Winsford

Winsford is a town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is on the River Weaver, south of Northwich and west of Middlewich. It grew around the salt mining industry after the river was canalised in the 18th century, allowing freight to be conveyed northwards to the Port of Runcorn on the River Mersey. At the 2021 census the built up area had a population of 32,530 and the parish had a population of 33,547. Winsford is split into three areas: Over on the western side of the River Weaver, Wharton on the eastern side, and Swanlow and Dene. The name Winsford is of uncertain origin, but is thought to derive from a personal name Wain or Wynne and ford, referencing a crossing point of the River Weaver. The Norman Earls of Chester had a hunting lodge or summer palace at Darnhall in Over parish. There was an enclosed area where deer and wild boar were kept to be hunted by the Earl and his guests. King Henry III annexed the title and its lands, spending time at Darnhall. In 1270 at the behest of his son, Henry III gave the estate to the Cistercians, who built Darnhall Abbey in 1274.