The town of Northwich lies two miles E. of the railway; has a market on Friday, and fairs on April 10, for cattle only, August 2, and December 6. Camden is of opinion, that the brine springs here were used by the Romans, and says, the town was anciently called Hellah-Du, or the Black Salt Town. The town has a very antique appearance, and contains a church very remarkable for its semi-circular choir, and for the curious decorations of the roof of the nave, which consist of numerous figures of wicker baskets, similar to those used in the process of salt-making. The commercial prosperity of Northwich, is entirely dependent upon its numerous brine springs and extensive mines of rock salt; in which article the trade is so great, as to produce an annual export of 100,000 tons from the springs alone. They were discovered at a very early period, and are usually more than one hundred yards in depth. The brine, being raised by pumps set in motion by steam-engines, is conveyed by pipes into pans, thirty or forty feet square: these are fixed over furnaces, the heat arising from which, causes the water to evaporate, and the salt to crystallise; it is then drained and dried, and is fit for sale. The mines of rock salt were discovered in 1670, the upper stratum, lying about sixty yards below the surface of the earth, is ten yards thick. About 1772, a second stratum, ten feet thick, and of superior quality, was discovered, at the depth of one hundred and ten yards, the intermediate space being occupied by a solid mass of stone. This latter bed alone is worked by the following process:—A shaft is sunk, and on reaching the mine a roof of salt is left, supported by pillars of the same material. As the excavation proceeds, the fragments are raised in buckets by means of steam-engines. The pits form an area of two, three, or four acres, and when illuminated, present a singularly beautiful and magnificent appearance; the light being reflected from all points in every variety of hue, as from a promiscuous assemblage of mirrors and prisms. This fairy palace was the scene of an elegant entertainment, given by the spirited proprietors, to about a hundred of the members of the British Association, during the meeting at Liverpool, in 1837.