Clean water comes to the town
Sanitary reform in the 19th century
‘Miasma’ or ‘the miasmatic theory’ suggested that diseases such as the Black Death , typhus and cholera were caused by a miasma (Μίασμα, ancient Greek: “pollution”), a noxious form of “bad air”, also known as “night air“. The origin of epidemics was said to be due to this miasma emanating from rotting organic matter. The miasma theory had been accepted from ancient times in Europe, India, and China. The theory was still believed by scientists and physicians as late as 1880, when the germ theory of disease became established. However, cleaning up rubbish and getting rid of smells remained a strong belief long after the acceptance of the new theory of disease, especially in lay circles such as local government.
Miasma was considered to be a poisonous vapour or mist filled with particles from decomposing matter (‘miasmata’), which when breathed in caused illness. Diseases were therefore the product of environmental factors such as foul air and poor hygienic conditions. Such infection was not passed between individuals but would affect those within the place as they breathed in the same vapours. It was identifiable by its foul smell. In 1848, Charles Dickens wrote in Dombey and Son: “if the noxious particles that rise from vitiated air were palpable to the sight, we should see them lowering in a dense black cloud above such haunts and rolling slowly on to corrupt the better portions of a town”.
The theory did not provide a full explanation for disease as the question was posed why those administering the victims remained well. In London it had been observed that those residing at higher altitudes, the better portions of town alluded to by Dickens, experienced a lower death rate due to cholera than those at lower altitudes. The church found a ready explanation in the drunken and wretched lifestyle of the poor as the “great and good” survived. Such was the universal recognition of miasmas there was a reluctance to abandon the theory, sometimes abetted by vested interests including the medical profession and water companies.
A driving force towards a more enlightened approach gained momentum after cholera reached England in the summer of 1831. The Cholera Bill of 1832 called for: “the prevention, as far as maybe possible, of the disease called cholera”.
In 1816 Thomas Southwood Smith noted: “the disease and misery attendant upon poverty which is preventable (and) should therefore be prevented”. The generally acknowledged founder of sanitary reform was, however, Edwin Chadwick who, in the 1830s, was Secretary to the Poor Law Commission. He was driven by economic principles aiming to improve the health of workers and so reduce their welfare dependence. It was his contention that investment in sanitary reform was economically sound. Nevertheless, he sought an understanding of disease aetiology through sanitary engineering, despite the generally held belief that “particularly rich putrid effluvia” were responsible, which ignored the aetiological factors.
In 1842 Chadwick published his report ‘The Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of Great Britain’. Coupled with a propaganda campaign led by Southwood Smith, public opinion came to favour sanitary reform leading in 1848, under the threat of cholera, to the first Public Health Act. Chadwick’s report promoted the “sanitary idea” calling for: “consolidating the (water) companies, providing a constant supply of water, and arterial drainage using tubular pipes”.
The Health of Towns Association formed by Southwood Smith in 1844 was revived in 1850 as the Metropolitan Sanitary Association. It called for an end to burials in towns, the provision of pure water-supplies and application of the Public Health Act to the Metropolis (London had not been included in the 1848 Act).
In his writings, Charles Dickens had described the “tumbling tenements”, and the “swarm of misery” leading to the appearance of “vermin parasites” on the “ruined human wretch”. He was soon committed to sanitary reform and, despite initial opposition to Chadwick’s work on the Poor Law, soon became ‘his most outspoken public champion’. This led to the launch of his weekly periodical Household Words, in 1850: “to inspire people to become alert and active in bringing about their own salvation.” Regular articles considered water supply, lack of light and air in slums and refuse disposal.
Chadwick was sacked in 1854 for being too dictatorial and unscientific. John Simon succeeded him and sought a more scientific approach to researching cures for disease.
Such was the desire of the sanitary reformers to remove sewage it was deposited as quickly as possible into the nearest watercourses. The incidence of disease was reduced but the waterways became so polluted as to jeopardise the supply of clean water. A paper by Baldwin Latham in The Engineer in 1866 detailed the problem and considered the commercial value of liquid manure for rapid assimilation by crops and the stimulation provided by its temperature in winter. A review by F. T. K. Pentelow in 1959 suggested that in the 19th century the pollution of rivers was much worse in intensity but not so widespread. The problem was greatest in the vicinity of the larger towns which were most densely populated. Times have moved on and sewage is now regarded as an important resource for the supply of phages capable of controlling bacteria resistant to conventional antibiotics, electrical power from bacteria, gas (methane) for the national grid, and as a soil conditioner.
