SANDBACH  , a

market town in the Crewe parliamentary division of Cheshire, England, 5 M . N.E. of Crewe, on the London & North-Western and North Staffordshire railways . Pop . of urban district (1901) 5558• It lies on a headstream of the small river Wheelock, a tributary of the Weaver . The parish church of St Mary is Perpendicular, with a fine carved roof of the 17th century . A few old timbered houses, of the same period, remain . In the market-place are two remarkable crosses covered with rude carvings, and assigned by some to the 7th century, being similar to those at Monasterboice and elsewhere in Ireland . There are boot and shoe factories, chemical works and a manufactory of fustians, with salt-works and iron-works in the adjacent township of Wheelock .