Monument record 178/1 - Brine Spring, Snow Hill

<1> Various, Various, Oral communication to the HER, Turner R C, 1986 (Oral Communication). SCH2330.

The medieval brine pit probably was also the source of brine in Roman times as well as happened in Droitwich. The pit was cleaned out and capped in 1882 and the surrounding area cleared in the 1960s.

<2> Hall J, 1883, A History of the Town and Parish of Nantwich or Wich-Malbank in the County Palatine of Chester, p.8 (Book). SCH80.

The placename Nantwich is taken as Celtic in origin implying a pre-Roman use for the brine.

<3> County Historic Environment Record, 1973-1985, Cheshire Archaeological Bulletin, Issue 7, 1980, p.30-33, 'Nantwich, Three Years of Excavations and Observations', R.McNeil-Sale (Journal/Periodical). SCH565.

Casual discoveries in the eroded east bank of the River Weaver suggest that the Romans were exploiting the brine, and residual pottery from both the excavations at Wood Street and Crown Car Park confirm that the nucleus of Roman industrial activity is located on Snow Hill. It is possible that late Saxon salt boiling occurred in Waterlode (a truncated mound of industrial rakeout was discovered in Crown Car Park), but Snow hill as the Domesday survey suggests, must have been the main focus of activity. The expansion of the salt industry occurred in the 13th century and the colonisation of the west bank is a consequence of this movement. Excavations at Wood Street illustrate that the decline of the salt inducstry began in the 16th century.

<4> Nantwich Museum, 1980, Salt making in Nantwich (Booklet-Leaflet). SCH9648.

The spring near the R.Weaver in Nantwich was known as 'Old Biot'. The brine was channelled to the salt houses where it was stored in barrels sunk into the ground or in a hollowed-out tree trunk, known as a 'ship'. The brine was then heated in large lead pans, the process known as 'walling'; when lukewarn, a mixture of ale, bullocks' blood and egg white was added to bring impurities to the surface as scum. When enough water had evaporated, the wet salt was placed in conical baskets or 'barrows' for draining. Finally the salt was dried in the hot part of the salt house behind the furnace. For many years the salt trade was strictly controlled by the 'Rulers of Walling' who regulated the supply of salt produced. The salt industry in Nantwich declined in the 18th century as rock salt deposits in Northwich and Winsford were exploited; the last salt works closed in 1856. However, in 1882 the old brine pit was cleaned out to supply newly built medicinal baths on Snow Hill.

<5> Jonathan GA Lageard & Ian B Drew, 2011, Salt in Cheshire (UK): Heritage, Recreation & Education (Graphic Material). SCH9656.

Poster detailing the history and importance of the salt making industry in Nantwich, from the Iron Age/Roman periods onwards.