Cholera and its aftermath in Nantwich (1849)
In 1849 Nantwich had changed little since Medieval Times. There was no piped running water and the sewers were open ditches draining into the River Weaver. Cholera struck in June, and in just over four months there were nearly 1,000 cases and 180 deaths. Something had to be done.
Management of the crisis fell to the Rector, Rev Andrew Fuller Chater. A public meeting was held which led to establishment by the Rector of a committee which included Dr Thomas Williamson, the Medical Officer of the district of the Nantwich Union, Mr Thomas Johnson, Assistant Overseer and others who, in the words of the historian James Hall: ‘with praiseworthy zeal, were untiring and heroic in their attentions to the distressed and afflicted poor.’ The Rector exhausted his savings to buy food and medicine. In due course money was raised in the town and across the county to help those afflicted by the disease. By August a relief committee organised by the local gentry had raised a fund which was passed to the Rector and Churchwardens to buy food and enable a soup kitchen to be established. Along with Dr Williamson and Thomas Johnson, Andrew Fuller Chater visited the sick, helped with nursing and laying out the dead.
A petition to the General Board of Health led to an inquiry under the “Health of Towns Act”. Chaired by an inspector, William Lee, it heard evidence from the townspeople, many of whom were obliged to collect their water from the river or wells, which were contaminated, whilst waste simply went into the river.
The Rector, Rev Andrew Fuller Chater, gave evidence to the inquiry commenting: ‘The whole condition of the town, as to drainage, water, and the means of cleanliness and health, is very bad; and my impression is that where the greatest deficiency in these physical advantages exists, there, generally, the greatest demoralization abounds.’
William Lee’s report suggested the following remedies, which were clearly laid out in the Public Health Act (see Lawrence & Dodd, 2015):
- Improved Water Supply. The water should be pure, abundant, at hand and cheap. ‘At Hand’ means a tap in every house and ‘Cheap’ was defined in the Act as less than 2d. per week. As the reports of inquiries across the country started to accumulate so de facto standards started to rise one of which was that each person should have a supply of 25 gallons of water for food, personal hygiene, washing clothes and other household requirements. Part of this water was also for keeping the town and its sewers clean and to provide water for firefighting. William Lee had examined sites for alternative clean water sources, avoiding the River Weaver. One site was at the junction of two streams on the Cheer Brook just west of Butt Green (SJ 6758 5143). There were minimal costs, just the construction of a reservoir, a storm water runoff to prevent turbid water entering the reservoir during the winter floods and a short run of pipe work to carry water to Nantwich. The second site was the large reservoir adjacent to the Ellesmere Canal (Llangollen Canal) at Hurleston (SJ 622 554). The water would have been available to pipe to Nantwich as the canal traffic was so reduced that the reservoir was far too large. As the water was mainly rainwater there would have been a need for filtration. The Hurleston Reservoir sits at 57 metres above sea-level and the centre of Nantwich at 39 metres. This would have given an 18 metre head of water pressure allowing a gravity flow over the three miles to Nantwich with a good working pressure at the tap or hydrant. He considered the likely cost for either option to be in the region of £5,000 – raised as a loan payable over 30 years. He also considered the potential sales of water within the town as providing an annual surplus, after lean payments of just over £9. 2s. 2½d.
- Improved Drainage of the Town. Once the water supply to the town had been fixed there would be plenty of water to flush through a sewage system based on earthenware pipes. The house drains of three or four inches (7.5 to 10 cm) to six inch (15 cm) drains in the streets and merging into nine inch (23 cm) and finally 12 inch (30cm) drains as the sewage flows into the river at least half a mile below the town. All pollution of the town would be avoided and the town would smell sweet – but downstream? The estimate for the draining of the town was another £5,000, but no likelihood of an income unless the farmers understood the fertiliser value of the sewage for top dressing their fields.
- Sewage Distribution. William Lee suggested that the sewage water was worth spreading on local farmer’s land with a hose and jet-pipe. “Scientific men have stated that this will yield revenue in any town sufficient to pay all the local rates.” He finished this section of his report by stating that: “Nantwich will derive considerable revenue from the sale of its sewage manure”.
