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File:Middlewich - St Michaels and Kings Arms.jpg
St Michael and All Angels church and the Kings Arms public house, Middlewich, England (2006)

Middlewich is one of the Wich towns in Cheshire, England.

Middlewich lies on the confluence of a number of natural and man made features: the Rivers Dane, Croco and Wheelock; the Shropshire Union and Trent and Mersey Canals; and the A533, A54 and A530 roads. It is an important location for salt manufacture, and has also been known for Cheshire cheese. The parish church for Middlewich is St. Michael and All Angels, which dates back to the 12 century.

In common with other towns within mid-Cheshire, the good motorway and road links have seen a large influx of people in the last thirty years, doubling the population of Middlewich since 1970. Events such as the annual folk and boat festival, and the Roman and Norman festivals have also helped to boost tourism into the town.

Geography

Middlewich lies in the Cheshire plain, a boulder clay plain separating the hills of North Wales and the Peak District of Derbyshire, formed following the retreat of ice age glaciers. Middlewich lies on Upper Triassic Mercia mudstone laid down with large salt deposits. Middlewich is bounded by two rivers, the Dane and Wheelock, and bisected by the River Croco. To the east of the Croco the ground rises steeply, with the old parish of Kinderton being on high ground overlooking the town centre and parish church. Similarly to the west the ground rises away, however because of the greater number of buildings on this side of the river the views are not so commanding. The high ground in Kinderton is also the start of the ancient Roman road of King Street, and the Roman fort at Harbutt's field which has a dominating view of the River and the area of traditional salt workings.

Middlewich lies approximately 2 1/2 miles from junction 18 of the M6 motorway, and is on the main traffic routes between the motorway and Winsford, and for southbound motorway traffic heading for Crewe. Middlewich also sits on a spur of the Shropshire Union Canal, the main route of which joins Wolverhampton with the River Mersey at Ellesmere Port, and the Trent and Mersey Canal which joins the River Mersey, near Runcorn to the River Trent in Derbyshire.

Demographics

Data taken from the 2001 Census

Middlewich has a relatively young population; the proportion of children (0-15) is 3% higher than the national average. Households are larger than average, consistent with a younger population, with an average of 2.51 people per household, compared to the national average of 2.36. Approximately a quarter of these households are single person households (compared to 30% nationally), and the vast majority (almost 85%) of the housing stock is owner-occupied.

Three-quarters of the 9,500 people between the ages of 16 and 74 are classed as "economically active", i.e. either in full or part-time employment, or full time students. Unemployment runs at around 2.2%, compared to 3.4% nationally. Eighty-seven percent of households own at least one car, and a primary use of these is to travel to and from work, with nearly 77% of people travelling to work by this means, with 10% working from home, and the remainder using public transport, walking, or cycling.

History

St Michael and All Angels, Middlewich, England (2005)
Main article: History of Middlewich

The town was founded by the Romans as Salinae on account of the salt deposits around it, as it was one of their major sites of salt production. Middlewich lies across the King Street fault, which follows King Street and then continues roughly following Brooks Lane. Salinae is taken to be the Roman name for "the salt workings" and it also appears to be the name given to Droitwich. During this time the Romans built a fort at Harbutts Field (SJ70216696), to the north of the town , and recent excavations to the south of the fort have found evidence of further Roman activity including a well and part of a preserved Roman road. A further excavation in 2004 in Buckley's Field has found further evidence of Roman occupation. A Roman Road, King Street runs between Middlewich and nearby Northwich. It has been postulated that this was the initial route of the Roman conquest of the North West of England, but evidence from pottery (in particular a scarcity of early Flavian samian ware suggests that this is unlikely.

Salt production in Middlewich
Main article: History of salt in Middlewich

Salt manufacture has remained the principal industry for the past 2,000 years. Salt making is mentioned in the Domesday book, and by the 13th century there were approximately 100 "wich houses" packed around the towns two brine pits. By 1908 there were nine industrial scale salt manufacturers in the town, with a number of open pan salt works close to the Canal, however salt manufacture in Middlewich is now concentrated in one manufacturer, British Salt, who sell under the name Saxa, and also through third parties e.g. supermarket own brands. Salt produced by British Salt in Middlewich has 57% of the UK market for salt used in cooking.

Historical townships in Middlewich parish

The church originally served fourteen townships other than Middlewich, details of which can be found elsewhere. These townships ranged from Kinderton and Newton which surround the church, to Weaver parish, close to Over in what is now Winsford.

