine
springs was geologically possible and hence worthy of investigation. This was
further prompted by Philip Morgan who was working on the Medieval Section of
the New Historical Atlas of Cheshire.
The first
requirement was the location of the salt related field name on the tithe map
and obtaining its grid reference. This was kindly done by Doreen Mason in the
course of her regular visits to the Cheshire Record Office. The results of this
more recent search have yet to be gathered together to form Appendix 2 of the present
text as The Lost Salt Sites of Cheshire. The town works of Northwich and
Nantwich are not included in this survey.
CONTENTS
1:1 Salt making sites outside Middlewich, Nantwich,
Northwich and Winsford
1.2.1 Cheshire Record Office Family Collections
1.2.2 Cheshire Record Office - Solicitor and Business
Deposits
1.2.4 University of Keele Library Archives and Special
Collections
2:1:1 Iron Age, Roman and Medieval Middlewich
2.1.4 The 1778 Survey of Salt Making Sites in Middlewich
2.1.6 Weaver Navigation Salt Shipment Records
2.1.7 Comparison with Salt Office Records
2:1:8 19th and 20th century Middlewich
2.1.9 1908 Survey of Middlewich Salt Sites
2:2:1 Out of town Saltworks linked with Middlewich
A1.1 Agreement between
Aman's Salt Works and the Murgatroyd's Ammonia Soda and Salt Syndicate.
The brine shafts dug at the two works give a precise location for the
Appendix 2
A2.1 The Lost
Saltworks of
A2.2 Further
more recent searches, prompted by the recently published Part Five of John
Dodgson’s Place Names of Cheshire with its introduction and full index.
PART I Out of town saltmaking
1.1 SALT MAKING SITES
OUTSIDE MIDDLEWICH, NANTWICH, NORTHWICH AND WINSFORD
This section
lists and locates the rural or "out of town" salt sites of
The 19th
century salt works of Middlewich, Northwich and Winsford are well identified on
the 1875 and 1908 editions of the 25inch Ordnance Survey but the pattern of development
in these towns during the 18th century is less certain. All three towns
continued to observe the medieval Rules of Salt Making into the Early Modern
period. But new technology - a change from wood fuel to coal and from lead to
iron pans was forced on the industry in the early 17th century. Nantwich salt
makers resisted change and a 1690’s High Court Action virtually bankrupted the
town. Only two or three saltworks survived into the 18th century.
The
"out-of-town" salt making sites are invariably located in a river
valley where this passes over a wet rock salt head. In such locations brine
springs or patches of salt marsh will have been identified in ancient times but
records of the establishment of a salt works by the local landowner before the
early 17th century have yet to be tracked down.
The listing of
the known “out of town” salt making sites, which follows, is grouped according
to the river catchment in which the particular site is situated.
1.1.1
Except for its
Wych Brook tributary, which is considered below, the
1.1.2
Dirtwich, Lower
(SJ487444) and Higher (SJ496435)
The Domesday
return records a salt house in the lost Anglo-Saxon manor of Burwardeston. This
has been identified with the present day townships of Iscoed in Clywd and
Wigland in
The
Lord Kenyon's
Salt Works according to the 1838 Tithe apportionment, and salt making
eventually ceased in about 1856. The Tithe Map shows the salt works itself to
have been on the Wigland side of the river while the brine pit and pump house
were on the Iscoed side. In the river between there are the remains of the
stonework which formed the weir and the foundation for the undershot waterwheel
which provided power for the brine pump.
The brine pit
was about 12 feet across, was brick lined and had been covered over with a
brick arch. It had been abandoned and had disappeared from living memory by
1983.
In September
1983 the brick arch suddenly collapsed to reveal the brick-lined pit; full of
brine to an overflow level about 4 foot above the water level in the river. I
examined the pit in April 1984 and found it contained about a 50 foot depth of
brine. Since the pit now contained the collapsed brick arch and earth cover the
working depth would have been somewhat greater. The brine still contained about
15% sodium chloride was clear and produced an acceptable quality salt on simple
evaporation. An analysis is on file. After several years the pit became a
source of embarrassment to the farmer, being alongside a public footpath and
near to the road and the adjacent Brine Pit Cottage where there were children.
The pit was filled to make it safe, allegedly with sand but this has
nevertheless stopped the brine flow.
The Kenyon
family papers so far deposited at the Clywd Record Office contain no documents
relating to the salt works, but I understand that many records remain in the
care of the present Lord Kenyon. Salthouse deeds in the Cholmondely papers at
(SJ488443)
The first
series of the 1:25000 OS Map denote the presence of a "brine spring at
this spot”. In fact this is a brine pit of considerable depth. In April 1984 I
inspected the site and measured a depth of 80feet down to debris which must
have inevitably collected over the years. The brine pit takes the form of a
round pool about 20 feet across. It is shallow around the edge but at the
centre there is the brine well which is about four feet across. It has been
like this since beyond living memory and it must be more than two centuries
since salt making ceased at this location. The Tithe Map marks the spot with a
Brine Pit Field and a Brine Pit Meadow, but there is no indication of ancient
occupation. These are the only salt related field names in either Lower or
Higher Dirtwich but there is a "wich field" about a mile away along
the road to Tybroughton which may have been used for hay, grazing or a coppiced
source of wood fuel. No documents relating to this site have been found.
Higher Dirtwich
(SJ496436)
An ancient salt
making site on the Wigland bank of the river at Higher Dirtwich. Deeds relating
to this property which go back to at least the early 16th century are held in
the Cholmondeley papers, the earliest deed in English being dated 1543. From
that time a complete succession of deeds cover the leasing of the salt works
until its closure and final sale in around 1780. A deed of 1706 contains a map
which fixes the exact location of the works. For almost a century from the
mid-17th C it was jointly owned by the Bridgman and Cholmondeley families.
The 1611
Inventory Post Mortem of Randle Brereton of Malpas, last of the male line,
includes 10 brine pits or salt houses at Higher and
(SJ496435)
Salt making
site in Iscoed immediately across the river from the Bridgman-Cholmondeley
works listed above. The site was disturbed at the beginning of the 20th century
when the road bridge was built and the road to Tybroughton and Eglwys Cross was
moved back from the river bank to create the small meadow in which there are
now two saline springs. These no doubt mark the location of two ancient brine
pits. Some of the adjacent property was owned by Lord Kenyon in 1838 and this
would suggest a salt works was still at this location in the 18th century.
(SJ497435)
A brine spring
which forms a saline hollow at this spot marks the site of another brine pit in
Iscoed and presumably of another salt works. No documentary evidence for this
has yet been found.
(SJ495435)
Several saline
pools survive in this meadow on the Wigland bank of the river adjacent to the
present-day houses and gardens which occupy the site of the
Bridgman-Cholmondeley salt works. The location of saline hollows in a large
open meadow without plot boundaries possibly indicates early salt making.
However, there is some suggestion of a "Great Brine Pit" at Higher
Dirtwich; maybe a common brine pit north of the river. Some of the later leases
for the Bridgman-Cholmondeley salt house refer to the possibility of loosing
the brine in the brine pit which the 1706 map places inside the works and a
reference to tunnels causes me to wonder whether the well within the works was
fed through a culvert from a "Great Brine Pit" in the nearby field.
The 1706 deed refers to the use of a brine pump at the pit inside the works.
1.1.3
Bickley,
Baddiley, Audlem and Adderley.
Henry Holland's
1811 map of the Brine Springs of
Combermere
Abbey (not sure where)
The sudden appearance
of a brine pit in the grounds of the abbey in 1535 was a local sensation. The
brine was made into salt by the monks and this brought protest from the
Nantwich salt proprietors where the abbey owned salt houses. Reported in
Austerson
(SJ669484)
According to
James Hall, in around 1625 the
Hatherton
(SJ671479)
Salt works
allegedly established by Sir Thomas Smyth in about 1625. (Hall) Across the
river from the Austerson works and slightly upstream. Approx location given by
a "Brine Pit Field" in the Tithe Map.
Coole-Pilate
(SJ663466)
Brine Pits Farm
and a recently filled in brine pit. No field names and no documentary records
encountered but probably 17th or 18th century.
Hankelow
(SJ664466)
The current
1:25000 OS map shows a second brine pit on the Hankelow side of the river from
Brine Pits Farm where there is also Brine Pits Wood. No Documentary records
found so far, probably 17th-18th century.
Shrewbridge
(SJ649509)
A new salt
works constructed by Viscount Cholmondeley in 1693 on Shrewbridge Meadow; west
of the river and outside Nantwich township. It seems likely that the works
closed due to flooding in the early 18th C. A detailed account book for
1693-ca1700 (250pp) and several leases are in the Cholmondeley papers at
Spurstow Spa
(SJ575548)
Mineral spring
with claimed medicinal properties. Popular in 18th century. According to
Ormerod’s analysis, not saline; mainly sulphates of Na and Mg etc.
Winsford Brine
springs exploited since the mid-17th century. Location of the first salt works
not known. Winsford was part of the Salt Office's Middlewich Collection and
Salt Tax returns will list salt makers of Winsford after 1690 as part of
Middlewich. The Winsford saltworks are to be listed as a separate chapter.
Leftwich
(SJ658735 approx.)
Leftwich Eyes
Saltworks was established in1669/1670 by Earl Thomas Rivers on fields south of
River Dane and outside the Northwich town boundary. Four years of detailed
production accounts (1770-1775), letters and documents to about 1722 in Cholmondeley
Collection. [DCH/J/112 and DCH/J/113]
Winnington and
Anderton Saltworks here are outside the nominal "wich". Important in
19th century after nearby Northwich saltworks were affected by subsidence and
will be listed as part of urban Northwich. Well documented on 19th century OS
maps.
