Our Town: Nantwich
A picturesque old market town situated by the River Weaver, Nantwich (formerly "Namptwich") boasts a medieval street pattern, granting visitors and residents alike ample opportunity to enjoy meandering walks along narrow, winding streets and pathways. Always a market town, serving townspeople, gentry and farmers alike, Nantwich today is a thriving community known for its quality shops, wealth of restaurants and pubs, attractive housing, and rich and abundant history.
Nantwich is famous for:
- its medieval street pattern and church
- 6-week seige during English Civil War
- popular staging post on road from London to Chester and Ireland
- eloquence of Unitarian minister and scientist, Joseph Priestley and Methodist evangelist John Wesley
- final resting place of John Milton's widow
- host to the biggest one-day annual agricultural show in the country and one of the largest cheese shows in the world.
Nantwich dates from pre-1086, at which time it was named simply "wich" in the Domesday Book, presumably due to its salt houses, heavily relied upon by the Roman garrisons at nearby Chester and Stoke-on-Trent as a preservative, condiment and trading commodity. A little later, known as "Wich Malbank", it boasted a castle, market and church.
The focal point of the town today is the central square, which is also the setting for St. Mary's Church, known locally as the "Cathedral of South Cheshire". Built of red Cheshire sandstone, a bit crumbly in places and moss-covered in the damp of winter, St. Mary's is nevertheless stately, beautiful and replete with history. Dating from 1100 but built for the most part during the 14th century, it has served as a place of worship, market hall, prison, and welcoming point for children transported from London to the relative safety of the countryside during the Second World War. Church custodians are more than willing to give visitors a tour, always eager to point out musket ball holes in walls, the intricately carved seats of easement for aged clergy, and the impressive vaulted ceiling in the chancel.
Although prosperous for the most part, Nantwich has also endured dangerous, turbulent times. Burned to the ground by Norman invaders in the 11th century, attacked by Welsh marauders two hundred years later, and devastated by a fire in December 1583 which burned for 20 days and necessitated major rebuilding, the town is remarkably well-preserved. Much of its distinctive architecture is due to the Great Fire and and to Queen Elizabeth I's ensuing generosity. A donation of both money and timber from the Royal forest at Delamere aided in the rebuilding of the town and particularly to its distinctive Tudor black-and-white half-timber buildings.
Fire, famine in 1597, plague in 1604, even Royalist forces in 1644, Nantwich has weathered the worst and prevailed. Annually the town celebrates Holly Holy Day with a re-enactment of the Battle of Nantwich which took place during the Civil War. Largely parliamentarian, the town withstood a six-week seige by Royalist forces. For a time sprigs of holly worn in caps and on clothing commemorated the lifting of the seige in January 1644; now wreaths are laid in the town square in memory of those who died and the battle is re-enacted on the Saturday closest to January 25 by the Sealed Knot Society, to the delight of residents and historians alike.
Georgian prosperity is evident in the local architecture, particularly along Welsh Row, and in the vast array of tradesmen who reportedly lived in and around Nantwich during the eighteenth century, including cobbler, skinner, tanner, clogger, glover, staymaker, coachmaker, cheesemaker, whitesmith and blacksmith. By the mid-nineteenth century, however, the town was in decline, its streets dirty and unpaved and its timber-framed houses in bad repair. A cholera outbreak in 1849 seems to have been a turning point, as Nantwich has since risen once again in popularity and prosperity.
Host each year to the Nantwich and South Cheshire Show, the largest one-day agricultural show in the country, and to the Food and Drink festival in September, Nantwich has become a culinary centre, renowned not only for Cheshire cheese but also for the vast array of food to be found in its specialty shops and markets. Take our advice and visit Nantwich on the last Saturday of the month when the Farmers' Market is on. You won't believe the life and vibrancy of this small South Cheshire town!
Copyright © 2005 Jeanne Haskett