Population changes
Increase in the Population of Middlewich over the last 200 years

The figure to the right shows how the population of Middlewich rose through the 19th and 20th centuries. Some of this rise is attributable to a number of parishes being combined, for example parts of Newton were added to Middlewich in 1894, with Sutton having previously been added to Newton is 1892. These parish names live on in road names in Middlewich, for example Newton Bank and Sutton Lane. An Ordnance Survey map from 1882 shows the town with St. Michael's church in the centre.

Middlewich in the nineteenth century

The 1841 census records Middlewich as a market town, having 323 houses, and 1242 inhabitants (an average of 3.8 people per dwelling) although since Middlewich extended into Kinderton and Newton the actual population figure was upwards of 3,800. The total population for Middlewich parish was 4,755.

Middlewich in 1850 comprised 24 acres of land, with its principal works being the surrounding farming district, a silk factory, and the salt works in Kinderton and Newton.

In 1887 the town is described as having an antique appearance, with its principal trade being salt, along with fruit and vegetables, and small silk and heavy cotton works. The town had one bank and one newspaper. By 1911 the Encyclopædia Britannica mentions the existence of chemical works and manufacturing of condensed milk.

The First and Second World Wars

In common with the rest of the United Kingdom, Middlewich suffered a decimation of its young male population during the First World War. The cenotaph near to the parish church (Image) lists the names of 136 men who died in this conflict, representing around 10% of the male population of the town aged between 15 and 45 years. Forty two inhabitants of Middlewich lost their lives in the Second World War, with a further death in the Korean War. The Brunner Mond salt works in Brooks Lane also erected a cenotaph in memory of the 16 men from the works who fell in the First World War, and the two men from the works who fell in the Second World War (Image).

The post war years

The period between the First and Second World Wars and following the Second World war saw extensive housebuilding within the town, with significant new houses being built in the King Street area to the north, Cledford to the south and the Nantwich Road/St. Annes Road region to the West.

The 1970's commenced with the building of a new road, St. Michael's Way, which allowed traffic moving from east to west through the town to bypass the main shopping area of Wheelock Street. During the construction of this bypass the Talbot public house on the town bridge was demolished, along with a number of shops opposite the Boar's Head public house, and houses on Lower Street/Pepper Street adjacent to St Michael and All Angels Church. This bypass successfully eased the flow of traffic away from the main shopping street, but the confluence of three major roads remains a bottleneck, which will be eased by a proposed eastern bypass. Since the early 1980's Middlewich has seen a significant quantity of new housing development, initially in the Sutton Lane and Hayhurst Avenue areas. New developments have recently been built on the sites of old salt workings to the south of the Roman Fort at Harbutt's Field, and near to the Norman Baron's moated manor house at Kinderton Manor.

In common with many local towns, for example Holmes Chapel, Northwich and Winsford people are attracted to the area because of good road links via the M6 and the relatively low price and availability of suitable building land.

Shopping

Middlewich town centre, unlike the centres of other local towns such as Northwich and Winsford, was not heavily remodelled as a shopping centre during the 1970s and consequently many of the original shops remain. This contrasts with, for example, Winsford, where the High Street was demolished and replaced by Winsford Shopping Centre.

There are a number of shops on the shopping street of Wheelock Street, and on Lewin Street going out towards Sandbach. There is a Somerfields supermarket behind Wheelock Street, and also a Lidl supermarket near to the Cemetery on Chester Road.

A seat in the Roman theatre in the Bull Ring, Middlewich, England (2006)

Media

The local newspapers are the Middlewich Guardian and Middlewich Chronicle. A radio station, Cheshire FM, is planned for 2007 which will cover the mid-Cheshire area including Middlewich.

Sports

Middlewich has had a town football club since at least 1902, with the current club Middlewich Town being formed in 1998. Middlewich also has a cricket club on Croxton Lane.

Culture

Since 1990 there has been an annual folk and boat festival, which is now highly regarded on the folk circuit.

There have also been a number of ad-hoc events, including the Middlewich Roman Festival in 2001. This Roman Festival led to a Heritage lottery fund grant which was converted into a replica of a Roman theatre at the old Bull Ring near to St Michaels and All Angels church. This has regularly been used for other purposes, such as an open-air music stage and an ice-rink. 2005 saw Middlewich staging a Norman Festival, whilst an Industrial Festival is planned for 2007. A series of arts and music events "@ the Bull Ring" has been started in 2006.