Crewood
(SJ572763 approx.)
This was the
upper reach of the tidal river and in the 17th century, before the Navigation,
boats were grounded at
Frodsham
(SJ529784)
The nearest
port to Northwich and used for shipment of Northwich salt since the middle
ages. This is where the boats were loaded and Northwich saltworks owners had
established quayside warehouses in 17th century. A rock salt refinery was
established here in the 1690's. Salt activities ceased in first half of 19th C.
1.1.4
Above
Middlewich the River Dane itself passes over the dry rock head and as would be
expected, brine springs have not been encountered in the valley above this
point.
Boreholes
seeking brine were put down in the early 20th century on sites at Dunkirk Farm
and Vine Cottage, near
The rivers
Wheelock and Croco join the Dane at Middlewich and the ancient salt works of
Middlewich were alongside the Croco, where it flows above the wet rock head and
near the
Sandersons
Brook, a tributary of the Croco, continues above the wet rock head and salt
works pumping wild brine were established alongside Sanderson's Brook at
Cledford at the end of the 19th century.
These works can
be readily identified on the 1908 edition of the 25inch OS: -
Electrolytic-Alkali
Co. (SJ714648)
This company
was established in 1899 as a major installation based on the Hargreaves-Bird
brine electrolysis cell. Two brine shafts were sunk on the site and this early
integrated chlor-alkali plant included a multi-effect brine evaporation plant
which was the first commercial vacuum salt plant in the
Bowfields
Saltworks (SJ716643)
The 1908,
25inch OS map shows the Bowfields Saltworks as two parts. That part nearest to
Middlewich (i.e. to the north) was erected in 1899 by J Verdin-Cooke and Co.,
Liverpool Salt Merchants of St James's Street. The part to the south may also
have been Verdin Cooke in 1908 or still green field, but was occupied by a new
company, the Middlewich Salt Company, which was backed by Cerebos Salt Co Ltd
of Greatham in
Tetton Salt
Works (SJ720643)
Tetton Salt
Works was established by John Sheffield in the 1890's. The date needs
clarification but I expect it was after the formation of the Salt Union in
1888. Sometime between 1910 and 1919 John Sheffield’s lease to Tetton Works
presumably expired and he moved to a new salt works at
British Salt
Limited (SJ716644)
The modern
vacuum salt works on this site occupies part of the old Electrolytic Alkali
land and the site of the old Verdin-Cooke block of common pans. The works was
established in 1969 to replace the old British Soda works at
Initially this
was a 75%/25% split between British Soda and Cerebos but since the RHM takeover
British Salt has been wholly owned by Staveley Industries, the parent company
of British Soda.
Salt is supplied
by conveyor belt to the adjacent RHM salt packing plant.
Brine for the
British Salt plant comes by pipeline from the controlled pumping field at
Warmingham.
Murgatroyds
Salt and Chemical Co. (SJ730630)
Integrated
chlor-alkali works which came on stream in 1950. Production of vacuum salt and
chemicals originally from natural brine pumped from the Murgatroyds Salt Works
Shaft in
1.1.5
Warmingham
(SJ702613)
British Salt
Company's controlled pumping brine field at Hill Top Farm.
Iron-age site
discovered at Railway Farm in 1992 by the British Gas resident archaeologist
during the laying of the 36 inch main.
Works
established by John Sheffield before 1919. Merged with Palmer Mann in 1926,
taken over by British Soda in 1959 and closed down and demolished in 1972. Site
now housing estate.
Palmer Mann and
Co., Sifta Salt Works. (SJ735605)
Land purchased
1919. After an initial period as merchants a salt making works erected ca 1923.
Palmer Mann had taken over the management of Lawton Saltworks for the
Commercial Salt Company in about 1920. In 1926 the two companies merged with
In 1959,
Cerebos became the majority shareholder in Cheshire United Salt, (ie. Palmer
Mann), their main aim being the acquisition of the Palmer Mann brand names;
Sifta Salt and Sifta Sam etc. The whole works at Ettiley Heath was sold to
British Soda and continued to operate as part of the adjacent Glacier Salt
Works. Closed down and demolished 1972. Site now the
British Soda
Company, Glacier Salt Works. (SJ728601)
Land purchased
in 1917 by Staveley Iron and Chemical Co of
Sandbach - Hind
Heath
Hind Heath
(SJ739594 and SJ744593)
Salt works
established in 1693 on the Hind Heath estate in Sandbach township. The tithe
map shows locations marked by "Brine Pit Field" and two "Wich
House Fields". There are adjacent "Wich Fields" across river in
Wheelock township. The canal passes over the probable sites of these salt
works. Documentation is to be found in the Ford of Abbeyfields papers at the
Cheshire Record Office.
Lime Kiln Lane
Works (SJ749591)
Salt Works
established in about 1790, alongside the recently constructed
Wheelock Iron
and Salt Co. (SJ748592)
Occupied, in
about 1860, the site of Lime Kiln Works and the larger site north of the canal
where an iron works was erected and common salt pans heated by the hot gases
from the adjacent iron furnaces. Acquired the Wheelock "Old" Works in
1870's or 1880's. Closed down soon after 1888 when the company became part of
the Salt Union. The site was occupied by Cheshire Concrete Ltd but is now a
housing development.
Wheelock
"Old" Works (SJ753593)
Salt works
established alongside the railway and east of the silk mill. The North Staffs
Railway came through to Sandbach in 1851 and this salt works was a post-railway
development. Became part of the Wheelock Iron and Salt Company in 1870's (?)
and part of Salt Union in 1888. Kept working until closed down in about 1911.
Works not demolished until the mid or late 1920's. Site landscaped and now a
meadow.
Canalside Works
(SJ755592)
Salt works constructed
soon after the construction of the canal in 1775. Supplied with brine from the
spring in
Thomas
Stephens's Salt Works (SJ761592)
Salt works
established by Thomas Stephens in the mid 17th century, sometime before 1690.
Based on ancient brine springs to the north of the river. Presumably demolished
to make way for canal.
Established in
about 1852 by James Simpson Leake near the site of the earlier Thomas Stephens
works and probably using the same source of brine. On the triangular plot of land
formed between the canal and railway. Purchased by James Blackwell and
ultimately became part of the Salt Union. Closed down in about 1922. Now much
landscaped and part of the golf course.
Malkins Bank
Works. (SJ763591)
Established about
1790 following the construction of the canal. Acquired by James Blackwell in
1850's and ultimately became part of the Salt Union. Now part of the golf
course.
Wheelock Top
Works (SJ767588)
Salt Works
built alongside the canal and between the canal and the railway. Not appearing
in the 1838 Tithe Award but its layout and lack of railway access suggests it
was established before 1851. Lack of documentation and initial ownership not
certain. Owned by James Blackwell in the 1860's and ultimately became part of
Salt Union. Probably closed down at the same time as the Whitehall Works. The
name "Wheelock Top Works" is a potential source of confusion. See
1875 and 1908 25inch OS maps. Now part of the golf course.
Brunner Mond
Sandbach Works (SJ764590)
Ammonia Soda
Works established 1873 on the plot between the Malkins Bank Salt Works and
Wheelock Top Salt works. Not a salt making site but pumping natural brine which
is converted into sodium carbonate etc. Process licensed from Solvay, initially
by Gascoigne, Kearne and Richards but taken over by Brunner Mond in 1880.
Closed down ca. 1930 and demolished in 1932. Now part of the golf course.
Roughwood
Works. (SJ777584 and SJ781579)
The later
Roughwood Works was alongside the canal at Hassall Green and established in the
1780's or 90's following the canal's construction. The turning bay for a canal
basin can be seen by the road bridge. It replaced the original Roughwood Works
which was in nearby Roughwood Hollow and was established in 1693. But the Tithe
Apportionment leaves the impression that this could have been the site of
earlier salt working. Brine was pumped from the original brine shaft in the
valley bottom to a reservoir in the field by the canal locks and across the
road from the new works. "Reservoir Field" on Tithe Map. The site of
the new canalside salt works is now a meadow and garden.
The potential
sites of the old Roughwood Works in the valley bottom are now largely covered
by the railway embankment constructed in 1851. There is here an "Engine
Field" and a "Wich house Field", the latter in
Odd Rode and
Salt works
established in 17th century by the
(SJ805571)
Later
developments on the Odd Rode side where a new Salt Works was established in
1778 following the completion the canal. By Edward Salmon and William
Penlington, who had married the Lowndes heiresses. Lawton Salt Works was taken
over by the Broughton family in about 1790 and traded as Broughton and Sutton,
James Sutton having been manager of the Lawton Salt Warehouse at Shardlow.
After several changes in proprietor the lease was eventually taken over by the
Salt Union in 1888. New lease went to the Commercial Salt Company in about 1909
which merged with Palmer Mann in 1920's. Henry Seddon of Middlewich bought the
freehold in about 1922 but failed in two High Court Attempts to eject Palmer for
alleged infringement of lease.. Works eventually closed following subsidence in
1926. Massive subsidence occurred in 1937. Site landscaped in 1980 and now a
meadow.
(SJ801574)
North of the
river in Odd Rode there is also a "Wich House Field" and a "Rock
Pit Field". There was a brief period of rock salt mining around 1780. But
the wich house field could be a 17th century development.
1.1.6
Dunham
Woodhouses (SJ719879)
A new salt
works established by the Booth family of Dunham Massey around 1630. Equipped
with an iron pan and burning coal. Leaseholder a coal pit owner of Leigh.
Contemporary
deeds include field names that enable the site to be located on the Tithe Map.
Salt Office certificates have survived which were issued at Dunham Woodhouses
in the 18th century.
