Source/Archive record SCH6672 - Lion Salt Works, Marston, Northwich: Desk Based Assessment

This document was commissioned by Cheshire West and Chester (CW&CC) Council in order to facilitate the granting of Scheduled Monument Consent (SMC) for the proposed Phase 2 development works at the Lion Salt Works, near Northwich, West Cheshire. It should be read in conjunction with the document ‘Lion Salt Works, Marston, Northwich: Development Mitigation Strategy’, Matrix Archaeology Report No. 2011-08. The salt works was run as a family business from 1857 to 1986, and upon closure it was acquired by Vale Royal Borough Council (VRBC), to preserve and restore the site as a working museum of small-scale salt production. Thereafter, the site was managed by the newly-established Lion Salt Works Trust (LSWT), from offices located within the former Red Lion Inn. In 2002, upon the advice of English Heritage (EH), the site was designated as a Scheduled Monument (SM 34985-01). The assessment of importance for the designation concludes: “The Lion Salt Works is unique in being the last surviving inland open pan salt works in England. It contains evidence for the full range of processes involved inthe production of salt during the greater part of the 20th century, from mining and evaporation of the brine to drying, storing and transportation of the refined product. Additionally the monument contains the well-preserved buried remains of part of the 19th century Alliance Salt Works which preceded the Lion Salt Works on this site”. (DCMS File Ref. AA 101128/1 The surviving standing buildings are also Grade II Listed, and are located within the Marston Conservation Area. Although the Coronation Warehouse, on the west side of Ollershaw Lane, is included in the Schedule (SM 34985-02), this building is excluded from the present proposed works, and is therefore not considered within this document. The Lion Salt Works extends across an area of 1.3Ha, most of which is included within the boundary of the Scheduled Monument. The salt-producing structures are located within the north-west part of the site, in the angle between the canal and Ollershaw Lane; this part of the site is known as ‘the historic core’. An earlier production site, known as the Alliance Salt Works, was located immediately to the east, but no above ground structures now survive. The west part of the Alliance works site is within the SM boundary. The only previous archaeological investigation work was undertaken within the Alliance site, during 1994-5. The Phase 1 Enabling Works programme, undertaken starting in July 2009, was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and CW&CC. The works were overseen by Donald Insall Associates, and project managed by Turner & Townsend. The Phase 2 Development Works, scheduled to commence in 2011, will include a proposed excavation by Oxford Archaeology North (OAN), on the site of the dismantled Stove House 5; as well as laying of new utility services, rebuilding works, new foundations and surfaces, landscaping and tree planting. To inform mitigation measures for the potential constructional impact upon the surviving archaeological resource, this document has been produced at the request of the client, upon the advice of Dr Jennie Stopford of English Heritage.