Lion Salt Works

What a back-breaking job! Standing bent over a huge steaming saltpan the whole day, regulating the flow of brine and the temperature of the furnaces, raking the salt, filling the tubs and baking it dry. Working in a traditional salt-works was anything but a push-over! Salt-making was not only damaging to the works it also had a corrosive effect on the buildings as can be seen at the Lion Salt Works in Marston near Northwich, the last of its kind in the county of Cheshire. Cheshire is justifiably proud of its thousand year old history of salt making. The last traces of this tradition are all the more precious in Marston. An exhibition in the former works office provides visitors with a brief survey of the history and workings of the plant which was closed down in 1986. The pump which drew the salty water from the earth has been saved along with the steam engine which drove it. But the five pan houses have been heavily damaged by the salty steam. This is why practical demonstrations of salt making in small salt pans are only available at certain times. Now at the latest you realise that a visit to the Lion Salt Works is the quintessence of industrial archaeology.

Lion Salt Works
Ollershaw Lane
CW9 6ES Northwich
Cheshire
United Kingdom
+44 (0) 1606 - 275040
Homepage

Admission:Charge
Access for persons with disabilities:For details see website
Infrastructure for children:
Catering:
Gift and book shop on site:yes

Tuesday - Sunday 10.30am-5pm