Agden Saltworks
(SJ710871)
Established
alongside the Bridgewater Canal in the early years of the century. Possibly
1906. Became part of J Manger Ltd of Stafford, who in turn became part of
Amasal. Amasal taken over by British Soda in about 1960 and the works was
closed down in about 1962. Now Agden Boatyard.
Heatley
"Original" Works (SJ698883)
First works to
be established at Lymm. In Reddish Lane, possibly 1904-5. This was a small
works and I suspect it was taken over by Charles Moore Company (see below) who
pumped brine from the site. Was certainly part of the Charles Moore estate in
1950. Was subsiding when inspected in 1974.
Charles Moore
Works (SJ 701882)
Salt works
established south of and alongside the railway in 1906. Borehole went down
300-400 feet but brine level was often near the surface and occasionally
artesian well with slight gushing. A vacuum plant was erected in the 1930's.
Company associated with yeast and adhesives manufacture in Liverpool and became
part of Distillers Company in 1930's. Works closed down in 1950 because of
critical problems due to subsidence. As a direct result of this closure
Distillers acquired a 51% holding in Murgatroyds Salt and Chemical Co in 1954.
Charles Moore site partly subsided but was a depot for secondhand chemical
plant in 1974.
Verdin Cooke
Works (SJ701884)
Established by
J Verdin Cooke and Co in 1908 as their second works. The first was at Cledford,
Middlewich. Connected to railway by a spur with a level crossing over
Birchbrook Road which also connected to a coal wharf. The works was closed down
in 1926 and demolished in 1933. I suspect the closure was a result of the
Middlewich Salt Company (ie. Cerebos) take over of Verdin-Cooke and a major
expansion of the Cledford, Middlewich site. Not sure about present status of
the site. Open land in 1974.
1.2 DOCUMENTARY SOURCES
References to
Cheshire salt making in Roman texts which have been confirmed by on-site
archaeology show that the centre of Cheshire salt making in the Roman period
was Salinae, the Roman Middlewich. Apart from this the earliest documentary
record of salt making in Cheshire is the Domesday Book.
Domesday
returns record Anglo-Saxon salt making at four locations in the county. These
four "wiches" being Norvvich, Mildestvic Wich, a Wich in
Warmundestrou Hundred (which became Wich Malbank) and the fourth wich also not
named in Domesday but identified in late 11th century charters as Fulewich. The
latter un-named Domesday salt house was in the lost manor of Burwardeston which
has been identified as the present day township of Iscoyd which in the 13th
century became part of Maelor Saesneg, the detached part of Flintshire. Salt
making in Anglo-Saxon England was a taxable commodity and hence a valuable
source of revenue for the King. Likewise the objective of William’s survey of
1086 was an up-to-date assessment of the taxable value of his realm.
The making of
salt at other locations where brine springs had been identified was presumably
an estate venture, meeting the needs of the lord’s household and the workers on
the estate. To what extent some illicit cottage saltmaking went on is not
certain. (Compare use of hand grinding stones.) Such activity would presumably
find its way into the manor court records.
An early
documentary reference to the existence of a salt pit near Eaton is found in a
charter of 1177-80 and there is possibly sufficient topographical guidance in
this text to reveal its present day location.
[Barraclough,
Charters of the Norman Earls, No.158, Record Society Vol. 126] This is outside
the known area of the rock salt beds and there is a record of another brine
spring at nearby Aldersey which is also to the west of the Bickerton Hills.
Dodgson in his Cheshire Place Names suggests that in the 12th C this location would
be adjacent to the tidal Dee and hence could be making sea salt. But “salt pit”
is not a sea salt making term.
The map of
Cheshire which accompanies Henry Holland's paper of 1811 [Transactions of the
Geological Society Vol. I, pp38-62] locates "situations in which Brine
Springs have been found". The map is generally a useful source but is
unreliable in that the location of the red spots is on the wrong side of the
river at so many locations where the exact position is known. Hence it cannot
be assumed to be right at locations where this information would be of
interest. The map locates brine springs in the upper Weaver valley, at Bickley,
Baddiley, Audlem and Adderley for which exact locations have not yet been
investigated.
There are
reports of other brine springs beyond the limits of the major
Cheshire-Shropshire rock salt basin which could be from the remnants of once
larger deposits, in the same way that the Cheshire-Shropshire basin is itself
the remnant of an even larger deposit. There are records of early modern salt
making at several sites in southern Shropshire and production records survive
for the Kingley Wyche saltworks in the parish of Preston-on-the-Weald Moors,
near Wellington (SJ676148). [Shropshire Sites and Monuments Record SA/1369; also
SRO 625/1-22; 676/2-27.] See J M B Stamper, The Shropshire Salt Industry,
Trans. Shrop. Archeol. Soc., LXIV, 77-82, 1985, and also Julie Stamper's (nee
Humphries) Univ. of Southampton Dissertation, January 1983.
In Cheshire
numerous deeds survive which relate to individual salt houses in the four
wiches. These date back to the 12th century and where family collections have
remained intact can sometimes be linked with a succession of later deeds. This
enables the deed to be associated with a known site.
Wich house
deeds are to be found in collections at the Cheshire Record Office, John
Rylands Manchester University Library and Keele University Library. A large
number of Middlewich deeds collected by William Vernon in the 17th century have
been transcribed by Joan Varley in Volumes I and II of The Middlewich
Chartulary (Chetham Vol. 85 and 88).
1.2.1 CHESHIRE RECORD OFFICE FAMILY COLLECTIONS
ACKERS OF
WHEELOCK.
This collection
contains the deeds of the manors of Hassall and Wheelock 1647-1744 and later
deeds and documents relating to properties in Wheelock and transactions with
Brunner Mond and the Salt Union, the last being dated 1919 and relating to land
leased by them from the Shakerley-Ackers family of Great Moreton Hall. I am not
sure about the connection between the Shakerley-Ackers of Moreton and the
Shakerley of Somerford (see below).
BAKER-WILBRAHAM
of RODE.
A branch of the
Wilbraham of Nantwich family starting with the purchase of the Odd Rode estate
in 1668. Have not exhaustively searched the collection and it may contain
documents relating to saltmaking sites known to have existed in Odd Rode,
Betchton and Alsager townships.
CHOLMONDELEY.
Major
collection not yet completely classified by the Record Office. Catalogue is
periodically extended and has been searched up to 1990. Contains numerous
medieval and later deeds for salt houses at Dirtwich, Nantwich and Middlewich.
These include the only deeds so far found to salt houses at Dirtwich. The
collection contains the only known copies of the 1624 Survey of the Walling
Lands of Nantwich which defines the area of the town occupied by salt houses in
the medieval period.
Accounts
relating to Earl Thomas Rivers’s newly constructed salt works at Leftwich Eyes,
Northwich by Earl Rivers, for a four year period (1671-1675) and further
miscellaneous documents dating up to the early 18th century..
Account Book
for the Shrewbridge Meadow Salt Works, newly constructed by Viscount
Cholmondely in 1693 and covering the years to ca 1701 with miscellaneous papers
to ca 1711. ca 250 pages of detailed accounts.
DELVES-BROUGHTON.
The
Delves-Broughton papers are a potential source of early deeds relating to salt
making sites in the Weaver valley above Nantwich and the Lawton Salt works at
Rodeheath held by the Broughton family between ca. 1790 and ca. 1922. As yet I
have drawn a blank and the Lawton Salt works documents were probably
transferred to Henry Seddon when he acquired the freehold in about 1923. I also
failed to find any documentation relating the salt works at Austerson
apparently held by the Delves estate in the 17th century.
LEICESTER-WARREN
OF TABLEY.
The collection
at the Cheshire Record Office, as listed in their Guide, contains medieval
deeds to properties in Northwich which no doubt includes salt houses. There is a
further collection of Tabley papers at the John Rylands Library.
NEEDHAM.
The Needham
papers were unavailable for searches at the time but are apparently now
accessible. I would expect them to contain papers relating to the salt works
allegedly established, in about 1625, by the Needham family alongside the River
Weaver at Austerson. This works was attributed to Thomas Delves in Lord William
Brereton's 1675 list of salt works.
SHAKERLEY.
Major
collection of documents which has been recently purchased by the Record Office
comes from the estate of the late Sir Arthur Bryant who married into the
Shakerley family and who acquired the papers when Somerford Hall was demolished
in 1926. Not yet catalogued and access is limited. Contains William Vernon's
manuscripts and notebooks. The Middlewich Chartulary is based on William
Vernon's Notebook M, which had escaped from the collection and discovered in a
Liverpool bookshop. According to Joan Varley, who had access to the Arthur
Bryant papers, there is a similar notebook devoted to Nantwich deeds.
There will be
other salt related papers in this collection. These will include Middlewich and
Northwich deeds and possibly early deeds relating to potential salt making land
in Wheelock. The collection also contains notes and transcripts made by Arthur
Bryant.
TOLLEMACHE.
The Cheshire
estate papers of the Tollemache family of Helmingham, Suffolk. Acquired by
marriage with the Wilbrahams of Woodhey in 1680. Deeds, surveys and rentals
relating to properties held in Nantwich by this branch of the Wilbraham family.
Including numerous wich house sites in the town.
VERNON-WARREN.
Contains the
Venables and Vernon papers relating to properties in Kinderton, Middlewich.
Some are probably salt related.
1.2.2 CHESHIRE RECORD OFFICE - SOLICITORS AND BUSINESS
DEPOSITS.
Solicitor's
deposits frequently contain deeds and documents relating to properties. These
are mixed collections and a comprehensive search of the whole of each
collection is necessary. For example, an unexpected find was documents relating
to salt-bearing land adjacent to Lawton Salt Works and the Shirleywich Salt
Works which have been deposited by Fletchers of Northwich.