- Improved Paving. With the principal streets being paved with boulders and cobbles and no footpaths, and the small side streets and courts being unpaved, there were several recommendations. The surveyors of the highways had reported on their experiments with ‘gas concrete’ an admixture of tar, ash, and at William Lee’s recommendation, a small amount of lime. His further recommendation in constructing a footpath was to use brick baked kerbing stones and heavy roll the concrete rather than beating it with a maul. The same mixture could be used to pave the narrow passages and courts. It was considered important to pave the courts, “as I never saw a clean cottage in a filthy, unpaved court-yard, and scarcely ever a dirty house in a clean well-paved court”. He hid the costs of these improvements by claiming they would be a farthing per house per week. That is 52 farthings or just over a shilling (£0.05) per house for each of 900 houses equivalent to £45 0s. 0d. per year, every year. A small amount compared with the more than £10,000 estimated for the water supply and drainage.
- Improved Cleansing. Plugs and hydrants to be placed at short distances down the main roads so water can be taken to flush clean gutters and the paved court-yards. This at the cost of one-half penny per house per week or £90. 0s. 0d. per year.
- Burial Grounds. As the churchyard at St Mary’s had been closed and a new burial ground opened on the Barony he had only one proposal – close all other burial grounds in the town. The closure of St Mary’s churchyard for burial was not officially confirmed until a meeting of the Vestry on the 22nd November 1850. Even then there was still permission for burials in family plots (Chester Chronicle 30th November 1850).
- Places of Recreation. Walking for recreation and the playing of games and sports was beginning to become fashionable. William Lee had noticed in his visits around the town that the Barony could prove useful. At the time of his visit it was spoiled by clay pits full of stagnant water with some connected with drains from the town providing an interesting odour field.
- Election of a Local Board under the Public Health Act 1848. The initial inquiry was written up by the 15th February 1850 for submission to the General Board of Health, but was not published in a final form until the 21st May 1850 when it was opened for comment. These had to be submitted to the General Board of Health by the 29th June 1850.The date for the election within the report is the 29th September 1850 with one-third of the members being put up for election every year on the 25th March. In fact, the election did not take place until the 26th November 1850 as the Order in Council was not published until the 4th October 1850. Notice of the election was not posted in the Chester Chronicle until the 12th October; under the Order in Council voters and those standing for election had a further 14 days to prove their land owning or rate paying qualifications so as to allow them to participate. The Rev Andrew Fuller Chater was directed to be the first chairman under the Order but this had to be re-drafted causing further delay when he was first named as Andrew Miller Chater.
The first meeting of the Local Board took place on 4th December 1850 at the Rectory when the Rev Chater was confirmed as Chairman; Mr James Broadhurst (Solicitor) was appointed the Clerk with a yearly salary of £20, and Thomas Johnson the Inspector of Nuisances and Rate Collector at a salary of £25. The Board was made up as follows:
Rev Andrew Fuller Chater. (Rector of Nantwich)
Mr John Barker. (Currier)
Mr James Howard. (Gentleman and shareholder in the Gasworks)
Mr William Bott. (Wine and Spirit Merchant)
Mr George Latham (Architect)
Mr Edward Harrison (Grocer and Tea Dealer)
Mr John Smith (Draper)
Mr William Johnson (Tailor)
Mr William Fowles (Auctioneer)
The independent chairman was helped by two professionals, the clerk James Broadhurst, and the architect George Latham. In this way Nantwich got its first form of semi-democratic government, the forerunner of the Urban District Council. William Lee worked closely with the Board through the company of Lee & Stevenson; of which he was a partner.
The Board commissioned the Ordnance Survey to produce a detailed map of the town to enable engineers to plan pipe runs. Captain Andrew Beatty of the Royal Engineers surveyed the town during May 1851 and five maps at a scale of ten feet to one Statute Mile and two at a scale of two feet to the Statute Mile were provided by the Survey.
The original sources in the inquiry report, the Cheer Brook and the Hurleston Reservoir, had both been rejected, whilst an idea to extract water from the Ellesmere Canal at or near Baddiley Lock was never progressed, and a licence was negotiated to extract water from Baddiley Mere about three miles south west of Nantwich.
April 1854 saw a newspaper announcement for tenders for the sewage and drainage work aimed at “Contractors, Ironfounders, Earthenware sewer, and Drain pipe makers and others”. The work had been divided into five contracts, some just for the supply of materials, and others for construction and ground works. The drawing and specifications were available from the Consulting Engineers, Lee and Stevenson of 7, Duke Street, Westminster, London. Water was drawn from Baddiley Mere and piped to a small, covered reservoir and filter beds near Baddiley Hall, and from there across the canal near Crabmill Farm to the town.
