Northwich, Cheshire, England -

Northwich is a wich town (a town with a brine well or spring allowing salt production) in Cheshire, England. It lies in the heart of the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the River Weaver and the River Dane. The town is approximately 18 miles (29 km) east of Chester and 15 miles (24 km) south of Warrington.

The area around Northwich has been exploited for its salt pans since the Roman period, when the settlement was known as Condate. The town has been severely affected by salt mining with subsidence historically being a large issue. However, recent investment in mine stabilisation is set to change the town with the 'Northwich Vision' providing a roadmap for a programme of development work into the future.

There is archaeological evidence of a Roman auxiliary fort within the area of Castle dated to 70AD. This and other North West forts were built as the Romans moved north from their stronghold in Chester. The fort at Northwich is thought to have been built to due to the strategic river crossing of the Weaver and the presence of the brine springs.

Salt was very important in Roman society. The Roman word salarium, linked employment, salt and soldiers, but the exact link is unclear. It is also theorised that this is the basis for the modern word salary. Another theory is that the word soldier itself comes from the Latin sal dare (to give salt).

The Romans used lead salt pans to extract the salt from the brine. Salt pans and 1st century brine kilns have all been found around the Roman fort.

Northwich can be identified through two contemporary Roman documents. The first of these is the Antonine Itinerary, a 3rd century road map split into fourteen sections.

The second document is the 7th century Ravenna Cosmology. This document refers to Condate between the entries for Salinae (now Middlewich, Cheshire) and Ratae (now Leicester, Leicestershire) at the time the capital of the Corieltauvi tribe.

Places of interest in Northwich -

The parish church is known as St. Helen's Witton. There is no known date for the creation of this chapel, but it is thought to have existed in the 13th century. None of this building exists in the current church. There is no documentary evidence to indicate the dates of the older parts of the current building. However stones in the fabric of the porch carry inscriptions attributed to "Ricardus Alkoke Capellanus". This name matches documents concerning land in Northwich and Lostock Gralam dated 1468, but this cannot be used to date the church accurately.

The present St Wilfrid's (Roman Catholic) church was built in 1866.

The Northwich Union Workhouse opened in 1837 following the Poor Law Amendment of 1834 that standardised the system of poor relief throughout Britain. The building is now the Salt Museum.

The Dock Road Edwardian Pumping Station is a Grade II Listed Building originally built by Northwich Urban District Council in 1913. For over 60 years it was used for pumping sewage from parts of Northwich to the Wallerscote Treatment Works.
The station was equipped with two single-cylinder Crossley gas-fired engines and two Haywood Tyler triplex lift and force pumps, capable of pumping 9,600 gallons per hour.
The current owners are United Utilities (previously North West Water). The station is open to the public.

Two swing bridges, Hayhurst Bridge built in 1898, and Town Bridge built in 1899, cross the Weaver at Northwich. The bridges were the first two electrically-powered swing bridges in the world and were built on floating pontoons to counteract the mine subsidence. They were designed by Colonel John Saner.

The Floatel (a floating hotel) is moored near the confluence of the two rivers.