UK’S TOP SALT SCIENTIST VISITS WINSFORD SALT MINE

The UK’s largest salt mine in Winsford, owned by Compass Minerals, is a unique resource for UK scientists interested in the study of salt, says Professor Chris Jackson, the new Chair of Sustainable Geoscience at Manchester University and the UK’s top salt scientist.

Professor Chris Jackson, a previous presenter of the highly prestigious Royal Institution’s Christmas lecture, was on an underground tour of Compass Mineral’s mine in Winsford, Cheshire. 

Until recently a professor at Imperial College, London, Professor Chris Jackson, said: “Salt is a fascinating substance on so many different levels.  On a day-to-day basis, salt (in moderation) is essential for a healthy life as it helps your brain and nerves send electrical impulses. But my passion is in how the distribution of salt deposits records ancient Earth environments, and how these rocks can deform.  So being able to actually go beneath ground, to this working mine that is not normally open to visitors, and to look at just a small part of the huge deposits of salt beneath the Cheshire Plain, is both fascinating and intensely interesting from a scientific point of view.   

“By a long way, Compass Minerals’ Winsford mine is the biggest in the UK, which makes it a unique scientific resource. I very much hope that in the future, undergraduate and postgraduate students from the University of Manchester might be able to undertake their research here with the kind support of Compass Minerals. These students could also make use of the records in the Salt Library at Weaver Hall Museum, as well as the resources of the award-winning Lion Salt Works Museum.”  Cleared by Professor Chris Jackson 

Kate Harland, Museums & Heritage Manager, Lion Salt Works Museum, who was also on the tour, said: “The salt below the Cheshire Plains is vast, covering the areas beneath the three traditional Cheshire salt towns of Northwich, Middlewich and Nantwich. Many people will know that ‘wich’ denotes the presence of salt in the towns’ name but many people are possibly not aware that salt has been a crucial part of the history and economy of Cheshire for thousands of years, not just the last few centuries. After years of working at the Lion Salt Works Museum in Northwich, one of the last open-pan, salt-making sites in the world, I am delighted to have seen the salt beneath ground. It is extraordinary that the mine is beneath such a lot of Northwich and that the red sand that makes up our local Cheshire sandstone is also in the salt beds, varying from light pink to red in colour. It has given me lots of fresh inspiration to take back to the Lion Salt Works Museum.”  

Chris Heywood, Commercial Director, Compass Minerals, said: “At Compass Minerals, we are committed to being part of the community and reaching out to diverse areas, including academia, local government, charities and businesses. On this tour, I was also delighted to welcome; George Westlake, Chairman, Lion Salt Works Trust and also Harry Young, a third-year Coventry University geography student, who comes from Chester, who is studying salt and is also a Friend of the Lion Salt Works Trust.” 

“The Winsford Salt Mine is the largest in the UK and mines rock salt. During the winter, it is Cheshire rock salt that is used for gritting the UK’s icy roads and pavements to help keep people safe and industry moving. For some years, Compass Minerals has taken advantage of its huge empty caverns to offer a DeepStore records management and storage facility. We not only offer huge amounts of secure bespoke storage but because it is a salt mine, our storage facility offers ideal conditions for storing documents and historical artefacts.”  

The Lion Salt Works Museum is one of the world’s last open-pan,salt-making sites and is so rare it is a Scheduled Ancient Monument with the same protection status as Stonehenge and Hadrian’s Wall. It tells the story of salt in Cheshire through fun, interactive displays, including a ‘sound and light’ show, an automaton and ‘subsiding house’. The Museum has a café, butterfly garden, free parking and an industrially-themed play area. 

Pictured - L-R Kate Harland, West Cheshire Museums’ Museum Manager; Chris Heywood, Commercial Director, Compass Minerals; Professor Chris Jackson, Chair of Sustainable Geoscience at the University of Manchester; Harry Young, student of Georgraphy and Natural Science at Coventry University and joint winner of the Museum + Heritage Volunteer of the Year award for work with the Lion Salt Works Trust; George Westlake, Chairman of the Lion Salt Works Trust. 

For further information, contact:  Fiona Young at Marketing Cheshire on 01244 851867 or at:

f.young@marketingcheshire.co.uk