Northwich was the most northern of the -wich towns in Cheshire. The existence of Northwich in the early medieval period is shown by its record in the Domesday Book: The manor of Northwich belonged to the Earls of Chester until 1237 when the family line died out. Subsequently, Northwich became a royal manor and was given to a noble family to collect tolls in exchange for a set rent. That salt production continued throughout the centuries and can be seen through John Leland's description of the town in 1540: Between 1642 and 1643, during the English Civil War, Northwich was fortified
Nantwich Act 1972 replaced urban district and rural district councils with a uniform system of larger districts often covering both urban and rural areas. Some town administration responsibilities of Nantwich Urban District Council passed to Nantwich Town Council, while Nantwich Rural District Council responsibilities passed to the combined Crewe and Nantiwch borough. Since 1983, Nantwich has been in the parliamentary constituency of Crewe and Nantwich. Between 1955 and 1983, Nantwich was a parliamentary constituency in its own right, largely covering the areas managed by Nantwich urban and rural district councils (rural areas to the south, west and north of Nantwich now