UK Grid Reference: SJ654735
Latitude: 53°15'25"N
Longitude: 2°31'7"W
The development of Northwich was largely due to the salt beds beneath the district. Salt has been made here from Roman times, with the industry at its peak in the 19th century. Well over 50 rocksalt mines were located under Northwich and nearby Marston.
As mining developed, the ground around the Northwich area suffered catastrophic subsidence, with buildings disappearing without warning. The Great Subsidence of 1880 was instrumental in the introduction of the 1891 Brine Subsidence Compensation Act introduced to compensate businesses for their losses. A mode of construction was recommended to allow buildings to cope with the settlement, the light timber-framing of the Middle Ages was re-introduced, with jacking points incorporated into frames to allow them to be levelled; or to be moved on rollers to a more stable location (e.g. the 55 tons Bridge Inn was relocated 185 feet in 1913) and the main town bridges were designed as partially floating structures).
In 1928 the Adelaide mine, the last rock salt mine in Northwich, collapsed, and rock salt mining moved to Winsford (
http://www.mindat.org/loc-16030.html).
Subsidence remains a problem, between 2004-2007 a £28 million programme to stabilise 4 abandoned salt mines (Baron's Quay, Witton Bank, Neumann's and Penny's Lane) underneath Northwich was undertaken to allow redevelopment in the town centre.
There is a Salt Museum and a restored 19th C Saltworks (Lion Saltworks) in the town
http://www.geocities.com/ptrue84020/townmines.html [Link dead. Jun 2011]
http://www.geocities.com/mar1elene/marstonmines.html [Link dead. Jun 2011]
Palache, Charles, Harry Berman & Clifford Frondel (1951), The System of Mineralogy of James Dwight Dana and Edward Salisbury Dana Yale University 1837-1892, Seventh edition, Volume II, John Wiley & Sons, New York: 6.
Mineral List
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