Nantwich Cheshire Plain around the town. "Nant" comes from the Welsh for brook or stream. "Wich" and "wych" are names used to denote brine springs or wells. In 1194 there is a reference to the town as being called "Nametwihc", which would indicate it was once the site of a pre-Roman Celtic nemeton or sacred grove. In the Domesday Book, Nantwich is recorded as having eight salt houses. It had a castle and was the capital of a barony of the earls of Chester, and of one of the seven hundreds of medieval Cheshire. Nantwich is one of the few places
Nantwich Bridge military use being exempt. The bridge appears to have survived the fire of 1583, which started nearby and destroyed much of the town to the east of the river. In 1622, William Webb writes: In 1652, Wich Bridge was described as lying on "y greatest & most frequented Road within this County", and it was designated a county bridge on 27 April 1652. This meant that the county was responsible for its maintenance, but also that Nantwich had to pay towards the maintenance of the other county bridges, a charge from which the town had previously been exempt. By 1663,