Apart from the Trent and Mersey and Shropshire Union canals, local attractions include the town church of St. Michaels and All Angels. Within the local area are the Jodrell Bank radio telescope and the Salt Museum in nearby Northwich.

Narrowboats just to the Northwich side of the Big Lock, Middlewich, England (2006)

Transport

Following a petition in 1766, the Trent and Mersey Canal was diverted from its original course to provide transport to the town, and now links with a branch of the Shropshire Union Canal. The link between the two canals, which was opened in 1833, is actually a third canal known as the Wardle canal, and is the shortest canal in the United Kingdom.

Middlewich lies on a railway branch line between Sandbach and Northwich, however the local station, which opened in 1868 was closed to passenger traffic in 1959, and has now been demolished. Middlewich Station was host to a fight between Football supporters from Crewe and Nantwich in 1889 in which the platform occupied by Crewe fans was stormed by the Nantwich fans and many sustained injuries. Road links from Middlewich are good, with junction 18 of the M6 motorway within easy reach, and direct roads to Crewe and Nantwich, Northwich, Winsford, Sandbach and Holmes Chapel.

Buildings

Sites of interest in Middlewich include:

Places of Worship

Church of England

Parts of the parish church, St. Michael and All Angels, date back to the Normans, although the majority was built during the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The church was the site of fierce fighting in the first and second Battles of Middlewich during the English Civil War.

Methodist Church

Middlewich Methodist Church was built in 2000 in Booth Lane, replacing the earlier chapel in Lewin Street.

Middlewich United Reformed Church

Middlewich United Reformed Church (Image) was founded in 1797, with the current church (the second on this site) in Queen Street being built in 1870, and completed in 1871. The church celebrated it bicentenary in 1997 with the publication of a history of the church "Two Hundred Years (not out)"

Catholic Church

Catholic masses were held in a cottage near to the cemetery from 1848 until the building of the first Catholic church in the town in Wych House Lane in 1864. This church was enlarged to include the first Catholic school in the town in 1869. The church was later replaced by the modern St Mary's Catholic Church on New King Street (Image) in 1890, with the stone cross from the church on Wych House Lane being kept within the porch of the new church.

Pentecostal (Assemblies of God) Church

Middlewich Community Church (Image) is a relatively new church located in the former social club for the Brunner Mond works in Brooks Lane.

Schools

In the mid-nineteenth century the children of the town were schooled in three schools: the British School in Newton Bank; the National School in Cow Lane (Brooks Lane); and the Grammar School, close to the site of the current Somerfields store. A new Church of England school was erected in Lewin Street in 1854 and extended in 1871 and soon became known as the National School, with the result that the earlier school was demolished. The National School itself was demolished in the 1970s and is currently the site of the Salinae Day Care Centre, opened in 1995.

Currently there are seven schools in Middlewich, one Infant, one Junior, four Primary schools and one Secondary school. Cledford Infant and Junior schools primarily serve children from the south of the town. Middlewich Primary School caters for children from the older, northerly, part of the town, whilst St Mary's Catholic Primary School receives Catholic children from the town. Until recently St Mary's school had the distinction of occupying the oldest building for any of the towns schools, with the keystone being laid in 1899 by Col. France-Hayhurst, however the school has now moved and the original building has become a parish centre. The remaining two primary schools, Byley Primary School and Wimboldsley Community Primary School serve children from outside the immediate bounds of the town. Work began on the original buildings for the Secondary school, Middlewich High School, in 1906, with later additions improving the teaching areas and providing a sports hall which can also be used by the wider community. The school opened on 1st November 1906.

In literature

We came to Congleton, where there is likewise a silk mill. Then to Middlewich, a mean old town, without any manufacture, but, I think, a Corporation. Thence we proceeded to Namptwich, an old town: from the inn, I saw scarcely any but black timber houses. I tasted the brine water, which contains much more salt than the sea water. By slow evaporation, they make large crystals of salt; by quick boiling, small granulations. It seemed to have no other preparation.

— James Boswell, Life Of Johnson, Volume 5

"And the other," she continued, "is 17, Church Lane, Middlewich,

Cheshire."

"Let it be Middlewich," I said. "Since boyhood's hour I have dreamt of living in Middlewich. As for the other, I simply couldn't live in

a street of a thousand houses. Could you?

