Monument record 2513/0 - Lion Salt Works

In 1856 John Thompson Sr and John Thompson Jr obtained a 50 year lease for the Outlet Field, where they built the predecessor to the Lion Salt Works (this monument), the Alliance Salt Works (CHER 2513/1).The works were served by the canal arm of the Trent and Mersey Canal, and later by the Marston Branch of the Cheshire Midland Railway. In 1888, The Thompson family sold the Works to the Salt Union, a group of businesses that intended to regulate potential fluctuation in salt prices (18).

Following a difference of opinion between the Salt Union and the Thompson family, John Thompson Jr and his son Henry Ingram Thompson built a new Works in 1894, next to the first, in the coal yard of the Red Lion Hotel, leading to the new facility being called the ‘Lion Salt Works.

The Alliance Salt Works continued to operate even after the Lion Salt Works was established, and in 1898 the shaft was inspected by Thomas Ward, following complaints from the Salt Union about John Thompson’s blasting within the Lion Salt Works shaft. The Alliance shaft was found to be in poor condition, and in the same year, it collapsed, which eventually lead to the abandonment of the Alliance Works at some time around 1910. The site of the Alliance Works passed from the Salt Union into the ownership of Imperial Chemical Industries, who retained the salt rights.

When John Thompson Jr died in 1899, Henry Ingram Thompson took over the business which was valued at £6600 at that time. Thompson had 10 salt pans and a railway siding built, as well as buying narrow boats, barges and railway trucks. In1901 Henry Ingram Thompson erected a new salt store by the canal on the west side of Ollershaw Lane, later to be known as Coronation Warehouse.

In the early 1960s Alan Thompson and Henry Lloyd Thompson bought the land that had formerly been the Alliance Works, to erect Pan House 5. At the same time, a new hole was drilled to the east of the original brine shaft, and an electrical submersible pump was installed.

The existing engine house was rebuilt in the 1980s, at which time Pan No. 1 became unsafe and was demolished. The remaining buildings became listed in 1986, when the company closed down, and the site became a Scheduled Monument in 2002, but according to two separate areas of protection.

The surviving buildings include the Numbers 3 and 4 Pan Sheds, containing salt pans No. 3 and No. 4, in addition to the stoves and warehouse, and represents the housing for the only remaining natural brine pumping open salt works in Europe (see listed building description for structural detail). Pan House 5 was demolished in 2009 as part of enabling works at the site.

The earliest plan of the Lion Salt works dates to c 1880, showing the layout of the ‘Red Lion Hotel’ site, with apparently later detail for the Salt Works sketched in. By the OS plan of 1889, most of the former Alliance Salt Works site had been cleared of structures, and several new structures labelled Lion Salt Works appear, largely centred on the former coal yard. The Lion Works expanded and by 1900 three pan houses used for making common salt, together with stove houses, a brine tank, smithy, salt store, office and four common or fishery pans used for making coarse salt had been constructed (18).

In 1947 the four common salt pans were demolished and replaced by a new fine pan, Pan House 4. A new bore-hole with a steam engine and boiler replaced the earlier brine shaft. In 1958 Pan House 5 was constructed. Two years later Pan House 2 was refurbished by constructing a mechanically raked pan. Pan No. 1 was demolished and a submersible electric pump was installed into a new bore-hole drilled close to the first shaft. The Lion Salt Works closed in 1986 due to the loss of its main markets in West Africa during the civil war in Nigeria (5).

<1> Thompson J B, 1986, Lion Salt Works Marston, A Short History, /1-10 (Oral Communication). SCH1933.

<2> Department of the Environment, 1971-2005, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest, /5-6 (Report). SCH1934.

<3> Ashmore, O, 1982, The Industrial Archaeology of North West England, /47 (Book). SCH3181.

<4> Abstracts of title Deeds of the Lion Salt Works (Manuscript). SCH119.

<5> English Heritage, Various, Old/Original Schedule Entry (Scheduled Ancient Monuments Description), 34985 (Scheduling Record). SCH4606.

<6> English Heritage, Various, Schedule Entry (Scheduled Ancient Monuments Amendment), 34985 (Scheduling Record). SCH2950.

<7> Cheshire West and Chester, 2012, Lion Salt Works, Restoration of the Scheduled Monument and Associated Works (Client Report). SCH7490.