By April 1855 it was considered time to test the mains water system, and after several days pumping out the trenches and cleaning up the sections, the water from Baddiley was turned on. The result was a spectacular fountain display, with leaking joints allowing water to shoot over six feet into the air. The problem was traced to the use of earthenware pipes. They were replaced with cast-iron and the problems with leakage on the main line were soon solved. There were still some failures in the water pipes in the side streets and the sidewalks sank due to the washing out of soil caused by the leaks; but progress was being made.
Baddiley Mere and the associated waterworks continued to supply drinking water to Nantwich until the 1920s. The only change was a major improvement programme in 1869 when a new reservoir was constructed near the Mere on one of the feeder streams to help meet the increasing demand for water. This allowed the provision of drinking water as far as Broad Lane, Stapeley.
The Lee & Stevenson designed sewage and drainage system was completed by December 1854, with gutters, earthenware house and street drains as well as small brick barrel-vaulted drains. The plan was for householders to purchase and install water closets, which were to be connected to the sewers; the plan was always ambitious and after 25 years only 300 water closets were in place out of 1400 homes (~21%).
The Work of the Local Board of Health
A review of reports of the Local Board of Health minutes between June and December 1870 provides a picture of the tasks required to manage the town’s water supply and drainage.
A dry Spring in 1870 resulted in a shortage of water. The Surveyor regularly reported water levels at Baddiley Mere and the new Reservoir which fed the Mere. On 8 June he was able to report they were not having to draw water from the stock in the Reservoir. It was noted some residents were using India rubber tubes to take water from the municipal supply to water their gardens. The practice was condemned by the Board who did not regard it as ‘domestic use’ as defined by the law. Earlier discussions had considered shortening the hours of water supply in the evenings to deter the watering of gardens, but as this would punish the innocent, a publicity campaign was planned to highlight the illegality of the practice and inform that special charges would apply.
By mid-June it was decided to restrict the supply of water to 7am – 6pm to conserve supplies, but in early July this was shortened to four hours a day, 7am – 9am and 4pm – 6pm. By the end of September it was noted the Reservoir was empty and it was agreed to turn the water off for one hour twice a day.
During the period reviewed the Board was much concerned with tenders for pitching the Reservoir dam to protect the walls from erosion. In June, a tender of 1s 6d/ton was awarded to Enoch Moulton to transfer 200 tons (four boatloads) of stone from Baddiley Wharf on the canal to the reservoir. Moulton delayed signing the contract until reassurance was provided that he would not be liable for repair of any damage to the road, whilst he was denied access to adjacent fields. The Surveyor recommended the use of waste stones from the Welsh Row Channel, which were stored in Millstone Lane, for use as footings before pitching the dam.
In September the possibility of using blue bricks for pitching the dam was considered but not progressed. In October, an order was placed with Mr Shirt of Furness Vale, Stockport for 16 tons of “grey stone of very hard nature for coping the dam”. The tender for pitching the dam was awarded to Samuel Fallows of Willaston, the cost being £46.10s. In November it was reported that the work was progressing well. It was realised there would be a regular need to pitch the dam.
The town was equipped with a network of hydrants to assist with firefighting. When a new one was installed at Broad Lane it was noted that it required a different key than the rest of the network. In view of the obvious danger, the Surveyor was instructed to investigate whether an exchange would be possible.
Problems experienced with leaking pipes linking the Reservoir with the Mere were blamed on the constructor. There was also concern that the Reservoir should have been made one yard deeper, but the idea was not pursued at the time.
By December, the supply of water was sufficient to flush the town’s sewers. Particular problems were experienced in Hospital Street, where the sewer was reported to be “very flat”, and there was poor drainage from cellars.
In June Mr Wilbraham Tollemache complained to the Board about boys and young men “bathing and running about naked in the park on the barony”. This was regarded as a Police matter and, subsequently, Superintendent Laxton reported having apprehended William Brown, age c16 years of Chancery Buildings and William Owen, age 17 years of Vauxhall bathing and running about naked c20-30 yds from the high road. A further offender escaped. This did not immediately solve the problem.
