14 
General Meeting, November 1st, 1881, 
Charles Bailey, F.L.S., in the Chair. 
Mr. Alfred James Higgin, of Manchester, and Mr. Arthur 
Greg, of Eagley, near Bolton, were elected Ordinary Mem- 
bers of the Society. 
Ordinary Meeting, November 1st, 1881. 
Charles Bailey, F.L.S., in the Chair. 
“ On the Manufacture of Salt in Cheshire,” by Thomas 
Ward, Esq. 
The manufacture of salt has been carried on in Cheshire 
from the times of the Romans, and as the brine springs in 
several places rose to the surface or nearly so in early times, 
it is quite possible that the Britons may have utilised them. 
We have no record of salt making during the early Saxon 
times, though doubtless it existed, for in Domesday Book 
we find distinct records of salt works at the three “Wiches,” 
Nantwich, Middlewich, and Northwich, and a reference is 
made to “ King Edwards time,” i.e. Edward the Confessor’s. 
In 1182 Hugh Malbanc, in the foundation deed of Comber- 
mere Abbey says, “ I grant to the same monks the fourth 
part of the town of Wych and tithe of my salt and the salt 
pits that are mine,” &c. 
From this period till the commencement of the 16th 
century the records are very scanty, but sufficient to show 
that the manufacture was still carried on at the three 
“Wiches.” At this period the most important salt town 
was Nantwich or Wich Malbanc. Leland in his “ Itinerary” 
and Camden in his “Britannia” both mention the Cheshire 