<8> Oxford Archaeology North, 2012, Lion Salt Works, Marston, Northwich, Cheshire, Archaeological Evaluation Report (Client Report). SCH7435.

<9> Oxford Archaeology North, 2013, Stove House Five, Lion Salt Works, Marston, Northwich, Cheshire West, Archaeological Evaluation Report (Client Report). SCH7469.

The 2013 excavation also revealed the well-preserved remains of nineteenth and twentieth century structures. Six distinct phases of activity were identified during the excavation: the initial establishment of the Alliance Works in 1856, the construction of the Alliance Works pan smithy and associated boiler/ engine house in the early 1860s, the development of the Lion Salt Works in 1894 and specifically, the construction of the fisheries pans and associated chimney and flues, the laying of cast-iron pipes in 1938 to replace the brine shaft pumping mechanism beneath the brine tank, the construction of Stove House Five in 1965, and activity on site following the closure of the Works in 1986.

<10> Cheshire West and Chester, 2013, Lion Salt Works, Restoration of the Scheduled Monument and Associated Sworks, End Stage 2a Report (Client Report). SCH7501.

<11> Oxford Archaeology North, 2011, Lion Salt Works, Phase 1 Enabling Works, Addendum No 1 to the Archaeological Evaluation (Client Report). SCH7512.

<12> Cheshire West and Chester, 2011, Ground Works Method Statement for Archaeological Work (Lion Salt Works) (Client Report). SCH7513.

<13> Cheshire West and Chester Borough Council, 2013, Lion Salt Works, Marston, Northwich; Chimney 2, The Packing Area. Archaeological Impact Assessment and Recommendations: Final Report (Client Report). SCH7517.

<14> Cheshire West and Chester, 2011, Proposed Project Design of Investigation for Archaeological Work and Post-Excavation Analysis, Lion Salt Works, 2011 (Client Report). SCH7514.

<15> Oxford Archaeology North, 2013, Stove House Five, Lion Salt Works, Marston, Northwich, Cheshire West, Archaeological Evaluation Report (Client Report). SCH7469.

<16> Cheshire West and Chester, 2013, Lion Salt Works, Restoration of the Scheduled Monument and Associated Sworks, End Stage 2a Report (Client Report). SCH7501.

<17> Donald Insall Associates, 2007, Lion Salt Works Conservation Management Plan (Client Report). SCH7523.

<18> Matrix Archaeology, 2011, Lion Salt Works, Marston, Northwich: Desk Based Assessment (Client Report). SCH6672.

<19> Cheshire West and Chester, 2014, Lion Salt Works, Marston, Northwich, Restoration of the Scheduled Monument and Associated Works, End Stage 2b - 2e Report (Client Report). SCH7648.

<20> Hewitson C, 2015, The Open Pan. The Archaeology and History of the Lion Salt Works. (Monograph). SCH8015.

<21> Cheshire West and Chester, 2015, The Alliance and Lion Salt Works, Marston, Northwich. Volume I: An Overview of the Historic Salt Industry, R3859.1 (Client Report). SCH7997.

<22> Cheshire West and Chester Borough Council, 2015, The Alliance and Lion Salt Works, Marston, Northwich.Volume II: The Archaeology and History of the Site, R3859.2 (Client Report). SCH7998.

<23> Cheshire West and Chester Borough Council, 2015, The Alliance and Lion Salt Works, Marston, Northwich. Volume III: The Archaeological Excavations, 1992-2015, R3859.3 (Client Report). SCH7999.

<24> Cheshire West and Chester Borough Council, 2015, The Alliance and Lion Salt Works, Marston, Northwich. Volume IV: Historic Building Recording (Client Report). SCH8000.

<25> Cheshire West and Chester Borough Council, 2015, Lion Salt Works, Marston, Northwich. Volume V: The Finds, R3859.5 (Client Report). SCH8001.

<26> Cheshire West and Chester Borough Council, 2015, The Alliance and Lion Salt Works, Marston, Northwich. Volume VI - Archaeology Drawings, R3859.6 (Client Report). SCH8002.

<28> Cheshire West and Chester Borough Council, 2015, The Alliance and Lion Salt Works, Marston, Northwich. Volume VII - Building Drawings, R3859.7 (Client Report). SCH8003.

<29> Jonathan GA Lageard & Ian B Drew, 2011, Salt in Cheshire (UK): Heritage, Recreation & Education (Graphic Material). SCH9656.