The Cheshire
Record Office Guide, published since my last search, contains an interesting
item beneath the caption "Anonymous Solicitor". This refers to the
papers of the Ford family of Abbeyfields, Sandbach which include deeds back to
the 17th century. The Ford lands include the sites of the late 17th century
salt works at Hind Heath where there is a Brine Pit field and two Wich House
fields. Hopefully these Ford papers will include the deeds to this site.
Business papers
are held at Chester which relate to Brunner Mond, Salt Union, and Murgatroyd's
Salt Works. These relate to salt making sites that are well documented.
1.2.3 JOHN RYLANDS LIBRARY.
LEICESTER OF
TABLEY PAPERS.
Still unsorted
in 1991 but not thought to contain salt related documents.
LEICESTER OF
TOFT PAPERS.
Contains a 16th
century list of Northwich salt houses, with their owners, customs and rents.
(Leicester of Toft 500)
GREY of DUNHAM
MASSEY PAPERS.
The papers of
the Grey Family, Earls of Stamford, contain 17th century deeds relating to a
salt works at Dunham Woodhouses, and then in the holding of the Booth family of
Dunham Massey. This was a new salt house with iron pan with coal from
Lancashire as the fuel. The correlation of field names in the deeds with field
names given in the 1838 Tithe Apportionment enables the site of the salt works
to be located somewhere upon two adjacent fields. Documents ref
JRL/EGR1/1/4/14, JRL/EGR1/1/5/5, JRL/EGR1/1/5/10, JRL/EGR1/1/5/11.
1.2.4 UNIVERSITY OF KEELE LIBRARY ARCHIVES AND SPECIAL
COLLECTIONS
RAYMOND
RICHARDS COLLECTION.
This collection
contains the papers of the Chetwode family of Nantwich and the papers of the
Sneyd family of Keele. These contain numerous deeds of properties in Nantwich
which include wich houses.
1.2.5 OTHER SOURCES.
Document
collections still in private hands are an unexplored source of information. The
Kenyon Family papers are not all deposited with the Clywd Record Office or the
National Library of Wales. Lord Kenyon owned the last working saltworks at
Lower Dirtwich and the last works on the Iscoed side of Wychbrook at Higher
Dirtwich. Interestingly, Kenyon papers already with the Clywd Record Office
include deeds of salt houses at Nantwich and Middlewich.
Early salt
making in the township of Church Lawton at Rode Heath was carried out by the
Lawton family who still hold their family papers, and the Wilbrahams of
Townsend House Nantwich, who are now the Wilbrahams of Delamere Lodge, hold
documents relating to Nantwich.
LOCATION OF
SALT MAKING SITES.
While
confirming the existence of a salt house, early deeds rarely provide details
that would confirm its exact location. Reference to a topographic feature such
as a street or river, or mention of a field name, is helpful and by the 17th
century maps and plans begin to appear. A deed of 1706 relating to a salt house
at Dirtwich has contained the only known plan of a 17th century salt works. It
furthermore gives the exact location of the works relative to the Wychebrook.
[Cholmondeley Dirtwich deeds].
A valuable
resource when locating early salt making sites is the Tithe Apportionment and
Tithe Map which were prepared for every township during the 1830's. Riverside
meadows with such field-names as "Wich house Field" and "Brine
Pit field" provide positive evidence of early salt making, although there
are known salt making sites that do not have a salt related field name. Alternatively
there are "Wich fields" on land above a dry rock head which cannot be
brine bearing. These were probably lands held by a wich and used for grazing or
the supply of timber etc. See the Tithe Apportionments for the Townships of
Brereton and Bradwall.
1.3 BIBLIOGRAPHY
References to
sources relating to the making of salt in Cheshire and adjacent counties
Early
Transactions of the Royal Society
Some inquiries
concerning the salt springs and way of making salt at Nantwich, Dr William
Jackson, Vol. 53, pp1060-1067, 1077-1079, 1669.
Letters
concerning the discovery of rock of natural salt in Cheshire, Adam Martindale,
Vol. 66, 2015-2017, 1669.
Account of the
salt waters of Droitwich in Worcestershire, Dr T Rastell, Vol. 142, 1059-1064,
1678.
Letters
concerning the brine of the saltworks of Staffordshire, Dr Robert Plot, Vol.
145, 96-99, 1682-3
Observations of
the midland salt springs of Worcestershire, Staffordshire and Cheshire, Dr
Martin Lister, Vol. 156, 489-495, 1683-4.
Salt and
Fishery, John Collins, Accountant to the Royal Fishery Company London, 1682.
Natural History
of Staffordshire, Dr Robert Plot, 1686 salt pages 93-106
The making of
salt at Namptwych in Cheshire from "Collection of English Words" 1768
edition but first published in 1674. pp 204-209, John Ray
Brine Salt
Improved - Making salt as good as French bay salt from brine, Thomas Lowndes of
Middlewich London, 1746.
Letter of
advice to brine salt proprietors Thomas Lowndes London 1748.
Art of Making
Common Salt, Dr William Brownrigg, London, 1744
General View of
the Agriculture of Cheshire, Henry Holland, Report to Board of Agriculture.
1808.
Natural History
of Cheshire Rock Salt District, Henry Holland, Trans. Geological Society. Vol.
I, 1811.
Outline of the
principal geological features of the salt field of Cheshire, G W Ormerod,
Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society, Vol. IV.
1848 Salt
production in Cheshire and Worcestershire von Lindig, Salt merchant of
Durrenberg, Bavaria. Zeitschrift fur de Berg-, Hutten- und Salinenwesen in
Preuss Staate VI, 4, Berlin, 1858. (Translation at Salt Museum)
History of the
town and parish of Nantwich, James Hall, Nantwich, 1883. (Morten reprint 1972)
Salt in
Cheshire, A F Calvert, Spon, London, 1913
Rock Salt and
Brine, R L Sherlock, Special Reports on mineral resources of UK, Vol. XVIII,
1921 Memoirs of the Geological Survey, London.
The Wiches,
Chapter VII of Medieval Cheshire, H J Hewitt, Manchester University Press 1929.
The Middlewich
Chartulary Parts I and II, Joan Varley and James Tait, Chetham Society, New
Series, Vol. 105, 1941; Vol. 108, 1944.
Report on the
geology of the Heatley Salt Field, J H Thom and R C B Jones, 1947, Publisher
not known.
Lancashire
coal, Cheshire salt and the rise of Liverpool, T C Barker, Trans. Hist. Soc.
Lanc. and Ches. Vol. 103, 83-101, 1951
Salt in
Cheshire 1670-1870, WH Chaloner, Trans. Lanc. and Ches. Antiq. Soc., Vol. 71,
1961
Nantwich - an
eleventh century salt town and its origins, J Oxley, Trans. Hist. Soc. Lanc.
and Ches., Vol. 131, 1-19, 1981.
Two 12th
century wich houses in Nantwich Cheshire, Robina McNeill, Medieval Archaeology,
Vol. XXVII, 40-87, 1983
Salt Working at
Lymm, Lymm and District Local History Society Newsletter No. 32, September
1970; No. 33, October 1970.
Heatley and
Agden Saltfield, Lymm and District Local History Society Quarterly Journal Vol.
IV, Part 3, 1981
Salt in
Shropshire with special reference to 18th century, Julie Humphrey, University
of Southampton Dissertation, Jan 1983.
The Shropshire
Salt Industry, J M B Stamper (nee Julie Humphrey), Trans. Shropshire
Archaeological Society, LXIV, 77-82, 1985.
Salt making at
Shirleywich, 1690 to 1830, D Scahill, Staff. Ind. Archeol. Soc Vol. 3, 21-29,
1972.
Salt boiling at
Stafford, Pamela Murray, Stafford Archaeology Vol. I, 11-13, 1973
Salt in
Staffordshire, Chapter in Victoria County History, Vol. II, 246-251.
The Preesall
Salt Industry, Parts I, II, III., Rosemary Hogarth, The Over-Wyre Historical
Journal, Vols. I, 1980; II, 1982; III, 1984.
PART II THE SALT TOWNS
So far this
Survey only details the town saltworks of Middlewich. The medieval salthouses
of Nantwich and Northwich are detailed in the surveys of 1606 for Northwich
(see Calvert) and the 1624 Survey of Walling Lands of Nantwich in the
Cholmondely Papers at the CRO.(Ref DCH/Y/10/1) Nantwich salt making declined
rapidly in the 1690’s and production was negligible from then onwards until
final closure in about 1856. Traditional saltmaking at Northwich was more or
less replaced with rocksalt mining in the 18th century. Consequential
subsidence and the construction of the Trent and Mersey Canal saw the 19th
century establishment of large open pan works along the canal at Wincham,
Marston and Anderton.
2.1 SALT MAKING SITES IN MIDDLEWICH
2.1.1 IRON AGE AND ROMAN MIDDLEWICH
A review by
Elaine Morris of the archaeology of Iron Age settlements throughout Central
England, Wales and the Marches has shown a common factor to be fragments of
distinctive pottery vessels which were shown to have been containers for salt.
Moreover this Very Coarse Pottery (VCP) was shown to be made from clay dug in
the Middlewich/ Nantwich area. Very few fragments of this pottery have been
found in Cheshire which leads us to the conclusion that the vessels were used
as shipping containers. Conceivably they were an early form of salt tub or barrow
and in the same way had been filled with hot salt slurry, but when this had
set, no attempt was made to cast a salt lump. This was unlike the Essex salt
makers who broke their red pottery “moulds” to retrieve a salt lump. The Red
Hills of Essex were thus formed but no equivalent hills of broken pottery have
been found in Cheshire. The wide distribution of “Very Coarse Pottery” (VCP)
fragments at Iron Age sites has shown that Cheshire salt was being traded over
a large part of the English Midlands and Wales. A similar distribution pattern
was observed for Droitwich salt.
