Editing Middlewich (section)

==History==
{{main|History of Middlewich|History of salt in Middlewich}}
[[File:Middlewich - St Michaels.jpg|thumb|left|The Parish Church of St Michael and All Angels]]
In the [[Domesday Book]] Middlewich is spelt "Mildestvich"; the termination ''wic'' or ''wyc'' in [[Old English]] refers to a settlement, village or dwelling. It is also supposed that "wich" or "wych" refers to a [[wich towns|salt town]], with Middlewich being the middle town between [[Northwich]] and [[Nantwich]].<ref name=Lawrence>{{cite book | title=The story of Bygone Middlewich | year=1936 |  author=C F Lawrence}}</ref>

Middlewich was founded by the [[Roman Britain|Romans]], who gave it the name ''Salinae'' because of its surrounding salt deposits. It became one of the major Roman sites for salt production, an activity that was centred on the township of [[Kinderton]], about a quarter of a mile north of the present-day parish church of [[St Michael and All Angels, Middlewich|St Michael and All Angels]]. It has been suggested that pre-Roman salt production also occurred in the same area, but there is no supporting archaeological evidence.<ref name=BARRY/><ref name=TWIGG/> Whittaker's ''History of Manchester'' claims that the [[Iron Age]] [[Cornovii (Midlands)|Cornovii]] made Kinderton their capital,<ref name=Lawrence/> but it is more likely that the Cornovii inhabited Kinderton for its salt-making potential.<ref>{{cite book | title='Congleton', A Topographical Dictionary of England | year=1848 | author=Institute of Historical Research| url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=50893#s23 | access-date=11 December 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Celtic Tribes of Britain – The Cornovii |work=WWW.Roman-Britain. ORG |url=http://www.roman-britain.org/tribes/cornovii.htm |access-date=11 December 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061213085431/http://www.roman-britain.org/tribes/cornovii.htm |archive-date=13 December 2006 }}</ref> There was once thought to have been a medieval castle at Kinderton, but that is now thought to have been unlikely.<ref>{{cite web |title=Monument No. 74705 |url=http://pastscape.english-heritage.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=74705 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120716230659/http://pastscape.english-heritage.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=74705 |url-status=dead |archive-date=16 July 2012 |work=National Monuments Record |publisher=English Heritage |access-date=13 April 2009 }}</ref>

Middlewich lies across the King Street fault, which roughly follows the [[Roman road]], King Street, from [[Northwich]] to Middlewich.<ref name=TWIGG>{{cite web | title=19th–20th century Middlewich | work=Salt making sites in Cheshire | author=George Twigg | url=http://www.cheshirehistory.org.uk/Papers/Salt.htm#2.1.8 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20060901004419/http://www.cheshirehistory.org.uk/Papers/Salt.htm | url-status=dead | archive-date=1 September 2006 | access-date=26 June 2006 }}</ref> During their occupation the Romans built a [[castra|fort]] at 
Harbutts Field ({{gbmapping|SJ70216696}}),<ref>{{cite web|title=Roman Fort Minor Salt-Working Settlement |work=WWW.Roman-Britain. ORG |url=http://www.roman-britain.org/places/salinae_cornoviorum.htm |access-date=10 September 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060509034543/http://www.roman-britain.org/places/salinae_cornoviorum.htm |archive-date=9 May 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Fieldwork 1999| work=Historic Environment Fieldwork Full Summary | url=http://www.cheshire.gov.uk/Planning/NaturalHistoricEnv/Historic/NHE_Historic_FieldworkFull.htm#1999 | access-date=21 May 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060219032150/http://www.cheshire.gov.uk/Planning/NaturalHistoricEnv/Historic/NHE_Historic_FieldworkFull.htm#1999 |archive-date = 19 February 2006}}</ref> and excavations to the south of the fort have found further evidence of Roman activity<ref>
{{cite web | title=Fieldwork 2000| work=Historic Environment Fieldwork Full Summary | url=http://www.cheshire.gov.uk/Planning/NaturalHistoricEnv/Historic/NHE_Historic_FieldworkFull.htm#2000 | access-date=21 May 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060219032150/http://www.cheshire.gov.uk/Planning/NaturalHistoricEnv/Historic/NHE_Historic_FieldworkFull.htm#2000 |archive-date = 19 February 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title=Fieldwork 2001| work=Historic Environment Fieldwork Full Summary | url=http://www.cheshire.gov.uk/Planning/NaturalHistoricEnv/Historic/NHE_Historic_FieldworkFull.htm#2001| access-date=21 May 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060219032150/http://www.cheshire.gov.uk/Planning/NaturalHistoricEnv/Historic/NHE_Historic_FieldworkFull.htm#2001 |archive-date = 19 February 2006}}</ref> including a well and part of a preserved [[Roman road]]. An excavation in 2004, in Buckley's Field,<ref>{{cite web | title=Roman dig – update| work=Cheshire Matters | url=http://www.cheshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/52AED909-26CE-4CFF-8438-5CEDC73B7CE7/0/NovCheshireMatterssp.pdf#page=4 | access-date=21 May 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070927004303/http://www.cheshire.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/52AED909-26CE-4CFF-8438-5CEDC73B7CE7/0/NovCheshireMatterssp.pdf#page=4 |archive-date = 27 September 2007}}</ref> also uncovered signs of Roman occupation.

