Places W. ofStation.

Places E. ofStation.

Nantwich

4 miles.

Haslington

2 miles.

Acton

5¼ —

Sandbach

5 —

Baddiley

7½ —

Astbury

10 —

Wrenbury

9 —

Congleton

11 —

Malpas

17 —

Gawsworth

13½ —

Macclesfield

19 —

Nantwich, four miles W. of Crewe, contains 5,350 inhabitants, and has a market on Saturdays, and fairs, chiefly for cattle, on March 26, second Tuesday in June, September 4, and December 4.

Previously to the Conquest, the wealth of this place consisted in its numerous brine springs. Its origin is attributed to the Britons; and its name appears to be derived from the British word Nant, a brook or marsh, and the Saxon vic, by corruption wich, a vill, or settlement. The latter term seems generally attached to the names of towns where salt is made. This town has had its full share of plague, pestilence, and war, in times past, and twice suffered greatly from fire, in the years 1438 and 1583. During the civil war it staunchly supported the parliament.

The town is situated on the banks of the river Weaver, in a level and fertile tract of country. Most of the houses are of timber and brick, covered with plaster, with projecting stories, and large bay-windows. There is a small Theatre and Assembly-room. In the time of Henry VIII., there were three hundred salt works; this number has been gradually reduced, in consequence of superior mines and springs being discovered elsewhere, and now only one spring remains. Shoes, gloves, and cotton goods are the chief manufactures now, and cheese the principal agricultural produce. The Church is a spacious and venerable structure, in the decorated and later English styles, comprising a nave, with lateral aisles, a chancel, transepts, and an ornamented octagonal tower, rising from the intersection. There are Meetings and Chapels for Dissenters, and various Schools. John Gerarde, whose fine old work, called Gerarde’s Herbal, is familiar to every botanist, was a native of Nantwich, born in 1545.

CHAPTER VI.
CREWE TO HARTFORD,
Eleven and ¾ Miles.

Quitting the Crewe station, around which is little to attract the traveller’s notice, the line proceeds nearly without a curve, and for some distance enables the passengers of one train, to observe the approach of another. A branch railway is in progress from Crewe, to Manchester on one side, and to Chester on the other. The tower of Coppenhall Church is the first object on the W. This Church is an old wood and plaster structure, of the style prevalent in the reign of Elizabeth, and looking almost as if modern times had forgotten it, so quaint and old it is.

Passing the Church and Village, we arrive at

Coppenhall Station.

Distance to Birmingham, 56—Liverpool and Manchester, 41½ miles.

DISTANCES BY ROADS FROM THIS STATION TO THE FOLLOWING PLACES:—