Middlewich (St. Michael and All Angels)

MIDDLEWICH (St. Michael and All Angels), a market-town and parish, in the union of Northwich, S. division of the county of Chester; comprising the townships of Byley with Yatehouse, Clive, Croxton, Kinderton with Hulme, Middlewich, Minshull-Vernon, Mooresbarrow with Parme, Newton, Occlestone, Ravenscroft, Sproston, Stublach, Sutton, Wimboldsley, and part of Leese, all in the hundred of Northwich; and the township of Weever, which is in the First division of the hundred of Eddisbury; the whole containing 4755 inhabitants, of whom 1242 are in the town, 20 miles (E.) from Chester, and 167 (N. W.) from London. The name of this place is derived from its central situation with respect to the Wiches, or salt towns. The Romans had a station here: there are traces of a road formed by that people; and in the township of Kinderton is an intrenched camp, supposed to be the site of the Roman station called Condate. The earliest notice of the manor is in the reign of Edward the Confessor, when it appears to have been held by the Earl of Mercia under the king; after the Conquest it was annexed to the earldom of Chester, and subsequently to the crown, from which it has been lately purchased by James France France, Esq., of Bostock Hall, Cheshire. Middlewich was one of the burghs of the palatinate, and the burgesses received grants of various privileges from some of the baronial proprietors, which they pleaded in answer to a writ of Quo Warranto issued against them in the 15th of Henry VII. On the occasion of a contest here between the royalists and the parliamentary forces, March 13th, 1642, the former experienced a signal defeat; but in a second engagement, about nine months afterwards, the parliamentarians were vanquished, in consequence of a reinforcement of their opponents by troops from Ireland.

The town, which is neat and well built, is divided by the Grand Trunk, or Trent and Mersey, canal, here crossed by the river Dane. A branch of the Chester canal, from Wardle to Middlewich, was opened a few years since: the rivers Croco, Weaver, and Wheelock, also run through the parish; and about two miles distant from the town is the Winsford station of the Liverpool and Birmingham railway. The trade consists principally in salt, which is obtained from powerful brine springs; and there are some silk manufactories. The market is on Tuesday; and fairs are held on Holy-Thursday, Aug. 25th, and Oct. 29th: the market-house has been rebuilt by Mr. France. Constables are appointed at the court leet of the manor. The parish comprises about 10,000 acres, of which three-fourths are pasture, and one-fourth arable land: in the township of Middlewich are only 14 acres. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £14; net income, £150; patron and incumbent, the Rev. Isaac Wood; impropriators, the landowners. The church presents indications of various styles, being the work of different periods; it has a handsome tower, and at the east end of each aisle is a chapel, or chancel, separated by a screen. There are places of worship for the Society of Friends, Independents, and Wesleyans. Middlewich was the birthplace of Thomas Yate, D.D., principal of Brasenose College, Oxford, by whom were founded certain scholarships in that college, with preference, 1st, to members of his own family, duly qualified, 2nd, to persons born in the town or parish of Middlewich, and 3d, to scholars of Northamptonshire and Wiltshire. The Rev. Theophilus Lindsey, a Unitarian divine, was born here in 1723.

Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.