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The history of Northwich can be traced back to the Roman period. The area around Northwich has been exploited for its salt pans since this time. The town has been severely affected by salt mining with subsidence historically being a large issue. A programme of mine stabilisation has recently been undertaken. Northwich is a wich town in Cheshire, England. It lies in the heart of the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the River Weaver and the River Dane. The town is approximately east of Chester and south of Warrington. == Roman Northwich == The first references to Northwich are during Roman times when the town was known as Condate, thought to be a Latinized form of a Brittonic name meaning "Confluence". There are several other places by this name, mostly in France; in Northwich's case, it lies near the junction of the rivers Dane and Weaver.〔 〕 Northwich can be identified through two contemporary Roman documents. The first of these is the Antonine Itinerary, a 3rd-century road map split into fourteen sections. ''Itinerary II'' is called "the route from the Vallum to the port of Rutupiae". It describes the route between Hadrian's Wall in northern England and Richborough on the Kent coast. The station Condate is listed 18 miles from Mamucium (now Manchester) and 20 miles from Deva Victrix (now Chester). ''Itinerary X'' is called "the route from Glannoventa to Mediolanum" and details the route between Ravenglass fort, Cumbria and Mediolanum (now Whitchurch, Shropshire). In this description Condate is described as 19 miles before the routes end at Whitchurch and, again, as 18 miles from Manchester.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 work = Roman-Britain.org website )〕 The second document is the 7th century Ravenna Cosmography. Again this document refers to Condate between the entries for Salinae (now Middlewich, Cheshire) and Ratae (now Leicester, Leicestershire), at the time the capital of the Corieltauvi tribe.〔 The Roman's interest in the Northwich area is thought to be due to the strategic river crossing and the location of the salt brines.〔 Salt was very important in Roman society.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 History: Romans )〕 The Roman word ''salarium'', linked employment, salt and soldiers, but the exact link is unclear. It is also theorised that this is the basis for the modern word ''salary''. Another theory is that the word soldier itself comes from the Latin ''sal dare'' (to give salt). See ''History of salt'' for further details. There is archaeological evidence of a Roman auxiliary fort within the area of Northwich now known as "Castle" dated to 70 AD.〔 This and other North West forts were built as the Romans moved north from their stronghold in Chester.〔 The fort was located on the west bank of the River Weaver. The fort has been excavated from 1983 onwards and shows two periods of military occupation. The first began around AD 70 and the second finished around AD 140. The fort was smaller during its second occupation. Excavations discovered the remains of barrack blocks and courtyard building thought to be a ''Praetorium'', or commandant’s house.〔 The Romans used lead salt pans to extract the salt from the brine. Salt pans and 1st-century brine kilns have all been found around the Roman fort.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「History of Northwich」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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