History of Northwich was the Stanley's, later Earls of Derby and stayed in the family’s hands until the late 18th century. That salt production continued throughout the centuries can be seen through John Leland's description of the town in 1540: Although Leland described Northwich as a market town, there is no surviving charter for a market or fair. A market still exists today. Between 1642 and 1643, during the English Civil War, Northwich was fortified and garrisoned by Sir William Bereton for the Parliamentarians. The salt beds beneath Northwich were re-discovered in the 1670s by employees of the local Smith-Barry family. The Smith-Barrys
Purbeck Mineral and Mining Museum Purbeck Mineral and Mining Museum The Purbeck Mineral and Mining Museum is a museum about the history of ball clay mining in the Isle of Purbeck. The museum is located adjacent to Norden station on the Swanage Railway and is open from the end of March to the end of September on Saturdays, Sundays, Tuesday, Wednesdays and Bank Holidays from 11am to 4.30pm. At the site the group has relocated a redundant mine to Norden and built a railway around the site with a new engine shed and the restoration of wagons that worked on the lines around Norden. The