| Northwich | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
  Northwich Location withinCheshire | |
| Population | 22,726 (Parish, 2021)[1] 18,640 (Built up area, 2021)[2] |
| OS grid reference | SJ651733 |
| Civil parish |
|
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Villages and suburbs of the town | List |
| Post town | NORTHWICH |
| Postcode district | CW8, CW9 |
| Dialling code | 01606 |
| Police | Cheshire |
| Fire | Cheshire |
| Ambulance | North West |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | northwichtowncouncil |
| 53°15′32″N2°31′05″W / 53.259°N 2.518°W /53.259; -2.518 | |
Northwich is a market town andcivil parish in theCheshire West and Chester borough ofCheshire,England. It lies on theCheshire Plain, at the confluence of the riversWeaver andDane, 18 miles (29 km) east ofChester, 15 miles (24 km) south ofWarrington, 19 miles (31 km) south ofManchester, 69 miles (111 km) north ofBirmingham, and 36 miles (58 km) south-east ofLiverpool. The population of the parish was 22,726 at the2021 census.
The area around Northwich was exploited for itssalt pans by theRomans, when the settlement was known asCondate. The town had been severely affected by salt mining andsubsidence was historically a significant problem. Mine stabilisation work was completed in 2007.[3]
DuringRoman times, Northwich was known asCondate, thought to be aLatinisation of aBrittonicname meaning "Confluence". There areseveral other sites of the same name, mostly inFrance; in Northwich's case, it lies at the junction of the rivers Dane and Weaver.[4]
Northwich can be identified through two contemporary Roman documents. The first of these is theAntonine Itinerary, a 3rd-century road map split into 14 sections. Two of these sections, or Itinerary, mention Condate: Route II ("the route from theWall to the port ofRutupiae") and Route X ("the route fromGlannoventa toMediolanum").[5] The second document is the 7th-centuryRavenna Cosmography; it refers to Condate between the entries forSalinae (nowMiddlewich, Cheshire) andRatae (nowLeicester,Leicestershire), at the time the capital of theCorieltauvitribe.[5]
The Romans' interest in the Northwich area is thought to be due to the strategic river crossing and the location of thesalt brines.[4] Salt was very important in Roman society;[6] the Roman wordsalarium, linked employment, salt and soldiers, but the exact link is unclear. It is also theorised that this is the basis for the modern wordsalary. Another theory is that the wordsoldier itself comes from the Latinsal dare (to give salt). There is archaeological evidence of a Romanauxiliary fort within the area of Northwich, now known as "Castle", dated to AD 70.[4] This, and other north-western forts, were built as the Romans moved north from their stronghold in Chester.[4]
The association with salt continues in theetymology of Northwich. The "wich" (or "wych") suffix applies to other towns in the area: Middlewich,Nantwich andLeftwich. This is considered to have been derived from theNorse,wic for bay, and is associated with the more traditional method of obtaining salt by evaporating sea water. Therefore, a place for making salt became awych-house; Northwich was the most northern of the-wich towns in Cheshire.[7]
The existence of Northwich in the early medieval period is shown by its record in theDomesday Book of 1086:[8]
In the same Mildestuic hundred, there was a third wich called Norwich [Northwich] and it was at farm for £8.
There were the same laws and customs there as there were in the other wiches and the king and the earl similarly divided the renders.
... All the other customs in these wiches are the same.This was waste when (Earl) Hugh received it; it is now worth 35s.
— Henry Ellis,A General Introduction to Domesday Book
Themanor of Northwich belonged to theEarls of Chester until 1237, when the family line died out. Subsequently, Northwich became a royal manor and was given to a noble family to collect tolls in exchange for a set rent.[9]
TheCheshire archers were a body of élite soldiers noted for their skills with the longbow, who fought in many engagements in Britain and France in the Middle Ages. Battles at which there were sizeable numbers of Cheshire archers includeAgincourt andCrécy; many of these archers hailed from the Northwich Hundred.Richard II employed a bodyguard of these yeoman archers who came from theMacclesfield Hundred and the forest districts of Cheshire.