The current
assumption is that the use of VCP containers in Cheshire continued up to the
introduction of lead pans by the Romans on their arrival in Cheshire around the
middle of the first century AD. There have been the discoveries of lead ingots
and lead pipe of AD 70’s date at Chester and the long established and extensive
copper, silver and lead mines of North Wales were a major attraction for an
early Roman occupation of the North West. The dating of the Pot Shaft at
Alderley Edge to this same period has furthermore indicated that the Roman Army
was itself mining for copper and lead at this long established Iron Age/ Bronze
Age site only ten miles from Middlewich.
[See comments
about medieval and Roman pans in Early Modern Middlewich, below.]
It has long
been known that Middlewich was the Roman “Salinae” and a place of importance
but there was no suggestion that Nantwich was a salt making town of
significance in Roman times. A first clue came with the discovery of two
inscribed lead pans just beyond the town boundary at Henhull in 1983. Although
not at Nantwich the subsequent discovery of three inscribed Roman pans in a
field at Shavington, one in 1993 and two in 1998, showed that Roman saltmaking
in South Cheshire was more extensive than hitherto thought.
However, two
recent major archaeological digs; one at Middlewich in 2001 and the other at
Nantwich in 2002 have set the record straight and confirmed the first century
establishment of Roman Army salt making settlements at both towns. These were
significantly shown to be both green field sites with no evidence of earlier
Iron Age salt making activity.
It is also
apparent that at both sites the settlements were abandoned during the period of
Roman occupation and returned to agriculture. In this state they have remained
until the present day housing developments precipitated the need for
archaeology. Unlike Droitwich where the Iron Age, Roman and Medieval salt
making occupation layers are all found on the same site, we have at Middlewich
and Nantwich the Roman salt making sites as solitary occupation layers. A most
likely interpretation is that both were military saltworks catering exclusively
for the Roman Army’s needs and when no longer required the sites were
dismantled.
If this was so
we are left with the question, at both Middlewich and Nantwich, where were the
long established civilian salt making settlements which must have carried on as
usual during the Roman period. Most likely these were the “wich” towns
documented in Domesday and both have probably lacked archaeology in the right
place at the right time and likely sites in Middlewich were probably destroyed
when the Trent and Mersey Canal cut through the town in 1775. At Nantwich archaeology
has so far failed to produce evidence of Iron Age salt making. But salt making
at the riverside brine springs would have been handicapped by the rivers
tendency to flood and alter course.
2.1.2 MEDIEVAL MIDDLEWICH
No documentary
records have survived of the salt making which must have continued in Cheshire
during the six centuries following the departure of the Romans. The Domesday
Book does however make up for this lack since it describes the way salt was
regulated during the Anglo-Saxon period. This sophisticated system of
regulation and taxation would not have appeared overnight and no doubt
represents a gradual development over several centuries.
By about the
13th century, Middlewich had grown to contain about a hundred or so six-lead
wich houses, which were packed closely together along narrow streets around the
two brine pits of the town. The Middle “wich” occupied land on both sides of
the River Croco. Domesday suggests that the salt making area existed as a
separate industrial enclave between the surrounding urban settlements of
Kinderton and Newton. Unlike the Domesday entry for Nantwich where the
"wich" is enclosed within a boundary ditch, there is no suggestion in
the Middlewich entry that the Middle "wich" enclave was contained
within a similar enclosure.
Middlewich
deeds before 1450 refer more to four and eight-lead wich houses than to
six-lead wich houses but after 1450 a six-lead wich house appears to have been
adopted as a standard. The same situation appears to have existed at Nantwich.
We have few
clues as to the layout of the Middlewich "wich", and no map or survey
similar to those for Northwich and Nantwich has yet been found. The 1875 25
inch OS map shows the residual boundaries of burgage plots along Lewin Street
and Wheelock Street and again in Kinderton Street and King Street on the other
side of the valley. Between there is a breakdown of this plot boundary pattern
which presumably locates the general area of the medieval wich. But a large
portion of what was walling land is now covered by the Trent and Mersey Canal,
which in 1775 cut a broad band through the centre of the area once covered with
medieval wich houses, but these had already disappeared long before the canal
was constructed (see below). The once narrow and winding bed of the River Croco
(which had then become the boundary between the townships of Kinderton and
Newton) was at the same time straightened and provided with its own channel
alongside the canal.
Early documents
containing clues to the location of certain wich houses are listed in the
Middlewich Chartulary which is a transcription of William Vernon's
"Notebook M" (Chetham Volumes 105 and 108). Topographical details in
some of the wich house deeds listed by William Vernon enable a few of the wich
houses to be placed in their approximate location. But these are insufficient
to create an overall plan of the medieval wich. A study of the surviving wich
house deeds, not included in the chartulary, would further this objective.
A record of the
number of Middlewich salt houses in 1507 is to be found in a file of early
documents in the Keele Archives. (Raymond Richards Collection M 42/6). This
includes a list of Mise payments by occupiers of wich houses for the year 1507
which gives a total of 110 wich houses of six-leads. This figure is probably a
reliable comparison with the 216 wich houses of six-leads on record for
Nantwich in the 1624 Survey. At Nantwich, the ownership of one of the 216
walling lands of six leads held a right to a share of brine from the Town Pit
and to its making into salt. But the latter could be carried out in a hired or
"borrowed" wich house and the walling land represented by this
endowment could have been put to another use. The same situation probably
existed with the 110 walling lands of Middlewich and in this respect the
document on the "Tofts of Middlewich" which is contained in the 1507
collection appears significant.
2.1.3 EARLY MODERN MIDDLEWICH
The early years
of the 17th century saw the beginnings of technical change in the salt industry
and a breakdown of the old system of regulation. Each of the three salt towns
had similar Rules of Walling which in themselves create a picture of the life
in the salt towns. For example, since there was a great risk from fire amongst
the closely packed timber houses an eighteen rung ladder was a mandatory item
of equipment in each Nantwich wich house. At Northwich piles of fuel wood were
not to encroach onto the highway in front of the wich houses. At Middlewich
periods of permitted saltmaking were marked by the ringing of a bell.
The technical
change of the 17th century referred to above was the use of iron pans in place
of the lead pans which had been the standard practice for 1500 years. It is
interesting to note that throughout this time pan size had remained the same
order of magnitude. If anything the medieval lead pans were slightly smaller
and less well made than the Roman pans found by in recent years. Maybe the
Roman pans were made to a military specification and the same thoughts have
been expressed about the high quality of the mining pick marks of the Alderley
Edge Pot Shaft of the late first century which suggests that this also met a
Roman Army specification.
The
introduction of iron pans was made necessary by the change from wood to coal which
was too hot for lead pans. The increasing shortage of timber was not so much
due to careless woodland management as to competing demands for the existing
supplies of coppiced timber by the charcoal burners meeting the needs of the
iron industry which had moved northwards into Shropshire and Cheshire in the
16th and 17th centuries.
The change from
lead to iron was forced on the saltmakers by the higher temperature of a coal
fire which led to frequent meltdown of the lead so that pan repair became a daily
occurrence. Melting of the lead could of course happen with a wood fire if the
pan was carelessly allowed to boil dry. The change from lead to iron was
resisted by many saltmakers. Lead pans were easy to make and lead from old pans
could be readily recycled. The construction of pans of riveted wrought iron
plates was a skilled time-consuming job and probably a higher cost. One
advantage of iron pans was the ability to make much larger pans.
Iron pans were
possibly first introduced at rural estate salt houses such as Dunham Woodhouses
(1633) and Austerson (ca 1625). Instead of the usual group of six lead pans
these new salthouses appeared to have a single iron pan of equivalent size and
this change began to be made by some of the saltmakers in the salt towns in
spite of the traditional rules of walling.
The change
prompted Peter Warburton, the Chester antiquarian, to preserve for posterity
the ancient rules and records of walling in Northwich. He was less successful
with Middlewich, giving a list of 22 salt house owners but was unable to obtain
details of the total number of leads held by each owner. The 1507 Keele
document lists 48 salt owners for Middlewich.
Warburton also
mentions the rural estate developments: -
"The names
of the persons followinge are such as have of late tyme erected newe salt
workes uppon their severall inheritances, and uppon newespringes by them
found.........." (Calvert “Salt in Cheshire” p. 1084)
In 1675 the
salt made at the three Cheshire "wiches" was listed by Lord William
Brereton (of Brereton) and this was included in "Salt and Fishery" by
John Collins and reproduced from here by Calvert (p 282). The Middlewich entry
contains the Town Works with 12 pans and four private owners: - the Baron of
Kinderton with 7 pans and Messrs. Oldfield, Croxton, and Mainwaring each with
one pan. I am not sure what Brereton means by "Town Works" but assume
they were salt houses occupied by certain townsfolk and gentry from nearby
estates.
For Nantwich,
Lord Brereton’s list gives the Town Works as 24pans while Sir Thomas Delves has
three pans. A footnote in the John Collins text explains significantly that
these Delves salt houses are at Austerson and hence out of the town. The
"Town Works" at Nantwich were those salt houses held by the occupiers
of walling land and subject to the Rules of Walling which are well documented.
All these salthouses received their allocations of brine from the single Town
Pit and were all part of the ancient walling lands of the Town.
[Lord
Brereton’s Northwich list of 1678 contains Earl Rivers's Leftwich Eyes
Saltworks which was in the township of Leftwich and outside the Northwich town
boundary. This was a new (1669) works with its own brine pit.]