Salt manufacture has remained the principal industry for the past 2,000 years, and it has shaped the town's history and geography. Before the [[Normans|Norman]] invasion of England in 1066, there is thought to have been one [[brine]] pit in Middlewich, between the River Croco and the current Lewin Street.<ref name="EARL">Earl, ''Middlewich 900–1900''.</ref> In the [[Domesday Book]] the area is described as being "wasted",<ref name="EARL"/> having been cleared by [[William I of England|King William]] around 1070 as an "act of rage against his rebellious barons".<ref>{{cite web | title=Cheshire and the Domesday Book | work=infokey.com  | url=http://www.infokey.com/Domesday/Cheshire.htm | access-date=24 September 2006 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060822161319/http://www.infokey.com/Domesday/Cheshire.htm |archive-date = 22 August 2006}}</ref> Gilbert de Venables became the first Baron of Kinderton shortly after the Norman Conquest, the title being conferred by [[Hugh d'Avranches, 1st Earl of Chester|Hugh Lupus]].{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} A [[manor house]] was built to the east of the town and became the baronial seat of the Venables family.  A [[Jacobean architecture|Jacobean]] screen in the church of [[St. Michael and All Angels, Middlewich|St Michael and All Angels]] has the carved Venables coat of arms. The title "Baron of Kinderton" is now vested in the [[Baron Vernon|Lord Vernon]].

On 13 March 1643 the town was the scene of the [[first Battle of Middlewich]], between the [[Roundheads|Parliamentarians]], under [[Sir William Brereton, 1st Baronet|Sir William Brereton]], and the [[Cavalier|Royalist supporters]] of [[King Charles I of England]], under Sir Thomas Aston.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} The [[second Battle of Middlewich]] took place on 26 December 1643, and claimed the lives of about 200 [[Roundhead|Parliamentarian]]s, along with a number of [[Cavalier|Royalist]]s under the command of [[John Byron, 1st Baron Byron|Lord Byron]].

The population of Middlewich rose during 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, Newton|Sutton]] having previously been added to Newton in 1892.  Some will also be due to a general increase in population of the United Kingdom, and some of the increase would have been required to provide a labour force for the increased number, and scale, of salt and chemical works in the town. In the middle of the 19th century Middlewich was described as a town with principal works being the surrounding farming district, a silk factory, and the salt works in Kinderton and Newton.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} 
In 1887 the town was 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.<ref>{{cite book | first=John | last=Bartholomew | title=Gazetteer of the British Isles | year=1887 }}</ref> By 1911 the [[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition|''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition]] mentions the existence of chemical works and the manufacture of [[condensed milk]].<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Middlewich|volume=18|page=417}}</ref>

[[File:Middlewich - Cenotaph unveiling.jpg|thumb|right|Unveiling of the cenotaph]]
In common with the rest of the United Kingdom, Middlewich's young male population was decimated during the [[First World War]]. The [[cenotaph]], near to the parish church,<ref>[//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Middlewich_-_Cenotaph.jpg Image of the town cenotaph], Upload.wikimedia.org</ref> lists the names of the 136 men who died in that conflict, representing around 10% of the male population of the town aged between 15 and 45. Forty-two of Middlewich's inhabitants lost their lives in the [[Second World War]], with a further fatality 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 killed in the First World War, and the two who died during the Second World War.<ref>[//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Middlewich_-_Brunner_Cenotaph.jpg Image of the Brunner Mond cenotaph], Upload.wikimedia.org</ref><ref>15 of the 16 names from the First World War are duplicated on the town cenotaph, as are both from the Second World War. Arthur Harrison's name does not appear on the town cenotaph.</ref>

In the period between the end of the First World War until shortly after the Second World War, there was extensive housebuilding in the town; a significant number of houses were built in the King Street area to the north, the area bounded between Nantwich Road and St. Anne's Road to the west, and especially in Cledford to the south. The 1970s 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 street, Wheelock Street.  Along with the bypass there was significant remodelling of the town centre, with the old town hall and library being demolished.  This bypass successfully eased the flow of traffic away from the main shopping street, but the joining of three major roads remains a bottleneck, which will be eased by a proposed eastern bypass.<ref>{{cite web|title=Middlewich Eastern Bypass (Southern Section) |work=Environmental Statement, Non-Technical Summary |url=http://www.cw10residents.co.uk/shopping/standard/images/1212_76_file_finalntsbypassdtp9.pdf |access-date=22 May 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927062454/http://www.cw10residents.co.uk/shopping/standard/images/1212_76_file_finalntsbypassdtp9.pdf |archive-date=27 September 2007 }}</ref>

Since the early 1980s 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, near the [[Normans|Norman]] [[Baron]]'s moated [[manor house]] at Kinderton Manor, and on the site of the old railway station.  One of the latest developments is on the old silk works next to the Big Lock public house. In common with other local towns such as [[Holmes Chapel]], [[Northwich]] and [[Winsford]], people are attracted to Middlewich because of its good road links via the [[M6 motorway]] and the relatively low price and availability of suitable building land.<ref>{{cite web|title=Action plan will address people's negative feeling|url=http://www.middlewichguardian.co.uk/mostpopular.var.1984915.0.action_plan_will_address_peoples_negative_feeling.php?s=s|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120907204912/http://www.middlewichguardian.co.uk/mostpopular.var.1984915.0.action_plan_will_address_peoples_negative_feeling.php?s=s|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 September 2012|work=Middlewich Guardian|access-date=2 February 2008}}</ref>