That salt production continued throughout the centuries and can be seen throughJohn Leland's description of the town in 1540:[10]
Northwich is a pratie market town but fowle,
and by the Salters houses be great stakes of smaul cloven wood,
to seethe the salt water that thei make white salt of.
— cited in Fred H. Crossley,Cheshire
Between 1642 and 1643, during theEnglish Civil War, Northwich was fortified and garrisoned bySir William Brereton for theParliamentarians.[4]
The salt beds beneath Northwich were rediscovered in the 1670s by employees of the local Smith-Barry family.[11] The Smith-Barrys were looking for coal, but instead discoveredrock salt, in the grounds of the family home,Marbury Hall (since demolished) to the north of Northwich.
During the 19th century, it became uneconomical to mine for the salt; instead, hot water was pumped through the mines, which dissolved the salt.[11] The resultant brine was pumped out, from which the salt was extracted. This technique weakened the mines and led to landsubsidence as they collapsed. Subsidence affected the town and the surrounding landscape.[11] For example, collapses in 1880 formed Witton Flash as the River Weaver flowed into a huge hole caused by subsidence.[12] Subsidence also allegedly accounts for many oldtimber-framed houses in the town centre, which were better able to withstand the movement of the ground. Some houses were built on a base of steel girders that could be jacked up to level the house with each change in the underlying ground. The town's historical link with the salt industry is celebrated in its the Weaver Hall Museum and Workhouse, which is now in the oldworkhouse.
In 1874,John Brunner andLudwig Mond foundedBrunner Mond in Winnington and started manufacturingsoda ash using theSolvay ammonia-soda process.[13] This process used salt as a main raw material. The chemical industry used the subsided land for the disposal of waste from the manufacture ofsoda-ash. The waste was transported through a network of cranes and rails to the producelimebeds. This was a dangerous alkaline substance and caused the landscape to be abandoned as unusable.
In 1975,Marbury Country Park was the first area to be reclaimed from dereliction and has become a popular recreational area. In 1987, more land was reclaimed to form Furey Wood and over later years,Cheshire County Council's Land Regeneration Unit reclaimed what is now known as Anderton Nature Park, Witton Flash, Dairy House Meadows, Witton Mill Meadows, and Ashton's and Neumann's Flashes. The area now extends to approximately 800 acres (323 ha) of public space known asNorthwich Community Woodlands.[11]
In February 2004, a £28 million programme to stabilise the abandoned salt mines underneath Northwich began.[14] The work was funded by theEnglish Partnerships through itsLand Stabilisation Programme,[15] introduced to resolve issues associated with unstable mines around England.
The four mines identified for work were Baron's Quay, Witton Bank, Neumann's and Penny's Lane. These mines were chosen because their subsidence was causing problems for the town centre. The stabilisation plan involved removing millions of litres of brine from the four mines and replacing it with a mixture ofpulverised fuel ash (PFA),cement and salt. The project was completed in late 2007.[16]
The old Magistrates Court and Memorial Hall have been demolished and been replaced byMemorial Court, a £12.5 million cultural and leisure centre, which offers a pool, dance studios and a gym.