With regard to
Middlewich itself, it is clear that further research on the 17th century town
is desirable. It seems likely that Baron Kinderton's saltworks in the Brereton
1678 list was on the King Street site lying between King Street and the River
Croco. On the Trent and Mersey Canal Company’s map of 1778 this was shown as Lord
Vernon's works. Being immediately to the south of the Roman fort this could
have been the site of the first Roman saltworks. John Bestwick’s dig of
1965-1972 in the garden of the “stone house” in King Street was part of this
site. John Bestwick failed to find pieces of lead and was himself sceptical
about the Roman use of lead pans at Middlewich. But his overall site was only
small. However the field below the stone house and adjacent to the Kinderton
Saltworks, was agricultural land until recently developed for housing. I
understand from the metal detecting community that this field has been
extensively searched over the last 25years and many lead fragments were found
and discarded as of little interest or value.
The Brereton
1675 list also contains a column headed "Pans that may be used" and
the Middlewich Town Works may use 40 pans, Baron Kinderton's are "at
pleasure” and owners Oldfield, Croxton and Mainwaring may use one each. Calvert
makes no comment about this and I have no recollection of any explanation
elsewhere. Possibly this relates to the borrowing of salt houses. This appears
to have been a common practice in Nantwich in 1641 yet in the Brereton list the
Town Works at Nantwich may also use their houses "At pleasure". This
is odd because one of the claims in the Nantwich Court Action of 1696 was that
Samuel Acton was using his pans "at pleasure" and against the Rules
of Walling. Brereton could be implying that some of the ancient rules were
still being observed at Middlewich in 1675.
Brereton's list
shows peculiarities in weekly output. At Middlewich the single pans made
250-400 bushels/week. Baron Kinderton's 7 pans made in total 2210 bushels/week
and the Town Works 1100 bushels/week. This variation presumably reflects pan
size and was also noted with the other towns. The 4 pans worked by Earl Rivers
at Leftwich Eyes yielded 2400 bushels per week. These were single iron pans and
600 bushels per week was thus a norm for the most modern iron pans of that
time.
By the 1690's
the Middlewich salt houses were fully documented by the Salt Office but the
data must be analysed with care since the Middlewich Salt Office Collection
also included salt houses at Winsford. Middlewich information on file from the
Salt Office papers at the PRO is in Appendix 1.
According to
Edward Hughes (p 389) there is a list of the Middlewich salters in the Aston
Papers at the British Museum. (Add MSS. 36914). Part of this document is
already on file but the transcription contains no reference to Middlewich
salters and a further PRO literature search is necessary.
The 1733 Report
by Salt Office Commissioner Cardonnel which contains a list of Salters in the
Middlewich Collection is reproduced by Edward Hughes. This gives a total of 26
pans and 10 brine pits but the location of the individual salt works is not
given. A search of the Salt Office papers would no doubt give this information.
Looking ahead to the 1778 canal survey (below), it would seem likely that about
half of the Middlewich Collection’s list relates to salt works in Winsford.
While the records of shipments down the Weaver begin in 1732 there were some
shipments prior to this date.
2.1.4 THE 1778 SURVEY OF SALT MAKING SITES IN MIDDLEWICH
The earliest
documentary record of the location of individual salt works sites in Middlewich
is the 1778 survey map of the Trent and Mersey Canal, which was carried out by
the canal company immediately after the completion of the waterway. This shows
and names the canal side salt works existing at that time.
The ancient
course of the River Croco remains on present day maps as the boundary line
between the Townships of Middlewich and Kinderton. The ancient boundary is thus
preserved by the Ordnance Survey and it is a simple matter to superimpose this
ancient boundary on the 1778 survey map thereby illustrating the effect of the
Trent and Mersey Canal on the course of the River Croco through the walling
lands of Middlewich.
It is
immediately apparent from the composite map that the construction of the canal
had a minimal effect on the salt houses that had existed in Middlewich before
the start of the canal's construction. The canal closely followed the old
course of the river and the five salt works shown on the 1778 map apparently
predated the canal. It is also most likely that there would not have been many
more than five salt works in Middlewich immediately before the canal was built.
This point needs checking in the Salt Office records but there is a good chance
that the canal went through Middlewich without the loss of a single salt works.
Overall however it would seem likely that driving the canal through the centre
of Middlewich destroyed much archaeological evidence of medieval and earlier
saltmaking
The following
list taken from the 1778 canal company survey gives the earliest accurate
location of individual saltworks at Middlewich: -
CHESWORTH'S
SALTWORKS SJ705662
This works
occupied the site that was to become the Newton Works in the 19th century. In
1887 the Cheshire Alkali Company was established and erected a chemical works
on Kinderton Street and along the east side of Brooks Lane. The Newton
Saltworks was acquired by the company to supply the chemical works with salt
and brine, the latter being piped to the works via a pipe gantry over the
canal. The works operated both the Ammonia Soda and Leblanc alkali processes.
The operations failed to make a profit and in 1897 the works were taken over by
Brunner Mond. The Chemical works was dismantled but the salt works continued
operations until about 1911 when it was also closed down. The site was left
derelict until the 1970's-1980's and is now part of the new residential
development of that area which also includes the adjacent site of the Wych
House Lane salt works (see below).
COOK'S
SALTWORKS SJ703663
The Pepper
Street salt works shown on the 1778 Trent and Mersey Survey map was (according
to Henry Seddon’s 20th C letterhead) established in 1756. As the 1778 map
indicates this was then Cook's Saltworks but further search is necessary to
establish the freeholding at that time. In the early 19th C. this was Joules's
Saltworks with the Joules family of Stanthorne Lodge as the freeholders. In the
mid-19th C. Ralph Seddon leased part of the site from the Joule family and this
lease was transferred to the Salt Union when Ralph Seddon’s saltworks joined
the Salt Union in 1888. Both this works and Ralph Seddon’s Kinderton Works were
closed down and dismantled by the Salt Union. The lease on the Pepper Street
salt works taken over by the Salt Union in 1888 did not expire until 1917. The
other part of the Joule’s Saltworks site was leased by Henry Seddon from Mr
Joule and the Misses Joule in about 1892 and became the Seddons Pepper street
Works. [“Established in 1756” on the letterhead.] The adjacent dismantled Salt
Union site which had been Ralph Seddon’s saltworks remained derelict until
1917. The Salt Union initially proved an aggressive neighbour for the fledgling
Seddon enterprise. [See Miners, Quarrymen and Saltworkers, Raphael Samuel,
Routledge Kegan Paul, 1977]. In due course the quarrel was patched up and in
1917 Salt Union transferred the site to Henry Seddon. He was thus able to
expand his works. Pepper Street Saltworks closed down and was demolished in
about 1970 and is now part of a by-pass road and a housing estate.
LORD VERNON'S
SALTWORKS SJ703668
This is
probably the only saltworks to have been established adjacent to the Roman fort
and thus on the site of the Roman settlement. It was the only remaining
saltworks on the Kinderton side of the Croco by the mid 18th century and was
probably the salt works of Peter Venables, Baron of Kinderton in 1671. The
Brereton table in John Collins's Salt and Fishery of 1682 lists 7 pans with a
weekly output of 2210 bushels. The works is referred to as Kinderton Works in
Calvert. It was held by Ralph Seddon in the mid 19th century, sold by the
trustees of his estate to the Salt Union in 1888, and dismantled soon
afterwards. It has been more or less derelict since but there are current plans
to build a housing estate on the site [1994]. These houses have now been built
and the archaeological potential of the site is lost [2000].
HENSHALL'S
SALTWORKS SJ702667
This saltworks
is at the end of Webbs Lane and had become Yeoman's Saltworks in the second
half of the 19th century prior to it being taken over by the Salt Union in
1888. It was worked by the Salt Union for a few years and eventually closed
down around the turn of the century.
LOWE'S
SALTWORKS SJ701669
This saltworks
was on the site of what became the Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company in about
the 1860's. It later became a textile mill and was burnt down in recent years
(possibly 1970’s). It remains an industrial site.
SEAMAN'S
SALTWORKS SJ703663
This saltworks
was at Ravenscroft, on the north bank of the River Dane near the King Street
bridge. It did not feature on the Trent and Mersey Canal Survey map but the
site of the saltworks is known from Ravenscroft estate papers. The works
operated at least up to 1815 but was closed down and offered for sale around
1820. The construction of the canal put this works at a disadvantage with
regard to salt shipments and John Seaman attempted to influence the line of the
canal and have a branch to his works. Two Ravenscroft estate cottages were
built on the site in about the 1880’s and the location of the brine shaft in
the coppice between the cottage gardens and the river is known.
2.1.5 SALT OFFICE RECORDS
Extracts from
the Salt Commissioner's Reports of 1733 and 1795 relating to the Middlewich
Collection. Filed as a separate document.
2.1.6 WEAVER NAVIGATION SALT SHIPMENT RECORDS
The Cheshire
Record Office holds the Weaver Navigation Records which include the tonnage
books 1732-1863 and financial records 1730-1899. These I have not researched
but Calvert (page 684 et seq.) lists shippers of white and rock salt down the
river from Northwich 1734-1894 and entries can be linked with the ownership of
particular works including works on the Trent and Mersey Canal. The following
entries relate to white salt shipments from works with the names on the 1778
survey map and hence are probably in Middlewich.
64 John Lowe 1
years shipping 1766-1766
95 G Chesworth
23 years shipping 1795-1817
96 Hugh
Henshall and Co 5 years shipping 1795-1799
97 John Seaman
21 years shipping 1795-1815
98 John Lowe 12
.. .. 1795-1806
125 Samuel Lowe
1 .. .. 1806-1806
137 Chesworth
and Jump 2 .. .. 1810-1811
161 J Jump 1 ..
.. 1815-1815
210 W Henshall
4 .. .. 1828-1831
219 Alexander
Reid and Co ship rocksalt for 2 and 4 years, (1831-1832 and 1837-1840), but
documents elsewhere have given this company as proprietors of the Newton
Saltworks in Middlewich.
