Source/Archive record SCH6768 - An Archaeological Desk-Based Assessment of the proposed Northwich Memorial Centre, Northwich, Cheshire

This report describes the results of an archaeological desk-based assessment for the proposed Northwich Memorial Centre and Magistrates’ Court, Northwich, Cheshire. The study was confined to a survey of published and unpublished documents, photographs and maps. The study found that the proposed development lies within the historic core of Northwich, in an area exploited for salt extraction since at least the 18th century and possibly since the Roman and Iron Ages. Although there is no evidence for settlement predating the medieval period in the study area, Witton Street, along its northern boundary, follows the line of the Roman road from Chester to Manchester (Watling Street) and there is some evidence to suggest that civilian settlement occurred along this section. Later map evidence suggests that Witton Street was laid out in a series of narrow burgage plots in the medieval period and these form the basis of the current street layout. The present site lies to the south and east of the Northwich’s medieval core and appears to have been occupied by an open field system characteristic of medieval agriculture. From the mid-18th century the scale of salt extraction rapidly expanded until by the late 19th century it was a significant industry forming the basis of Northwich’s prosperity. The mines finally closed in the early 20th century and most of their associated infrastructure has since been swept away with little surviving above ground. Between about 1720 and about 1885 most of the site now occupied by the Magistrates’ Court and Memorial Hall was occupied by the Baron’s Croft Salt Works, established by Thomas Marshall in the early 18th century. Marshall established a dynasty which dominated the Cheshire salt trade during the 18th and 19th centuries and Baron’s Croft was a key component of the Northwich’s early industrial landscape. The salt works consisted of a large mill on the northern bank of the River Dane with associated wharfs, brine pit, a canal, weir, possible waterwheel used to power brine pumps and other structures. The mill site is partly overlapped by the Magistrates’ Court, the brine pit lay to the north of the Court and the canal ran to the immediate west of the Memorial Hall. From the mid-19th century the eastern side of the site was occupied by a mix of housing and factories including an iron foundry. The salt works were closed in the 1880s and shortly afterwards demolished, the western side of the site being subsequently occupied by a mix of open space and smaller buildings including a Police Station. The factories and housing on the eastern side appear to have survived into the late 1950s when that side of the site was redeveloped for the Memorial Hall. The western side was cleared in the 1960s when the Magistrates’ Court was redeveloped. There are no surviving surface remains relating to the salt works or the buildings which occupied the eastern half of the site, apart from several large sandstone blocks deposited on the north bank of the River Dane. These are probably part of the weir, canal or wharfs associated with the salt works and suggest that the southern end of the canal has been destroyed. The combined impacts of 18th, 19th and 20th century development and subsidence resulting from mining and brine extraction suggests that little survives below ground of earlier periods, though pockets of undisturbed material may survive, particularly along the banks of the River Dane. However, there is significant potential for the survival of remains relating to the area’s 18th and 19th century industrial archaeology, particularly in the south-western side of the site and in the car park area, although mid-20th century development is likely to have disturbed any remains on the northern half of the site.