A new museum, the Lion Salt Works, has just opened in Nantwich, Cheshire.
At the Museum’s opening, Dr Will Ashworth, Liverpool historian, was interviewed about the significance of the salt trade to Liverpool.
Liverpool was on the rise as a global super power long before slavery. Savvy Liverpool merchants were quick to spot and exploit the worldwide trading potential of salt from the huge reserves on the Cheshire plain. It was their driving force that led Cheshire landowners to provide better transport to Liverpool, firstly by pushing for better navigation on the River Weaver from the 1720s and then by encouraging and helping to finance the construction of the 93-mile Trent & Mersey Canal, finished in 1772. - Will Ashworth
Read more at the Liverpool Echo article 'New Cheshire museum highlights the importance of salt trade to Liverpool's prosperity' (4 June 2015).