405 JJ
Verdin-Cooke, Merchant 22 years shipping 1892-1914
[JJ
Verdin-Cooke established a new salt works in Booth Lane Middlewich in 1903 and
began to make their own salt. The 1892 entry marks the beginning of the company
as merchants in James Street, Liverpool and the entry will relate to merchanted
salt.]
300 John
Henshall 1 years shipping 1849-1849
343 Henshall
Bros. 1 .. .. 1864-1864
406 Amans
(Middlewich) 1892-1892
407 Dairy and
Domestic Salt Co (Middlewich) 1894-1906
[These date
indicate that Dairy and Domestic was founded shortly before 1894 and taken over
by Henry Seddon soon after 1906. Both firms are discussed further in Part II.]
Calvert lists
shippers who had been in business for twenty years and upwards. From this list
the obvious Middlewich names are: -
24 Geo.
Chesworth ( No.95 in list) 23 years 1795-1817
25 John Seaman
(No.97 in list) 21 years 1795-1815
Calvert's list
does not include the names Ralph Seddon, Yeoman, or Joule which we know relate
to Middlewich salt proprietors during that period, but this only means that if
their salt was shipped down the Weaver it was under the name of another party.
Maybe the Calvert list contains only those salt makers who owned their own
boats.
2.1.7 COMPARISON WITH SALT OFFICE RECORDS
The abstracts
from Salt Office records at the PRO Kew [Appendix 1] lists the proprietors of
salt works in Middlewich Collection which were given in Salt Commissioner
Cardonnel’s Report of 1733.
The following
is a comparable list of names extracted from Calvert's list of shippers on the
Weaver from the opening of the navigation in 1733-4: -
T Eyre &
Co. 2 years shipping 1734-1735
Thomas Wrench 1
year 1735-1735
James Parrott 2
years 1735-1736
Ralph Bridge
& Co. 14years 1735-1748
Richard Ellison
2 years 1735-1736
Thomas Paleston
(AnnPaleston 1736) 1735-1736
George
Wilkinson 2 years 1735-1736
George Vernon
Venables 8years 1741-1748
Charles Bridge
3 1744-1747
Robert Bridge
(Ralph Thomas, 1794) 65 yrs 1748-1812
Of the above
entries only the salt works names of Robert Bridge and Ralph Thomas span the
1778 date of the Trent and Mersey Canal Survey on which they do not appear.
This confirms that Winsford salt works were included as part of the Middlewich
Collection as would be expected. George Vernon Venables will no doubt have been
owner of the Kinderton Works.
2.1.8 19th-20th CENTURY MIDDLEWICH
No new salt
making sites appear to have been developed at Middlewich during the century
which followed the 1778 canal survey and any increase in salt making was
restricted to the five sites alongside the canal shown on the Survey map. This
was in spite of the general expansion in the industry which followed the end of
the Salt Tax in 1825 and the rising demand for salt by the rapidly expanding salt-based
chemical industry. New salt works appeared along the River Weaver at Winsford
and the Trent and Mersey Canal to the north of Northwich. There were also new
salt works established along the Trent and Mersey Canal, where it climbed up
the Wheelock Valley, at Wheelock, Malkins Bank, Roughwood and Rode Heath. Later
the North Staffs Railway followed this route and provided a more rapid
transport connection to the nearby North Staffs coalfield. Although some
Wheelock valley salt was sent westward to Liverpool, the Trent and Mersey canal
also linked the salt works with markets in the East Midlands and further
afield. In 1811, Lawton Salt works had a warehouse 1811 at the Shardlow end of
the T and M canal and a ware house at Paddington Basin in London.
The formation
of the Salt Union in 1888 created a virtual monopoly in the industry but
prompted the appearance of entrepreneurs seeking to establish new salt making
ventures. Other entrepreneurs in the 1880’s attempted to break into the
ammonia-soda industry which was the exclusive preserve of Brunner-Mond and Co.
Middlewich
provided excellent sites for such new developments. The first of these was in
1887 when the Cheshire Alkali Company was formed and took over the ancient
Newton Salt Works, at the bottom of Wych House Lane, to supply salt and brine
for a composite Ammonia-soda / Leblanc alkali plant erected in Brooks Lane on
the Kinderton side of the River Croco and the Canal.
Middlewich lies
across the King Street Fault, a major break in the rock salt strata, which has
its name implies follows the line of King Street and roughly continues
southwards along Brooks Lane. The natural brine springs and hence the ancient
salt sites occur to the west of the fault even though the top rock salt bed
exists here at greater depth. It is usual for brine springs to occur along the
line of a fault in the rock salt bed. .Before 1889 no brine had been discovered
to the east of this line but in that year GL Murgatroyd sunk a brine shaft in
Brooks Lane to the east of the fault and encountered rock salt at about
200feet, penetrated a top bed some 30 feet thick and entered a lower bed at
about 270 feet which was not penetrated after 60 feet. Brine was not
encountered but was eventually tapped by driving an adit in a southerly direction.
A second shaft dug in the following year on the adjacent Aman's site, although
only some 30 yards or so from the Murgatroyd shaft, encountered neither rock
salt or brine at a depth of some 300 feet and clearly the King Street fault
runs between these two shafts. Calvert contains the sectional diagrams for
these shafts. For five years Amans purchased brine from the Murgatroyd shaft
but by 1895 brine mysteriously appeared in the hitherto dry shaft. Someone had
clearly driven an adit in the right direction! (See Amans Saltworks below)
Murgatroyd's
shaft was the first discovery of actual rock salt at Middlewich and stimulated
the search for brine alongside the canal at Cledford which resulted in the
establishment of the Electrolytic Alkali Company and the Sheffield and Verdin
Cooke salt works. These are listed among the "out-of-town" salt
works.
The next decade
also saw the establishment of a new salt works by the Dairy and Domestic Salt
Co at Croxton Middlewich.
2.1.9 1908 SURVEY OF MIDDLEWICH SALT SITES
The 1908
edition of the 25inch OS map locates the salt works at Middlewich which were
operating during the first half of the 20th century, and these are listed
below.
All the salt
works within Middlewich town have now been demolished and the sites put to other
use. The only salt making activity today is that by British Salt at Cledford
with RHM next door functioning purely as salt packers for the domestic market.
CROXTON WORKS
(SJ699669)
Established as
the Dairy and Domestic Salt Company on land by the canal at Croxton. This was a
"green field" development on farmland that was shown to be
undeveloped on the 1875 large scale OS map. The present assumption is that the
works was established in 1892. This date needs confirmation but the first entry
in the Bate's Foundry order book is February 1892 when Dairy and Domestic were
buying flue plates (CRO 3644D). Dairy and Domestic were taken over by Henry
Seddon sometime before 1905 and worked by the Seddons until subsidence of the
site resulted in the closure of the works in the 1920's. Equipment was
dismantled and moved to the other Seddon's works. Buildings alongside the canal
were most affected by the subsidence and until recent years the foundations of
the buildings were still visible in a small canal-side flash. In the 1970's a
canal-side warehouse and the foundations of the adjacent salt pan still existed
along the boundary fence of the textile mill site. The bulk of the site is now
a housing estate.
YEOMAN'S SALT
WORKS (SJ702667)
Was Henshall's
Works in 1778. At some time in the 19th century it became The Dairy Salt Works
with Richard Yeomans the proprietor. At the formation of the Salt Union the
freehold of the site was held by Edward Sutton et al. the vendors to the Salt
Union which continued to operate the works for a few years. Lawrence's History
of Middlewich of 1895 contains an advertisement for Yeoman's Dairy Salt to be
purchased through the Salt Union sales office at Winsford. The works was closed
and demolished probably by 1900.
KINDERTON SALT
WORKS (SJ703668)
In the 1778
listing this works is given as Lord Vernon's Salt Works and there are earlier
references to its ownership by the Venables family, the Barons of Kinderton. In
the mid 19th century the works was owned by the Bostock Estates and leased to
Ralph Seddon. Ralph Seddon had been previously working canal boats out of
Manchester and had come from Todmorden. (This was information given to Jack
Costello by Henry Seddon.)
At the
formation of the Salt Union in 1888 the contract of 7th September was with William
Seddon and John Burrows, "trading as Ralph Seddons and Sons". Ralph
Seddon died shortly before this date, but who was William Seddon and what role
did Henry Seddon and Charles Seddon play in this transaction? At the time of
the transfer of the business to the Salt Union the lease was held from Col.
France Hayhurst and due to expire in 1919. The Salt Union continued with the
lease and with the agreement of France Hayhurst was allowed to close down the
works and dismantle the pans etc.
PEPPER STREET
SALT WORKS (Original Works SJ703664)
The Pepper
Street salt works site shown on the 1778 Survey as Cook's Salt works became
Joule's Celebrated Cheese Salt Works in the Morris's 1875 directory with Ralph
Seddon as proprietor but the freehold was still with the Joule family ( a Mr
and the Misses Joule). In 1888 when the business of Ralph Seddon and Sons was
sold out to the Salt Union this lease still had 29 years to run, expiring in
1917. The 1908 OS map shows this salt works as "disused". According
to Calvert (History Salt Union, p.9) the works was "being worked by
Seddons" in 1913 and the lease had evidently been transferred by the Salt
Union to Henry Seddon before the expiry date. The Ralph Seddons advert in
Morris's 1874 Directory claimed the works was established in 1756 and Henry
Seddon had this date on his letterhead.
