Murgatroyd’s Brine Works
Murgatroyd’s Brine Works Removed from the ‘Heritage at Risk’ Register
Historic England have announced that Murgatroyd’s Brine Works on Brooks Lane in Middlewich is to be officially removed from the ‘Heritage at Risk’ Register following the successful completion of grant aided repair works.
This is a huge milestone for Middlewich Heritage Trust and it is a project that the Middlewich Town Councils Heritage Officer Kerry Kirwan has been personally working on for 13 years. This Scheduled Ancient Monument will now be opened as a visitor attraction, subject to any change in the Covid regulations, from September 2021.
Heritage Officer Kerry Kirwan stated “I am very proud of the work that we have done to restore and interpret our unique brine pumps. It has taken an extraordinary length of time to reach this stage and this welcome announcement by Historic England is a real milestone and reward for the many volunteers who have worked alongside me on this project and given their skills freely. This will ensure that the public finally get to enjoy the completed monument and to explore its history. The work will be ongoing to maintain the brine pumps and it will be with great pleasure that Middlewich Heritage Trust can look forward to receiving our first visitors at our scheduled Heritage Open days on the 18th and 19th September” (12 noon until 4pm)
The scheduled Murgatroyd’s Brine Pumps Heritage Open Days on the 18th and 19th September 2021 will be open from 12noon until 4pm subject to any Covid restrictions. These will be free of charge. Visitors can simply turn up
For more information, please contact the Heritage Officer on heritage@middlewich.org.uk or call 01606 833434
Murgatroyd’s Brine Pumps, Brooks Lane: Historic England list entry number 1020122.
Murgatroyd’s Brine Pumps were an ‘at risk’ scheduled monument on an historic industrial site. They are the only intact pumps over an original hand-dug shaft left in Britain. The site has national significance as one of the few remains of Cheshire’s large salt industry and local significance as the first discovery of rock salt in Middlewich in 1889. It also, for the first time, tapped the brine stream that had been feeding the town for thousands of years. More details about the project can be viewed on the Trust website: https://www.middlewich-heritage.org.uk/