In November the Board considered plans for a new sewing factory on the Barony, which was expected to employ 300 people. Some considered it would have been better located in Crewe, but there was apparently a shortage of hands in that town. The plan for a water supply was delayed by the demands of the municipality, the need for a supply to the Workhouse, and concerns about the capacity of the Beam-Street pipe to meet the demand.
Benjamin White
One person who does not feature prominently in the story of the cholera epidemic was Benjamin White, a shoe manufacturer in the town who, in 1817 became a local preacher and active member of the Nantwich Society (208 members in 1822) and the local branch of the British and Foreign Bible Society. His benevolence was described as “a flowing stream”.
Referring to the 1849 cholera epidemic, a memoir of Benjamin by Rev Abraham Watmough referred to: “The arrows of death then flew thickly around us on every side, so that the death-bell seemed perpetually tolling”.
Benjamin urged those that could to leave the town. He preached three sermons in the streets. The first, preached at Snow-hill, warned: “Be ye also ready”, the second, at Wood-street reassured with the words: “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice, and shall come forth”. The last sermon was preached in Beam-street, on: “Repent ye therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord”.
Sadly, Benjamin was struck down by the cholera and died aged 68 years on 17 August 1849. His efforts to support his neighbours were appreciated. Many attended his funeral service in the Hospital Street Chapel and crowds of people from all denominations witnessed his internment in the ‘new’ cemetery (All Saints, Middlewich Road).
His grave is located at J14 and the inscription on the headstone, which is no longer evident, was recorded by Mike Grose:
“In memory of the late / BENJAMIN WHITE / of in whom was / seen for 44 years, / sincere devotedness to God, / high moral character, and ceaseless attention to good works. / The Bible was his one great book, / and its doctrines as taught by the / Wesleyans. He laboured with / unwearied zeal and perseverance, / to make known to his fellow [broth]ers, / and as a local preacher [—]body, great was his success / He died happy in God August 7th 1849 aged 67 years / The memory of the just is blessed.”
Note. Text in square brackets is unclear or eroded.
Places for Recreation – Parks and Open Spaces
Parks and Gardens
The history of parks and gardens reflects man’s appreciation for the natural world. Secular gardens of the Byzantine style (330-1453 AD) were designed for pleasure, respite and entertainment and gave way to the pleasure gardens of the Renaissance. John Gerard, the Nantwich born herbalist, appreciated the aesthetic as well as medicinal and culinary characteristics of plants and, for a time, superintended William Cecil’s garden at Theobalds Palace in Hertfordshire, which was modelled on the formal gardens of Château de Fontainebleau in France. Monastic gardens were more utilitarian, providing herbs for culinary and medicinal purposes, fruits and vegetables. The Spanish established public parks during the sixteenth century.
The English landscape gardens of the eighteenth century, championed by Capability Brown, included clumps of trees in open landscapes with lakes. In 1768, Brown, working with William Emes, remodelled the formal gardens at Crewe Hall in a more naturalistic style, the work continuing in 1791 under Humphrey Repton and John Webb, whose design included a 57 acre (23 ha) lake. In the nineteenth century William Andrews Nesfield sought to restore elements of the formal seventeenth century design whilst retaining the landscape park.
Health benefits of natural environments
Engagement with natural environments improves human and environmental health and reduces health inequalities. Natural settings are associated with positive expectations. In his herbal of 1597 John Gerard wrote: “what greater delight is there than to behold the earth apparelled with plants, as with a robe of embroidered worke, set with Orient pearles and garnished with great diversitie of rare and costly jewels?” “The principal delight is in the mind, singularly enriched with the knowledge of these visible things.”
The National Health Service increasingly employs social prescribing (community referral schemes) whilst Local Government Associations are encouraged to work towards the health benefits which can be derived from high quality public gardens. Patients with a natural view, even simply indoor plants, require less pain relief and recover more quickly. Victorian asylums employed garden therapy as part of the treatment of the insane.
Open grassland with trees and shrubs is more restorative than forested landscapes or urban scenes. Psychologically the open landscape enables dangers to be identified, whilst groups of trees offer refuge. These are the landscapes of Capability Brown and Humphrey Repton. The health benefits for the general populace of such facilities derive from a long experience of private gardens and landscaped parks.
The health benefits deriving from natural environments can be summarised as follows:
- Promote health and well-being.
- Improve mood, reduce depression and improve cognitive function.
- Aid restoration and recovery from attention fatigue and stress.
- Patients with a natural view require less pain relief and recover more quickly.
