Middlewich was founded by the Romans as Salinae on account of the salt deposits around it, as it was one of their major sites of salt production. Middlewich lies across the King Street fault, which follows King Street and then continues roughly following Brooks Lane. Salinae is taken to be the Roman name for "the salt workings" and it also appears to be the name given to Droitwich. During this time the Romans built a fort at
Harbutts Field (SJ70216696), to the north of the town, and recent excavations to the south of the fort have found evidence of further Roman activity
including a well and part of a preserved Roman road. A further excavation in 2004 in Buckley's Field has found further evidence of Roman occupation. A Roman Road, King Street runs between Middlewich and nearby Northwich. It has been postulated that this was the initial route of the Roman conquest of the North West of England, but evidence from pottery (in particular a scarcity of early Flavian samian ware suggests that this is unlikely.
Middlewich was a junction between seven major Roman roads, and it has been known as 'Medius Vicus' (the town at the junction of the roads) in the past.
A number of Roman artefacts can be found in Middlewich library, including the following
Roman Middlewich: A Story of Roman and Briton in Mid-Cheshire. T.J. Strickland, Graham Sumner, 2001
Source: Pleiades — A Community-Built Gazetteer and Graph of Ancient Places. View the Pleiades record →
Middlewich was founded by the Romans as Salinae on account of the salt deposits around it, as it was one of their major sites of salt production. It is recorded in the Pleiades gazetteer of ancient places as a fort site from the Roman period in Britain.
Salinae is classified as a Roman fort — a military site in the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer. Roman Britain's archaeology encompasses thousands of sites ranging from legionary fortresses and marching camps to villas, temples and towns.
Several Roman sites lie within a short distance, including Condate (8.2 km), Anderton Boat Lift, aqueduct, basins, meter building, toll houses and buried remains of salt chutes, inclined planes, the east basin and dockside features (9.9 km), Eaton (13.3 km). Aubrey Research maps over 2,200 Roman sites across Britain, drawn from the Pleiades ancient world gazetteer.
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This page covers the Roman site at Salinae. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this site alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:
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Research the area around Salinae