The £80 million Barons Quay Development, a retail and leisure complex, opened in 2016 and has seen the creation of more than 300,000 square feet (28,000 m2) of shopping space, together with a large supermarket with a petrol filling station, cinema, restaurants, cafés, new public spaces and car parking. As of January 2023, roughly half of the retail space remains empty.[17]
A major fire occurred at the Northwich Outdoor Market on 3 January 2020. The market's remains were quickly demolished and, so far, there are no plans to rebuild it.[18]
There are two tiers of local government covering Northwich, atcivil parish (town) andunitary authority level: Northwich Town Council andCheshire West and Chester Council. The town council is based at 78 Church Road.[19] Cheshire West and Chester Council also has an area office at the Memorial Court building on Chester Way.[20] For national elections, Northwich is part of theMid Cheshire constituency.[21]
At the time of theDomesday survey in 1086, Northwich was in thehundred of Middlewich. By the 14th century, it had become part of theNorthwich hundred. This probably happened during the reorganisation of the hundreds in the 12th century.[4] Northwich was described as aborough in the late 13th century, but it had nomunicipal charter, and borough status for the town did not endure.[4]
The town formed part of theancient parish ofGreat Budworth. The parish was subdivided into numeroustownships, including a Northwich township of just 13 acres (5.3 ha) at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane, corresponding to the medieval core of the town.[22] The neighbouring townships were Castle Northwich to the south-west,Winnington to the north-west, andWitton cum Twambrooks to the east, all of which also formed part of Great Budworth parish. To the south was the township ofLeftwich, which formed part of the parish ofDavenham.[23][24]
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St Helen's Church was built in 14th century at Witton to serve as achapel of ease for the southern townships of Great Budworth parish.[25] In 1723, St Helen's was assigned a parochialchapelry district and given its own clergy, effectively separating it from Great Budworth for most ecclesiastical purposes. The Witton chapelry initially covered the townships of Birches, Castle Northwich,Hartford, Hulse,Lach Dennis,Lostock Gralam, Northwich, Winnington, Witton cum Twambrooks, and part ofRudheath.[26][27] The chapelry was gradually reduced in area as more churches were built. The ecclesiastical separation from Great Budworth was confirmed in 1900, at which point the chapelry was renamed "St Helen Witton, otherwise Northwich".[27][28]
From the 17th century onwards, parishes were gradually given various civil functions under thepoor laws, in addition to their original ecclesiastical functions. In some cases, including Great Budworth and Davenham, the civil functions were exercised by each township separately rather than the parish as a whole. In 1866, the legal definition of 'parish' was changed to be the areas used for administering the poor laws, and so the townships also becamecivil parishes, which therefore diverged from theecclesiastical parishes.[29]
During 1863, the Northwich and Witton cum Twambrooks townships were each madelocal government districts, administered by separate local boards.[30][31] The two districts were merged into a single Northwich district in 1875, which also took in the whole of the Castle Northwich township and parts of the townships of Hartford, Leftwich and Winnington.[32] Such local government districts were reconstituted asurban districts under theLocal Government Act 1894.[26] Also in 1894, the parishes within the district were united into a single civil parish of Northwich matching the district.[33]
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Northwich Urban District Council took over the former Northwich Grammar School buildings (built 1878) on Church Road after the school relocated in 1908.[4] The building was converted to become the council's offices and meeting place and renamed the Council House, opening in 1913.[34][35] The urban district was enlarged in 1936 by the addition of parts of Winnington,Lostock Gralam,Barnton, Leftwich andRudheath; then again in 1955, when parts ofDavenham, Hartford, Rudheath and Whatcroft were added.[36] The urban district council was granted acoat of arms in 1962, which features theLatinmotto "Sal est Vita", meaningSalt is Life.[37]
Northwich Urban District was abolished in 1974 under theLocal Government Act 1972. The area became part of the new district (borough after 1988) ofVale Royal.[38][39] Asuccessor parish called Northwich covering the area of the former urban district was created, with its parish council taking the name Northwich Town Council.[40] The former urban district council's coat of arms was transferred to the new town council.[41]
In 2009, Cheshire West and Chester Council was created, taking over the functions of the borough council andCheshire County Council, which were both abolished.[42]
Between 1885 and 1983, Northwich gave its name to theNorthwich parliamentary constituency.
Northwich is situated in the Cheshire Plain at co-ordinates h53°15′20″N2°31′20″W / 53.25556°N 2.52222°W /53.25556; -2.52222 (53.255, −2.522). The town lies between 15 and 35 metres (49 and 115 ft) above mean sea level.[4] The town is surrounded by the followingcivil parishes, starting due north and proceeding in a clockwise direction:Anderton with Marbury,Marston, Wincham,Lostock Gralam,Rudheath,Davenham, Hartford,Weaverham andBarnton.
