A short history of Winsford
Originally Winsford was the name given to a very small area of land where the river Weaver could be crossed. It lies south of Northwich and West of Middlewich and grew around the salt mining industry. Formed in 1894 when the Winsford Urban District Council was established, it combined two ancient townships - Over (where the NMC resides today) and Wharton (both of which are mentioned in the pages of the Domesday book.)
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View from Weaver Valley Parkway, Wharton Hill towards Winsford by Ian Anstice. |
Over is situated on the west bank of the river Weaver and was originally divided between the parishes of Over and Whitegate, with Wharton on the other side of the river, laying solely in the parish of Davenham until its own parish was established in 1843.
The development of these two townships is quite different. Over was a medieval borough with the right to hold a weekly market and have an annual fair. Wharton had no such privileges and was for mostly a rural manor held in private hands.
Predominantly in an area of pastoral farming, the district around Winsford owed its prosperity to the extraction of salt from the rock salt beds that lie beneath much of mid Cheshire, which were formed during the Triassic period hundreds of millions of years ago. From 1844 salt was also obtained by mining the rock salt and the industry grew following the opening of the River Weaver Navigation in 1721 and later railway links. Other businesses followed - boat building, sail making, engineering, cotton milling, tanning, button making and general commerce.
During the mid 1960s parts of Winsford became over spill estates for Manchester and Liverpool, then in the 2000's became the centre of the county with the Council, police and fire headquarters all moving there.
Further information
Want to learn more about Winsford? Some further sources of information can be found below.
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