Henry Seddon's
Pepper Street Saltworks (SJ703663)
Ralph Seddon
died before the sale to the Salt Union in 1888 and the sale was presumably
completed by the executors of his estate (see Kinderton Works above). The two
salt works included in the sale (i.e. Pepper Street and Kinderton) were valued
at £9,750. Ralph's son Henry was apparently working as manager at the newly
established Murgatroyds Salt Works but left to establish a new salt works on
the site adjacent to his father's old works in Pepper Street, which site he
leased from the Joule family who were farming at Stanthorne Lodge. His first
order to Bate's Iron Foundry at Winsford is dated 10th June 1891.
As Calvert
records in his "History of the Salt Union" (p xviii), Henry Seddon
met with opposition from the Salt Union during his early years as a saltworks
proprietor. He was almost certainly undercutting the Salt Union's prices and
Calvert recalls Seddon’s attempts to lay a brine pipe along the towpath between
Pepper Street and Croxton works. Calvert is not a reliable source when it comes
to alleged misdeeds by the Salt Union but there is no doubt a grain of truth in
his claims and we have evidence in later years that Henry Seddon was equally
capable of such underhand practice. By about 1913, however, he had come to an
understanding with the Salt Union since they agreed to him taking over the
lease of the adjacent disused site (Ralph Seddon's works).
Henry Seddon
rebuilt much of the Pepper Street Works, much in good quality brick and an
office building was erected on Pepper Street. Around 1959 Seddon and Sons Ltd
merged with Cerebos Ltd and the open pans at the Cerebos site in Booth Lane
were worked with the Seddon’s Works in Middlewich as a single open pan
department. All the works of this department were closed down in about
1968-1970 and subsequently demolished. The Pepper Street Works site is now a
housing estate.
WYCH HOUSE LANE
SALT WORKS (SJ705662)
As its name
implies this is a medieval salt making site but it had been not used as such
for over a century. In about 1892 a salt works again appeared on this site,
erected by the Dairy and Domestic Salt Company which also established the
Croxton Works listed above at about the same time. The Dairy and Domestic
Company was taken over by Henry Seddon in the early years of this century
(before 1906) and Wych House Lane Works remained in operation until about 1969
when it was closed down and subsequently demolished. The site was used as a
council depot until the 1980's and is currently part of a building development.
NEWTON SALT
WORKS (SJ705662)
This works
appears as Chesworth’s Works on the 1778 Trent and Mersey Canal Survey map. In
the mid-19th century it passed through several owners or leaseholders, under
the name Newton Works. In the 1840 period the proprietor was Alexander Reid who
also held a salt works at Wheelock / Malkins Bank. In 1887 the Newton Works was
purchased by the Cheshire Alkali Company to provide the salt raw material for a
combined Leblanc-Ammonia Soda works that was being established at the Kinderton
Street end of Brooks Lane. This works continued in operation until it was taken
over by Brunner Mond in about 1897 (check) and closed down soon afterwards. The
chemical works was dismantled but the salt works continued to operate until
about 1911 when it was closed down. The site remained derelict until the 1970's
-1980's when it became part of the residential development of the area.
AMAN'S SALT
WORKS (SJ708661)
The list of
contracts which established the Salt Union in 1888 included one with Messrs H
and H West of which the sole assets were canal boats valued at £1200. The
director of the company was given as Edward G Aman and in 1892 he is one of the
three directors of the new salt works which bore his name in Brooks Lane. His
fellow directors were JDF Farrell and Joseph W Marshall.
Aman's Salt
Works was established after the successful discovery of rock salt and brine on
the adjacent site by G L Murgatroyd in 1889. The earliest entry for the Amans
Works in the Bate’s Foundry Account book is for the 16th Nov 1892. The brine
shaft dug on the site went to a depth of about 300feet without encountering
rock salt or brine and for several years the works took a metered supply of
brine from the nearby Murgatroyd Shaft.
The Agreement
for the metered supply was dated 8th April 1892 was between the Murgatroyd
Ammonia Soda and Salt Syndicate and Amans Salt Works whose registered office
was at 49 Finsbury Pavement, London EC. (See appendix for abstract of the
agreement). The agreement was terminable during the first five years with 6
months notice either side but during the upheaval following Murgatroyd's death
in November 1894 the Amans shaft began to supply brine and presumably an adit
was driven across the boundary to tap the brine stream beneath Murgatroyd land
even though this was specifically forbidden in the agreement.
Calvert
contains a plan of the works and its title in the caption is given as the
Middlewich Crown Salt Company Works. This would have been around 1910. But
around this time the works was taken over by Henry Seddon and henceforth it was
known as the Seddon's Brooks Lane Works.
The works
closed down in about 1970 and was largely demolished. The site has since been
used as a scrap yard and parts of the buildings still survive.
MURGATROYD'S
SALT WORKS (SJ709659)
Established by
GL Murgatroyd in 1889. The first entry in the Bate's Foundry Account book was
for Sept 2nd 1890. The salt works became part of the Murgatroyd Ammonia-Soda
and Salt Syndicate in 1892 but following Murgatroyd's sudden death in 1894, the
salt works was purchased by Ivan Levinstein who had been a major shareholder in
the syndicate and continued to operate as the Murgatroyd's Salt Company until
1950 when it became the open pan department of the Murgatroyd Salt and Chemical
Company and in that year the integrated chlor-alkali and vacuum salt works
began operations on a site in Booth Lane, Elworth. This new venture was the
culmination of planning during the war years by Herbert Levinstein. The open
pan salt works in Brooks Lane operated until 1966 when it was closed down and
subsequently demolished. The site is now an industrial estate.
The brine shaft
and pumping installation continued to supply the chlor-alkali plant until 1977
when the salt began to be supplied by British Salt. The brine shaft and pumping
station remain as a Salt Industry listed monument under the English Heritage
Industrial Monument Protection Program.
The
Murgatroyd's Salt and Chemical Company works is included in the "out of
town" listing of salt making sites.
MURGATROYD'S
AMMONIA-SODA AND SALT SYNDICATE (SJ707657)
In 1892 the
Murgatroyd’s Ammonia-Soda and Salt Syndicate was formed and a plant for the
manufacture of sodium carbonate by the ammonia-soda process was erected.
Following Murgatroyd's sudden death the Ammonia-soda Works was acquired by
Brunner Mond and Co and subsequently became the Brunner Mond Middlewich Works.
In a private
gentlemen’s agreement between Ludwig Mond and Ivan Levinstein the Murgatroyds
Salt Works was acquired by the Levinstein family as a private venture divorced
from Levinstein’s Limited Dye works at Blackley. The Murgatroyd Syndicate had
already sunk a second brine shaft and two further shafts were sunk by Brunner
Mond along the line of Poppity John's Lane towards Cledford Lane. The Brunner
Mond Ammonia-Soda works operated until its closure in 1962. The plant was
subsequently dismantled and most of the buildings demolished. A few buildings
survived and these form part of the Pochin Company’s complex on the site. A
further part of the site has been taken over by the ERF Commercial Vehicle
Company and the extensive lime beds are now used for the disposal of the sludge
from British Salt's brine purification process.
Copies of the
foundation Prospectus and details of the operations of the Syndicate and the
circumstances of Murgatroyd’s death are contained on file.
2.2.1 OUT OF TOWN" SALT WORKS LINKED WITH
MIDDLEWICH
The following
salt making sites at Cledford have been listed in the "out of town"
survey but at the same time have obvious links with Middlewich. Up to 1977, the
Murgatroyd's Salt and Chemical Works, although three miles away at Elworth,
obtained its brine by pipeline from the brine shaft in Brooks Lane and could
thus be considered a Middlewich based works. British Salt at Cledford, in the
same way could be considered a true "out of town" works since its
brine came initially in 1968 came by pipeline from the old British Soda site at
Elton and since ca 1976 has come from the controlled brine field at Warmingham.
Electrolytic
Alkali Company 1899-1930 (SJ713649)
JJ Verdin-Cooke
and Co. 1899-ca1925 (SJ716643)
Middlewich Salt
Company, alias Cerebos, now RHM. (SJ718642)
British Salt
Company 1968-present (SJ716644)
Murgatroyd's
Salt and Chemical Co. 1947- present (SJ730630) (later BP Chemicals, Hays
Chemicals and now Albion Chemical)
AGREEMENT
between Aman's Salt Works and the Murgatroyd's Ammonia Soda and Salt Syndicate.
28th April 1892.
Registered
Offices
Syndicate.
Clarence Buildings, Booth Street, Manchester.
Aman's Works.
49 Finsbury Pavement, London, EC.
Murgatroyds
were to supply Aman’s with brine from the 1st May 1892, the brine to be used
for the exclusive use of Aman’s Works. Aman’s were to provide all the pipes
etc. and two "reliable and accurate meters", one to be placed on
Aman’s property and the other on Syndicate property.
The minimum
quantity of brine was 400,000 gallons/month at the Syndicate's convenience who
need only supply brine above their own needs. The maximum usage was 1,200,000
gpm and brine strength was to be greater than 23.5% NaCl by evaporation.
Amans must not
have a total brine usage including their own shaft greater than 1,200,000
galls/month and they must not have more than seven pans producing more than 300
tons/week (maximum).
The price of
the brine to be 7.5 pence per 1000gallons. (old money).
The Syndicate
to send their account to Aman’s on the first Monday of each month and payment
is to be made on the 3rd Monday of each month.
The whole
agreement is terminable by both sides with six months notice although at the
end of 5 years it may be ended with only two months notice.
During the
operation of this agreement Aman’s cannot sink another shaft, borehole, or
construct adits. The Syndicate has the right to inspect all Aman's shafts etc.
Signed: -
J D F Farrell }
Directors John Wainwright
Edward G Aman }
G L Murgatroyd
Joseph W
Marshall, Sec. Thomas L Murgatroyd, Sec.