Two rivers meet in the town centre: the rivers Weaver and Dane. The town is surrounded by undulatingpasture. Subsidence and the collapse of underground saltworks has createdflashes[43] and there are also localmeres; for example, to the north isBudworth Mere and to the north-east isPick Mere.[4]
Climate data for Winnington, Cheshire elevation: 20 m (66 ft), 1959–1976 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 6.9 (44.4) | 7.4 (45.3) | 9.6 (49.3) | 12.5 (54.5) | 16.2 (61.2) | 19.7 (67.5) | 20.3 (68.5) | 20.3 (68.5) | 17.9 (64.2) | 14.6 (58.3) | 9.8 (49.6) | 7.7 (45.9) | 13.6 (56.4) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 4.4 (39.9) | 4.6 (40.3) | 6.2 (43.2) | 8.8 (47.8) | 12.1 (53.8) | 15.2 (59.4) | 16.2 (61.2) | 16.2 (61.2) | 14.0 (57.2) | 11.1 (52.0) | 6.8 (44.2) | 5.0 (41.0) | 10.0 (50.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 1.9 (35.4) | 1.9 (35.4) | 2.8 (37.0) | 5.0 (41.0) | 8.0 (46.4) | 10.7 (51.3) | 12.2 (54.0) | 12.1 (53.8) | 10.0 (50.0) | 7.7 (45.9) | 3.8 (38.8) | 2.3 (36.1) | 6.5 (43.8) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 65.6 (2.58) | 44.2 (1.74) | 45.2 (1.78) | 57.2 (2.25) | 66.4 (2.61) | 55.0 (2.17) | 73.4 (2.89) | 75.7 (2.98) | 71.0 (2.80) | 63.9 (2.52) | 78.4 (3.09) | 68.5 (2.70) | 764.5 (30.11) |
| Source: CEDA[44] | |||||||||||||
The Northwich urban area is defined in different ways by different authorities.
Fortown planning purposes, Cheshire West and Chester Council's Local Plan identifies a 'Northwich settlement area' which also includesAnderton,Barnton,Davenham,Hartford,Lostock Gralam,Lower Marston,Lower Wincham,Rudheath, andWeaverham.[45]
The Northwich Neighbourhood Plan (2018) records a population figure of 53,391 for the urban area at the2011 census, derived from combining the populations of the parishes of Northwich,Anderton with Marbury, Barnton, Davenham, Hartford,Kingsmead, Lostock Gralam, Rudheath, Weaverham andWincham.[46] At the 2021 census, the same group of parishes had a combined population of 58,950.[47]
Following the 2011 census, theOffice for National Statistics (ONS) defined a Northwich built up area with a population of 47,421,[48] divided into two built up area subdivisions of Northwich (population 45,471)[49] and Lostock Gralam (population 1,950).[50]
For the2021 census, the ONS defined a much smaller built up area for Northwich, with a population of 18,640. Areas which had been part of the Northwich built up area in 2011 have been classed as separate built up areas in 2021, including Barnton (population 6,255), Davenham (13,835), and Hartford (6,695). Weaverham, although classed as part of the Northwich settlement or urban area in the Local Plan and Neighbourhood Plan, was not included in the ONS definitions of the built up area in either 2011 or 2021.[2]
The population of Northwich in 1664 has been estimated as 560;[4] over the last 200 years, it has been:
| Year | 1801 | 1811 | 1821 | 1831 | 1841 | 1851 | 1861 | 1871 | 1881 | 1891 | 1901 | 1911 | 1921 | 1931 | 1951 | 1961 | 1971 | 1981 | 1991 | 2001 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 1,338 | 1,382 | 1,490 | 1,481 | 1,368 | 1,377 | 1,190 | 1,244 | 12,256 | 14,914 | 17,611 | 18,151 | 18,381 | 18,732 | 17,489 | 19,592 | 18,136 | 17,098 | 18,316 | 19,259 | 19,924 |
| Sources:[4][52][53][54] | |||||||||||||||||||||
Northwich has been described by Leland as having amarket since at least 1535,[4] but there is no surviving charter. The town still has a market today, which is earmarked for refurbishment as part of theNorthwich Vision plans.[55]
