Updates | The video | The salt ship comes home

A SECTION of a 700-year-old oak tree discovered under an area of Nantwich soil excited archaeologists, museum officials, and others - with good reason - back in 2004. For this was an ancient salt ship - or vessel in which brine (salt suspended in water) was stored as part of the salt-producing process. (It was not a sailing craft).

   Clearly, as a wooden utensil it could not be used to boil the brine! That was done in pans.

   The ship was found under land on which houses once stood.  After the initial discovery it was reburied while a Lottery grant was applied for. Thanks to Cheshire County Council that bid was successful and the Heritage Lottery Fund provided £100,000 for the painstaking project to save the salt ship for posterity. 

  The medieval salt ship was taken from the ground in January 2004 at the start of a two-year preservation project.  

   In the laboratories of York Archaeological Trust, the wood was treated with a light wax and then freeze-dried ("like instant coffee", it was said).  On January 19, 2004, a giant crane was called in to lift the 7.5-metre ship. That was easy to

 measure, but what did the salt ship weigh?  As the crane took the strain the answer was revealed. "One tonne . . . two tonnes . . . two point three tonnes," the crane operator (from Longton Crane Hire Ltd) called out. This, of course, included the water which soaked the vessel. Its dried weight was nearer 1.5 tonnes.

    As archaeologists and museum officials, along with members of the public, looked on, the ship was transferred to a low-loader (from Scanlan's Plant Hire Ltd) which took it away at the start of its journey to York.

   All that was left now was for the team from Earthworks Archaeology, from Ewloe in North Wales, to replace the fencing round the site and for the man with the metal detector - an official member of the search team - to make one last scan to see if there was anything lying underneath the salt ship that would be of interest.

   The salt ship was discovered in the summer of 2003 during an archaeological dig at the site of a medieval saltworks being carried out by Earthworks Archaeology. The firm also returned for the second excavation. The ship — a hollowed-out tree trunk — was used in the salt-producing process as a reservoir to store brine before boiling to extract the salt. Six barrels which had the same purpose were also unearthed, but it was not possible to save the fragile structures.  

   The project was led by Cheshire County Council in partnership with Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council, Nantwich Town Council and Nantwich Museum Trust. Each of the project partners made cash or ‘in kind’ contributions to the funding package, and English Heritage also provided a small grant.

   In January 2004, County Councillor Elspeth Wallace, Community Executive Member, said: “Cheshire’s roots are in salt-making and the salt ship is a remarkable piece of evidence of these ancient industrial processes.

   “I would like to thank everyone in the partnership whose hard work and dedication has ensured this very special artefact can be saved. And I must express my gratitude to the site developers, the Schofield Brothers of Nantwich, who agreed to delay their work schedule while funds were raised to save the salt ship.” 

    The archaeological dig was carried out in advance of redevelopment of the site for housing.

   County Councillor Wallace added: “I look forward to seeing it return to Nantwich as a magnificent example of the town’s heritage which can be enjoyed by generations to come.”

   The dig was closely monitored by Cheshire County Council in its role as archaeological advisors to Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council. Excavations in the area have shown that it was heavily involved in the salt industry during the medieval and early post-medieval period.

   Nantwich County Councillor Arthur Moran said: “In Nantwich we have been fortunate to unearth a great deal of evidence of our town’s heritage as a major salt centre dating back to Roman times.

     "The salt ship, however, must count as one of the most spectacular finds and I am delighted it is to be given a permanent home in the town. It is another part of Nantwich’s rich history and I am sure it will prove a major attraction for residents and visitors alike.”

    Cheshire, particularly Nantwich, was the centre of medieval salt production. But when rock salt was found at Northwich (the northern salt centre of the county) the salt industry in Nantwich declined. Winsford (which is near to Middlewich - the middle salt town) has a large salt mine. 

lIn October 2006, one section of the salt ship went on permanent show in Nantwich Museum, in a display entitled "The Past Beneath our Feet" in one of the main galleries. There is also a Roman lead salt pan next to the display. The pan was used to boil brine to produce salt. The two other sections of the salt ship are in storage in the county and not on show to the public.  

lAnother salt ship was found during a previous excavation in Nantwich in 1978. This one is just over 10 metres long and was treated by many years of air drying combined with polyethylene glycol treatment. Like the newly-discovered salt ship, that one came from one of the 200 or so wich houses in the town (1605 figure). This ship is in storage and, again, is not on view to the public.

lTwo more salt ships are known to be still buried under a Welsh Row building. One isn't preserved well enough to be recovered. The site was the then Three Pigeons pub (now Nakatcha's) where trial trenches were dug by Earthworks Archaeology. "Careful modifications to the proposed foundation work for an extension to the building will secure the long-term, below ground survival of the archaeological remains", says the Earthworks website - meaning that one day it may be possible to retrieve that salt ship, too! 

    Nantwich's four salt ships are believed to be the only ones to have been discovered in the country. 

lSee the Links page on this website for more salt attractions.