NORTHWICH  , a

market town in the Northwich parliamentary division of Cheshire, England, 1712 M . N.W. of London, on the London and North-Western railway and the Cheshire lines . Pop. of urban district, 17,611 . It lies in a low open valley at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane, and is the centre of the principal salt-producing district in the United Kingdom . In its narrow and irregular streets many of the houses are strongly bolted to keep them secure from the subsidences which result not infrequently from the pumping of brine . Despite these precautions many accidents have occurred; some of the houses have sunk or stand at fantastic angles, and in 1892 a portion of the High Street, which had subsided below the level of the Weaver, had to be raised 6 ft . Both rock salt and white salt obtained by evaporation from brine are exported . The amount supplied by the whole district, which includes the neighbouring town of Winsford 6 m. south, is about 1, foo,000 tons annually . The white salt is shipped chiefly to America . The principal buildings are the church of St Helen, Witton, noted for its finely carved roof of the 17th century, a museum and free library and market house . The Verdin Park was presented to the town by Robert Verdin, M.P. for Northwich, in 1887 . There is a considerable industry in the building of flat boats to convey salt to Liverpool, the river Weaver being navigable, and connected by a hydraulic lift, 1 m. from the town, with the Trent and Mersey Canal on a higher level .

Rope-and

brick-making, iron and brass-founding, chemical manufactures, brewing and tanning, are also carried on .