The town's economy was dominated by the salt industry. However, a list of tolls for goods crossing over Northwich bridge in 1353 shows goods coming into the town, including a wide range of carcasses, fleeces, hides and skins, cloth, fish, alcoholic drinks, dairy products, building materials, household goods, metals and glass, and millstones. This indicates a much wider economic base to medieval Northwich than just the salt trade.[4] Documentary evidence also exists for amill from 1332 onwards and there is evidence for more than one mill from 1343.[4]
Allied to the extraction of salt was a bulk chemical industry, which became concentrated at the threeICI sites at Winnington, Wallerscote and Lostock. The first industrially practical method for producingpolythene was accidentally discovered at theWinnington Laboratory in 1933.[56]
BakersFrank Roberts & Sons have been associated with the town since 1887 and continues to be based near the town at Rudheath on theA556. Two of its three main business divisions, Roberts Bakery and The Little Treats Co, are based in Northwich and Aldred's The Bakers is inIlkeston,Derbyshire.[57]
There are many contemporary major employers in nearby Rudheath andHartford.
Based on the2001 census, Northwich had 13,928 people aged between 16 and 74. Of these, 8,908 (64.0%) people were categorised as economically active; 4,268 (30.6%) were economically inactive; 455 (3.3%) were unemployed.[58]
The parish church is known asSt. Helen's Witton; it is aGrade I listed building.[25] The church developed initially as achapel of ease, associated with the parish ofGreat Budworth, to serve the local community, known as theChapel of Witton. There is no known date for the creation of this chapel, but it is thought to have existed in the 13th century. None of this building exists in the current church. There is no documentary evidence to indicate the dates of the older parts of the current building; however, stones in the fabric of the porch carry inscriptions attributed to "Ricardus Alkoke Capellanus". This name matches documents concerning land in Northwich and Lostock Gralam dated 1468, but this cannot be used to date the church accurately.[59]
The present St Wilfrid's (Roman Catholic)] church was built in 1866.[60] The current Northwich Methodist Chapel was opened in 1990,[61] but there has been a Methodist presence in the town at least since 1774, whenJohn Wesley laid the foundation stone of the first chapel in the London Road area.
The Northwich Union Workhouse opened in 1837, following thePoor Law Amendment of 1834 that standardised the system of poor relief throughout Britain. The building is now theWeaver Hall Museum.
TheDock Road Edwardian Pumping Station is aGrade II listed building originally built by Northwich Urban District Council in 1913. For over 60 years, it was used for pumping sewage from parts of Northwich to the Wallerscote Treatment Works. Before it was built, untreated sewage was discharged directly into the River Weaver, causing widespread pollution.
Twoswing bridges, Hayhurst Bridge built in 1898 and Town Bridge built in 1899, cross the Weaver at Northwich. The bridges were the first two electrically powered swing bridges in Great Britain[62] and were built on floatingpontoons to counteract the mine subsidence. They were designed by ColonelJohn Saner.
The Floatel Northwich was moored on the Weaver near the confluence of the two rivers, but was closed when the owners,The Real Hotel Company plc, went into administration in January 2009;[63] it has since been removed. It was the UK's only floating hotel.