In 1850 about 40% of the population lived in cities with more than 10,000 people.
By 1960 the figure had grown to 80% emphasising the need for sustainable forms of natural/green spaces.
A Park for Nantwich
The Public Health Act of 1848 empowered Local Boards of Health, with the approval of the General Board, to provide, maintain, layout, plant and improve premises for public walks and ‘pleasure grounds’. The health benefits for the general populace of such facilities were appreciated given a long experience of private gardens and landscaped parks.
The inquiry into the 1849 cholera epidemic in Nantwich sought to improve public hygiene in the town and the morale of the people. One recommendation provided for ‘places of public recreation’. Recommendation XII stated: “That the condition of the town would be greatly improved by the establishment of public walks and places of recreation for the inhabitants, and that the waste land called the Barony is an admirable site for such purpose”.
The 25 acre (10 ha) Barony was identified as a suitable location which: “if properly laid out – – would be highly ornamental to the town”. Lord Cholmondeley, the lord of the manor, acceded to the proposed enclosure. A public road was constructed across the site in 1851 and it was proposed that one side be developed for cricket, football and other athletic games and the other planted and laid out for public walks. A ‘varied picturesome effect’ was envisaged. Approximately 8 acres (3.2 ha) was laid out as a Public Recreation Ground vested in the Churchwardens and Overseers.
The historian, James Hall, reported that, in 1867, a public park was: “planted with shrubs at considerable expense” but: “was unpopular at the time, has since proved a complete failure”. By 1883 Hall reported the park to be in: “a sadly neglected state, and – – likely to be transferred to the Local Board of the town”. Another scheme sought to provide a park and recreation ground which, according to Hall: “promises to be a success”.
The Barony was enclosed in 1869 and, according to Hall, allotted as follows:
- c2 acres (0.8 ha) – Lord Cholmondeley in satisfaction of his rights as Lord of the Manor.
- c8 acres (3.2 ha) – As a Public Recreation Ground; vested in the Churchwardens and Overseers.
- c9 acres (3.6 ha) – As a Public Park, vested in seven trustees, viz. : – the Rt. Hon. Lord Tollemache; Wilbraham S. Tollemache, Esq., of Dorfold; E. D Broughton, Esq., of Wistaston; Mr. Hignett, of Cholmondeley; and Messrs. Leonard Gilbert, Samuel Harlock, and Thomas Bowker, of Nantwich.
- c2 acres (0.8 ha) – As a site for a proposed Smithfield, Cattle Market, and Sheep Market; vested in the Nantwich Local Board.
In 1870 the Local Board approved a plan to extend the water mains to the Workhouse, which also enabled establishment of a ‘New Sewing Factory’ on the Barony. In 1872 John Harding and Son established their “Baronia” factory on the site, presumably on one side of the road referred to earlier.
In fact, by the late nineteenth century, Kingsley Fields behind the Wilbraham Arms in Welsh Row was a well-established sports ground. It was the home of Nantwich Cricket Club who had played there since c1815. Nantwich Town Football Club was founded in 1884 and played at the Jackson Avenue ground, except for a short time in the 1920s, when they too played at Kingsley Fields.
When Crewe Park opened in 1887 the aim was for a park to provide ‘pleasure and happiness’ to the community for generations to come. The park has been acknowledged as one of the finest in England.
The Brine Baths Hotel
The Brine Baths Hotel was opened in 1893 by The Nantwich Brine and Medicinal Baths Company, who had developed a business based upon spa treatments at the local brine baths. It enabled integration of accommodation and the treatment of rheumatic disorders in a purpose built brine treatment suite. The hotel occupied the building and estate of the former Shrewbridge Hall with over 80 acres of parkland extending beyond the river, providing a wide range of amenities.
A guide to the hotel described: “the gardens being particularly beautiful. Lawn tennis courts, a golf course, a bowling green, a well-stocked conservatory, a pleasant terrace overlooking the lawn and several paths bordered with trees and shrubs are the principal attractions”.
In his booklet “The Brine Baths Hotel, Nantwich”, Derek Hughes describes the gardens thus: “There was a magnificent rose walk, part of which was covered by a pergola. The grass borders were full of superb varieties of roses. There were box hedges with an archway cut into one leading to another part of the rose garden containing a sundial. There was a central walk leading to a Maypole of roses and a rock garden containing a pool where one could rest and soak up the sunshine. There was also a lovely part of the grounds known as the garden of peace.”
