Nantwich

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Coordinates: 53°04′01″N 2°31′19″W / 53.067°N 2.522°W / 53.067; -2.522

Nantwich
High Street
Nantwich shown within Cheshire
Population	12,515 (2001)
OS grid reference	SJ652523
Parish	Nantwich
Unitary authority	Cheshire East
Ceremonial county	Cheshire
Region	North West
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	NANTWICH
Postcode district	CW5
Dialling code	01270
Police	Cheshire
Fire	Cheshire
Ambulance	North West
European Parliament	North West England
UK Parliament	Crewe and Nantwich
List of places: UK • England • Cheshire

Nantwich is a market town in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The town gives its name to the parliamentary constituency of Crewe and Nantwich. In 2001 Nantwich had a population of 12,515.

[edit] History

The origins of the settlement date to Roman times when salt from Nantwich was used by the Roman garrisons at Chester (Deva Victrix) and Stoke-on-Trent as both a preservative and a condiment. Salt has been used in the production of Cheshire cheese and in the tanning industry, both products of the dairy industry based in the Cheshire Plain around the town. Wich and wych are names used to denote brine springs or wells.

In the Domesday Book, Nantwich is recorded as having eight salt houses. It had a castle and was the capital of a barony of the earls of Chester, and of a hundred (one of the seven sub-divisions of medieval Cheshire). Nantwich is one of the few places in Cheshire to be marked on the Gough Map, which dates from 1355–66.^[1] The salt industry peaked in the late 16th century when there were 216 salt houses, but the industry ended in 1856, when the last salt house closed. The last tannery closed in 1974, but the clothing industry remains important to the area.

Nantwich has suffered several disasters in its history. It was first recorded as an urban area at the time of the Norman conquest – the Normans burned the town to the ground, leaving only one building standing. Two hundred years later the town was attacked over a lengthy period by marauders from Wales, while in 1583 the Great Fire of Nantwich raged for 20 days, destroying most of the town, which was rebuilt, at a cost of £30,000 in 16th century money, £2,000 of which was personally donated by Queen Elizabeth I together with timber from the royal forest. Indeed, one of the main streets of Nantwich was re-named to reflect the fact that the timber to rebuild the town was transported along it (Beam Street). Many plaques in Nantwich now commemorate this.

During the English Civil War, Nantwich was the only town in Cheshire to declare for Parliament, and consequently it was besieged several times by Royalist forces. The final, six-week long, siege was lifted following the victory of the Parliamentary forces in the Battle of Nantwich on January 26, 1644, which has been re-enacted as Holly Holy Day on its anniversary every year since 1973 by the Sealed Knot, a registered charity devoted to re-enacting English civil war battles for educational purposes. The name comes from the sprigs of holly worn by the townsfolk in their caps or clothing in the years after the battle, in its commemoration.^[2]

[edit] Governance

The Borough Council of Crewe and Nantwich was abolished on 1 April 2009; the civil parish is now administered by the new unitary authority of Cheshire East^[3]. Nantwich falls in the parliamentary constituency of Crewe and Nantwich,^[4]

[edit] Geography and transport

Town square, showing the war memorial and St Mary's Church

Geographically, Nantwich is on the Cheshire Plain, on the banks of the River Weaver. The Shropshire Union Canal runs through the town and makes a junction with the Llangollen Canal at Hurleston to the north. It is approximately four miles south-west of Crewe and 20 miles south-east of Chester. It is a major road junction, being the meeting point of the A51, A500, A529, A530 and A534 roads - the stretch of the A534 from Nantwich to the Welsh border is regarded as one of the ten worst stretches of road in England for road safety.^[5]

Nantwich railway station is on the line from Crewe to Whitchurch, Shrewsbury and other towns along the Welsh border. The station is currently served mainly by stopping trains between Crewe and Shrewsbury.

[edit] Architecture

Nantwich contains over a hundred listed buildings, with the largest collection of historic buildings outside Chester in the county.^[6] The oldest building in the town is St Mary's Church, which dates from the 14th century. The town has many timber-framed or "black-and-white" buildings dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, particularly in the centre on Barker Street, Beam Street, Churchyard Side, Hospital Street and High Street, and extending across the River Weaver on Welsh Row. Two particularly important examples are Churche's Mansion, an Elizabethan mansion house dating from before the fire, and the Crown Hotel, a former coaching inn built immediately after the fire. There are also many fine Georgian town houses and some examples of Victorian corporate architecture.^[7]

[edit] Education

The town has seven primary schools – Highfields Community, Millfields, Pear Tree, St Anne's (Catholic), Stapeley Broad Lane (Church of England), The Weaver and The Wyche – and two secondary schools, Brine Leas School and Malbank School and Sixth Form College.

[edit] Sport

The town's football club, Nantwich Town F.C., won the 2006 FA Vase.

[edit] Notable residents

• David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty (1871–1936), Admiral of the Fleet, was born in Nantwich.
• Sir William Bowman (1816–1892), surgeon, was born in Nantwich.
• Sir William Brereton, 1st Baronet established his headquarters in Nantwich during the English Civil War in 1643.
• Walter Cartwright (1871–19??), footballer, was born in Nantwich.
• Matt Coyle (b. 1971), graphic novelist, was born in Nantwich.
• Sir Randolph Crewe (1559–1646), Lord Chief Justice, was born in Nantwich.
• John Gerard (1545 – c.1611), botanist was born in Willaston near Nantwich.
• Dario Gradi, Former Crewe Alexandra manager, lives in Willaston.
• Simon Heartfield (b. 1962), DJ, musician and record producer, was born in Nantwich.
• George Latham (d. 1871), architect was born in Nantwich.
• Elizabeth Minshull (1630–1727), third wife of poet John Milton was born in nearby Wistaston and lived as a widow in Nantwich until her death in 1727. She was reputedly buried at the Baptist Chapel in Barker Street.
• Joseph Priestley (1733–1804), who co-discovered oxygen, was a Non-conformist minister and teacher at a school in Nantwich during the late 18th century.

[edit] See also

• Listed buildings in Nantwich, Cheshire
• Commons gallery for Nantwich

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nantwich

• Social guide to Nantwich
• Crewe & Nantwich Borough Council
• Nantwich Web Directory
• Nantwich history
• A Dabber's Nantwich