— Various, Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 153. 1917

Famous people connected to Middlewich

See also

Further reading

  1. Memories of Middlewich, Mary Barry
  2. Roman Middlewich: A Story of Roman and Briton in Mid-Cheshire. T.J. Strickland, Graham Sumner, 2001
  3. Middlewich, 900-1900, A L Earl, 1990
  4. Middlewich, 1900-1950, A.L. Earl, 1994
  5. Middlewich (Images of England Series), B J Curzon, P Hurley
  6. Picturesque Cheshire, Chester & the Welsh Border, T.A. Coward, 1903
  7. Gazetteer of the British Isles, John Bartholomew. 1887
  8. Bygone Middlewich, Charles Frederick Lawrence, 1905 (reprinted 1936)

External links

Historical links
Other links

References

  1. "Census Area Profile" (PDF). 2001 Census. Retrieved 2006-05-21.
  2. "National Statistics Online". 2001 Census. Retrieved 2006-05-21.
  3. George Twigg. "19th-20th Century Middlewich". Salt making sites in Cheshire. Retrieved 2006-06-26.
  4. ^ "SALINAE (CORNOVIORVM)". www.roman-britain.org. Retrieved 2006-05-21.
  5. "Fieldwork 1999". Historic Environment Fieldwork Full Summary. Retrieved 2006-05-21.
  6. "Fieldwork 2000". Historic Environment Fieldwork Full Summary. Retrieved 2006-05-21.
  7. "Fieldwork 2001". Historic Environment Fieldwork Full Summary. Retrieved 2006-05-21.
  8. "Roman dig - update" (PDF). Cheshire Matters. Retrieved 2006-05-21.
  9. "David Bird: The Events of A.D. 43: Further Reflections". BRITANNIA 33 2002, A JOURNAL OF ROMANO-BRITISH AND KINDRED STUDIES. Retrieved 2006-05-21.
  10. Barry, Mary (1972). Memories of Middlewich.
  11. "Factors affecting rivalry in the relevant market prior to the merger" (PDF). A report on the acquisition by British Salt Limited of New Cheshire Salt Works Limited. Retrieved 2006-05-21.
  12. "Old Maps". Retrieved 2006-05-22.
  13. "Middlewich 1850". Northwich, Cheshire, UK. Local Genealogy and Local History. Retrieved 2006-05-21. {{cite web}}: line feed character in |work= at position 51 (help)
  14. Bartholomew, John (1887). Gazetteer of the British Isles.
  15. 15 of the 16 names from the First World War are duplicated on the town cenotaph, as are both from the Second World War. The one not occurring on the town cenotaph is Arthur Harrison.
  16. "Middlewich Eastern Bypass (Southern Section)" (PDF). Envioronmental Statement, Non-Technical Summary. Retrieved 2006-05-22.
  17. "Middlewich Folk and Boat Festical 2006". The Mudcat Cafe. Retrieved 2006-05-22.
  18. "Norman Middlewich". Retrieved 2006-05-22.
  19. "Memories would be captured on CD for posterity". This Is Cheshire Work. Retrieved 2006-05-22.
  20. "Whats On". Middlewich Town Council. Retrieved 2006-06-26.
  21. ^ Earl, A.L. (1990). Middlewich 900-1900. Cite error: The named reference "ALEARL" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  22. "Late Georgian and Victorian Chester 1762-1914 The economy, 1762-1840: the demise of old Chester". A History of the County of Chester: Volume 5 (i). Retrieved 2006-10-03.
  23. "Historical examples of violent incidents in Britain to 1960". Football Violence in Europe. Retrieved 2006-05-22.
  24. "About the Church". Middlewich Parish Church. Retrieved 2006-05-22.
  25. "Last services at old building". this is Cheshire. Retrieved 2006-05-22.
  26. "Middlewich URC". Retrieved 2006-06-11.
  27. E.Birchall and R.Clewes (1997). Two Hundred Years (not out) - The history of Queen Street Church, Middlewich (Congregational/United Reformed) 1797-1997.
  28. "Salinae Day Care Centre". Cheshire County Council. Retrieved 2006-05-30.
  29. "Cledford Junior School". Retrieved 2006-05-30.
  30. "Middlewich Primary School". Retrieved 2006-05-30.
  31. "St Mary's Catholic Primary School". Retrieved 2006-05-30.
  32. "Wimboldsley Community Primary School". Retrieved 2006-05-30.
  33. "School is 100 not out". This is Cheshire 11th November 2006. Retrieved 2006-12-11.
  34. P.J. Andrews and R.M. Williams (1981) Middlewich in Times Past ISBN 0 86157 051 0
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