A walled garden enabled fruit and vegetables to be grown, whilst a field nearby was used for growing potatoes and loganberries. Greenhouses were used to grow ornamental plants including orchids and, as well as tomatoes and cucumbers, exotic fruits including peaches and nectarines. Flowers were provided to decorate the public rooms of the hotel. Some produce was sold to local shops and Nantwich Market.
A post in the garden quoted a poem by Dorothy Frances Gurney (1858-1932):
The kiss of the sun for pardon,
the song of the birds for mirth.
You’re nearer to God’s heart in a garden,
Than anywhere else on earth.
Facilities at the hotel included stabling for over 50 horses and it became a social centre for several local hunts. The hotel was host to a number of permanent guests some with declared interest in the various amenities, and the impression was given of a large country house party.
The hotel was wound up in the 1930s. After the Second World War there was never enough money to renovate the brine baths and the hotel closed in 1947. Today only the bowling green remains as an illustration of the former grandeur of the estate.
Nantwich Parks Today
Today there are four parks/open spaces in the town, including the Riverside Loop.
John Gerard
John Gerard was born in Nantwich in 1545, went to school in Wisterson (sic) and has a place in the story of gardening through publishing a herbal, in 1597, ‘The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes’ which is famous throughout the world. The herbal reputedly proved of great value to botanists, gardeners’ physicians, and apothecaries, although was principally intended for use by gentlewomen and was popular with ordinary literate people of the seventeenth century. Gerard wrote: “Talke of perfect happinesse or pleasure, and what place was so fit for that as the garden place wherein Adam was set to be the Herbarist? Whither doe all men walke for their honest recreation, but thither where the earth hath most beneficially painted her face with flourishing colours?” =
The herbal considers the aesthetic, culinary and medicinal benefits of herbs.
The aesthetic:
Gerard wrote: “what greater delight is there than to behold the earth apparelled with plants” and “whither doe all men walke for their honest recreation, but thither where the earth most beneficially painted her face with flourishing colours”.
Of roses, he decried the need to classify them as a mere shrub identifying it: “with the most glorious floures of the world”. He regarded the rose as “esteemed for his beauty, vertues, and his fragrant and odoriferous smell: but also because it is honor and ornament of an English Scepter” – thus acknowledging the Tudor conjunction of the Houses of Lancaster and York.
The distilled water of Roses was appreciated for “refreshing of the spirits”. The fresh roses bringeth sleep: “through their sweet and pleasant smell”.
The culinary
Of potatoes from Virginia, Gerard reports receiving roots from Virginia and describes its “wholesomnesse” as a food, either roasted in embers or boiled and eaten with oil, vinegar or pepper.
The medicinal
Of rosemary, Gerard notes it taketh away the “stench of the mouth and breath” and: “comforteth the braine, the memorie, the inward senses”.
Note. These recommendations date from the seventeenth century and should be treated with caution!
Bibliography
Clean water comes to the town
Anon. (1859) Nantwich Local Board of Health Minutes. LUN6524/1 et seq.
Anderton, P. (1992) Pure water and the local government revolution, Nantwich in mid-Victorian times. Nantwich Museum News. No 11 March 1992. pp 10-15.
Litsios, S. (2003) Charles Dickens and the Movement for Sanitary Reform Perspectives in Biology and Medicine. 46 (2) pp 183-199.
Hall, J. (1883) A History of the Town and Parish of Nantwich. 531 pages.
Latham, B. (1866) On the Utilisation of Sewage. The Engineer 13 April 1866.
Lawrence, K. & Dodd, G. (2015) Cholera in Nineteenth Century Nantwich. Nantwich Museum. 118 pages.
Lee, W. (1850) Report to the General Board of Health on a Preliminary Inquiry into the Sewerage, Drainage and Supply of Water, and the Sanitary Condition of the Inhabitants of the Township of Nantwich in the County of Cheshire. William Clowes, London. HMSO. 32 pages.
Pentelow, F. K. T. (1959) The General Condition of the Rivers of Britain in The Effects of Pollution on Living Material. Symposia of the Institute of Biology No 8. pp 1-8.
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Places for Recreation – Parks and Open Spaces
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Wikipedia:
- Crewe Hall (12/08/2010)
- William Andrews Nesfield (14/02/2018)
- History of Gardening (22/03/2020)
- Château de Fontainebleau (19/08/20)
- John Kyrle (24/08/20)