Northwich in the Domesday Book (1086)

The settlement of Northwich is recorded in William I’s Domesday survey of 1086, entered under the hundred of Middlewich in Cheshire.

Other Settlements in Middlewich

• Alsager
• Bostock
• Brereton
• Byley
• Clive
• Congleton
• Croxton
• Davenham
• Davenport
• Goostrey
• Hassall
• Kinderton
• Lach [Dennis]
• Leftwich

The Meaning of the Name

The name Northwich is of Anglo-Saxon origin. Its final element derives from the Old English word wīc, a dwelling or (in Cheshire) a salt-working settlement, while the first element appears to represent the northern. Taken together the name probably meant something close to ’the northern salt town’.

Remarkably, the name has changed little since 1086, when the Domesday scribes wrote it as Northwich.

Listed Buildings Near Northwich

Historic England records 26 listed buildings within about a mile of Northwich. Listing protects structures of special architectural or historic interest, graded I (exceptional), II* (particularly important) and II.

Grade I

• Church of St Helen - 0.91 km

Grade II

• British Waterways Board Area Office - 0.09 km
• Stable Block With Attached Outbuildings, Walls and Gateway at Navigation House - 0.09 km
• Navigation House - 0.1 km
• Clock Tower Between British Waterways Board Office and River Weaver - 0.11 km
• Church of the Holy Trinity - 0.13 km
• Hayhurst Bridge Over Weaver Navigation, and Control Cabin - 0.14 km
• Dock Road Pumping Station - 0.27 km
• Gates and Gatepiers to Verdin Park - 0.29 km
• Weir East of Hunt’s Lock, With Footbridge - 0.32 km
• Weaver Railway Viaduct - 0.33 km
• Town Bridge Over Weaver Navigation, and Control Cabin - 0.38 km
• Weaver Hall - 0.4 km
• Victoria Infirmary, Old Wing - 0.52 km
• Hunt’s Locks - 0.54 km
• Former Verdin Technical Schools & Gymnasium, Northwich - 0.6 km
• R.a.o.b Hall - 0.7 km
• Brunner Public Library - 0.76 km
• Northwich Post Office - 0.8 km
• Cassantree - 0.86 km
• Church of St Wilfred (Roman Catholic) - 0.89 km
• Sundial 8 Metres South of South Porch of Church of St Helen (Witton Church) - 0.89 km
• Plaza Bingo Club - 0.9 km
• The Brockhurst - 0.93 km

…and 2 more listed structures in the area.

Northwich Today

Today Northwich lies within the administrative area of Cheshire West and Chester, and the settlement recorded a population of 22,871 at the 2021 census. Nine and a half centuries separate that figure from the small rural community the Domesday survey recorded here in 1086.

Read more about modern Northwich on Wikipedia .

Nearby Domesday Settlements

Other places recorded in the 1086 survey within a few miles:

• Witton - 1.0 km E
• Leftwich - 1.0 km S
• Winnington - 1.4 km NW
• Higher and Lower Shurlach - 2.2 km SE
• Hartford - 2.2 km SW
• Shipbrook - 2.8 km SE