The key historical mode of transport was by water. By 1732, the River Weaver was improved from Frodsham Bridge to Winsford Bridge and eventually allowed vessels up to 160 tonnes (160,000 kg) to travel up to Northwich Bridge.[4] TheTrent and Mersey Canal, opened in 1775, passed to the north of Northwich because of objections from the trustees of the Weaver Navigation. However, the canal passed salt deposits near to the village of Marston and many of the later salt mines were based along its banks including theLion Salt Works. TheAnderton Boat Lift was opened in 1875[64] to connect the canal and river systems. It was fully restored in 2002 and now houses a visitor centre.[64]
The road system around Northwich can be dated back to the Roman times. TheA556 andA559 follow the route of the Roman road that runs from Chester to York.[4] The A556 diverts away from the route of the Roman road following a new route to the south of the town acting as the town's bypass. The Chester to Manchester road became aTurnpike in 1769.[4]
TheA530, known as King Street, also passes near to the town, and this follows the route of the Roman road that connected Warrington and Middlewich. The old route to Warrington and the north from Middlewich, however, was replaced by a new route through Knutsford, which became a turnpike in 1753.[4] Northwich is connected to the motorway network to the north of the town via the A559 onto theM56 motorway; and to the east of the town via the A556 at junction 19 of theM6 motorway.
The railway came to the town in 1863, when theCheshire Midland Railway constructed its line fromKnutsford. TheWest Cheshire Railway built its line toHelsby in 1869. Passenger trains from Northwich toChester, viaDelamere commenced in 1875. The route through Northwich is now marketed as theMid-Cheshire Line.[65]
Northwich railway station, last rebuilt in 1897,[4] is a stop on the line between Chester,Stockport andManchester Piccadilly;Northern Trains operates a generally hourly service in each direction.[66] Other nearby stations are atGreenbank, also on the Mid-Cheshire line, andHartford on theWest Coast Main Line.
Bus routes are operated predominately byWarrington's Own Buses andD&G Bus, linking Northwich with Weaverham,Hartford, Crewe, Warrington, Kelsall and Chester.[67]
Family-run coach company, Walker's Coaches, was based in Anderton, before being taken over by Holmeswood Coaches, which still runs the Northwich depot.[68]
Northwich and its surroundings has a number of schools and colleges.Sir John Deane's College is now asixth form college, but was originally formed as a grammar school in 1557.[69] The school was originally known as Witton Grammar School and was erected close toWitton Chapel. The school moved to its current location, to the south of the town, in 1907–08.[4]The Grange School, Northwich is an independent school.
Primary schools include:
During the 19th century, many new schools were founded and, by 1850, twelve academies were recorded in the area.[4] The town is now served byCounty High School Leftwich, a specialist media arts college, whileRudheath Senior Academy,[71] a specialist performing arts college andHartford Church of England High School[72] both admit pupils from Northwich. There are also several primary schools in the area.St. Nicholas Catholic High School is also in the local vicinity and performs well on national exam boards, coming second in the whole of Cheshire.
Mid Cheshire College had its main campus in nearby Hartford, offeringfurther education courses. The campus closed in 2018[73] after it merged with Warrington Collegiate a year earlier to formWarrington and Vale Royal College.[74]
In November 2005, as part of the Northwich Vision, a refurbishment of the town's railway station included a centre calledZone that promotes lifelong learning by offering people the opportunity to access a range of on-line and taught courses.[75]
The town hosts a number of large annual festivals, including music, river and, of course, the famous NorthwichPina Colada events.
Since 2021, an annual Piña Colada Festival has taken place in recognition ofRupert Holmes who was born in the town and wrote "Escape (The Piña Colada Song)", released in 1979. The festival grew in 2022, with live music, fairground rides and old school street games among other attractions. Local bars, restaurants and cafés offered piña coladas alongside other tropical themed drinks and snacks.[76]
Northwich Memorial Hall was opened in 1960, but closed for redevelopment in 2013 to be replaced by the Memorial Court Facility; this opened in 2015. It hosted a range of activities,[77] including pantomimes, music events and the Purple Cactus Comedy Club.[78]
TheHarlequin Theatre produces six plays each year and is also the home of Northwich Folk Club, which has run continuously since 1977.[79]
The Regal cinema closed in 2007 and was demolished. A cinema in the Barons Quay development opened in 2016.[80]Northwich Plaza also offered a wide range of music gigs and other cultural events.
