Editing Runcorn (section)

===Industrialisation===
During the 18th century, water transport had been improved in the area by the [[Mersey and Irwell Navigation]], the [[Bridgewater Canal]] and the [[Trent and Mersey Canal]]. This gave Runcorn waterway connections with most of the interior of England through the canal system and with the sea along the River Mersey, thus forming the basis for the development of the Port of Runcorn.<ref name="Starkey 1983 19–24"/>

Later came the [[Runcorn to Latchford Canal]] linking with the Mersey and Irwell Navigation, and the Weston Canal which gave better access to the [[River Weaver|Weaver Navigation]] system.<ref>{{Harvnb|Starkey|1990|p=173.}}</ref>

Industries began to develop within and around the town, in particular shipbuilding, engineering, chemical manufacturing, tanning, and [[sandstone]] quarrying. Towards the end of the 18th century and in the early years of the 19th century, the town was a health resort.<ref name="Starkey 1990 133–137"/>

The growth of industry did not diminish Runcorn's late 18th and early 19th century reputation as a health resort and the "Montpelier of England".<ref>{{Harvnb|Nickson|1887|pp=176–177.}}</ref> In 1822 the town's first Saltwater Baths opened followed by new visitor accommodation in Belvedere Terrace in 1831.<ref name="1834 visitor's guide">{{cite book |last=Fowler |first=G. |title=The Visitor's Guide to Runcorn and its Vicinity |publisher=W. Walker |date=1834 |page=45 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7pZYAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA45}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Nickson|1887|p=176.}}</ref>

[[File:St Paul's (drawing).jpg|thumb|St Paul's Methodist Chapel, since demolished]]
In the middle of the century, the growing wealth of the town and its industrialists saw the construction of several new landmarks, including [[Runcorn Town Hall|Halton Grange]], St Paul's Methodist Chapel and [[All Saints' Church, Runcorn|All Saints' Church]].<ref name="vardy">{{cite journal |last=Vardy |first=Peter I. |year=2006 |title=Thomas Hazlehurst and his family: Methodism and the Early Chemical Industry in Runcorn in the Nineteenth Century |journal=Cheshire History |volume=45 |pages=67–82 |issn=0141-8696}}</ref>

For hundreds of years, the only means of crossing the River Mersey at this point had been by the Runcorn ferry. [[Thomas Telford]] proposed a {{cvt|1000|ft|m}} single span suspension bridge as early as 1817, but it was not until 1868 that the first bridge, [[Runcorn Railway Bridge]], was opened across the Mersey at Runcorn. This gave the town direct rail links with [[Liverpool]] and the rest of the country.<ref>{{Harvnb|Nickson|1887|p=206.}}</ref>

Runcorn was becoming an industrialised and highly polluted town. During the later 19th century the town became increasingly dominated by the chemical and tanning industries. In the 1880s a pipeline was opened between [[Northwich]] and Weston Point, supplying brine to the salt works and in 1896 the Castner Kellner chemical works was established.<ref>{{Harvnb|Starkey|1990|pp=160–162.}}</ref>

In 1894 the [[Manchester Ship Canal]] was opened throughout its length.<ref>{{Harvnb|Starkey|1983|p=184.}}</ref> This allowed ocean-going ships to travel inland as far as [[Salford, Greater Manchester|Salford]], some of them calling at the port of Runcorn. The rise in population between 1881 and 1891 and the drop by 1901 is explained by the number of people involved in constructing the ship canal.

In 1905, the [[Widnes–Runcorn Transporter Bridge]] opened, giving a direct link for vehicular traffic for the first time between the two towns.<ref>{{Harvnb|Thompson|2000|p=17.}}</ref> This would not be replaced until 1961 with the construction of Runcorn Road Bridge (since renamed the [[Silver Jubilee Bridge]]) which allowed a more efficient means of road traffic across Runcorn Gap.

During the first half of the 20th&nbsp;century, the industry of the town continued to be dominated by chemicals and tanning. This growth was largely due to government fixed-priced cost contracts for tanned hides. In 1926, four chemical companies merged to form [[Imperial Chemical Industries]] (ICI).

During the second half of the 20th century, the tanneries closed (the last to close was the Highfield Tannery in the late 1960s) and the chemical industry declined. At the same time, light industry developed together with warehouses and distribution centres.<ref name="ep">{{cite web |url=http://www.ebusinessdirectories.co.uk/BusinessDirectories/Pages/HaltonBD2006/alive.html |title=Halton Business Directory |access-date=1 September 2007 |publisher=Halton Borough Council |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070822004655/http://www.ebusinessdirectories.co.uk/BusinessDirectories/Pages/HaltonBD2006/alive.html |archive-date=22 August 2007}}</ref>