Local newspaper, theNorthwich Guardian, is published byNewsquest.Radio Northwich is a popular and community-focussed radio station broadcasting out of Barons Quay.
Northwich musicians includeSteve Hewitt, drummer withPlacebo,[citation needed] which provided a song for the soundtrack to the filmCruel Intentions, andTim Burgess fromthe Charlatans, a band once managed by Steve Harrison from the town's former Omega Music record store.
Local horror author Stuart Neild's first novel,A Haunted Man, was set in the salt mines that run underneath Northwich, combining fact with supernatural fiction. Neild's novels featuring Northwich and otherNorth West locations. AHollywood film and television series was in development.[81]
The town is twinned withDole in France.[82]
Local news and television programmes are provided byBBC North West andITV Granada. Television signals are received from theWinter Hill TV transmitter.[83] The town is served by bothBBC Radio Merseyside andBBC Radio Stoke. Other radio stations includeCapital North West & Wales,Heart North West,Smooth North West,Greatest Hits Radio Staffordshire & Cheshire,Silk Radio,[84] and Radio Northwich, a community based local station.[85] The local newspaper is theNorthwich Guardian, which is published on Wednesdays.[86]
Northwich is the home of threenon-league football teams:Witton Albion,Northwich Victoria and1874 Northwich. In May 2018, theCheshire FA announced plans for a £70m development near Northwich, modelled onSt George's Park National Football Centre.[87] The facility would include two FIFA-standard pitches with a 1000-seat stadium,3G pitches, six grass pitches, full medical facilities and a hotel/spa.[88]
The town has two rugby union sides:Northwich RUFC andWinnington Park.
The area also boasts several amateur cricket clubs, including Winnington Park CC, Davenham CC, Weaverham CC, Northwich CC and Hartford CC. Northwich also has a successful competitive swimming team, Northwich Swimming Club, first formed in the late 19th century.
Northwich Rowing Club was formed in 1875 in Northwich and continues to row on the River Weaver, producing Olympic and international rowers such asMatt Langridge. The club has its own boat and clubhouse located by The Crescent and holds three events every year, the Autumn Head in November, the Spring Head in April and the Regatta in May. In 2015, the club was the first rowing club from the north of England to win the Junior CoxedQuad Sculls at theHead of the River Fours on the tideway in London. Club crews have also competed in theHenley Royal Regatta, with a crew seeded in 2015 for the first time in the club's history. The club also has a large junior section taking rowers on from age 12.[89]
The Northwich Festival, held at Moss Farm Sports Complex each August includes the UK Strongman-North Competition.[90]
The town also has a long-standing cycling club, Weaver Valley CC. Established in 1962, its members included ex-pro and ITV commentatorPaul Sherwen and domestic rider Alan Kemp. The club competes in road racing, time trials, track racing and off-road. The club promotes three road races, a series of circuit races in June atOulton Park, theCat and Fiddle hill climb, and cyclo-cross in September.[91] Since 1980, the club has promoted the Cheshire Classic women's cycling road race, held every April. Part ofBritish Cycling's National Road Race Series, it is the longest running race on the women's national calendar. Previous winners include Dame Sarah Storey, Lucy Garner, Lizzie Armitstead, Nicole Cooke and Mandy Jones.[92]
The first known swimming baths in Northwich was the Verdin Baths, situated on Verdin Park, presented byRobert Verdin in commemoration of the Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887. It consisted of a 60-by-20-foot (18.3 m × 6.1 m) cast-iron plunge bath and five slipper baths. Northwich Public Baths was built in 1913 following subsidence at Verdin Park pool. It its doors on 23 January 1991[93] to be replaced with Moss Farm leisure complex; this, in turn, was replaced by Memorial Court entertainment and leisure venue in 2015.[94]
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Northwich istwinned with:
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'A pool, a marshy place': also later (1883),'Flash (Cheshire), a subsidence of the surface due to the working of rock salt and pumping of brine.'
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