Tsar of Russia visits Cheshire salt mine

By Sarah Griffiths on Feb 10, 09 10:07 AM in 1800-1899

The Old Marston salt mine, near Northwich, was the unusual setting for a grand dinner held in honour of the Tsar of Russia in 1844.

Rock salt had been discovered at Marbury in 1670 and by 1850 there were 23 mines in the Northwich area producing 100,000 tons of rock salt. The Marston mine had been sunk in the eighteenth century and became a major tourist attraction over the next century.

Visitors marvelled at the scale of the candlelit caverns over 300 feet below the surface. One such visitor in 1814 described how they 'appeared as if in an immense, solemn and awful temple' where the miners 'seemed like dark shadows' and only the noise of their hammers broke the silence.

Tsar Nicholas I travelled to Britain in 1844 to meet with Queen Victoria, Lord Aberdeen and the Foreign Office over the political situation in Turkey. Perhaps as light relief from these discussions, the Tsar travelled to Cheshire where he was the guest of honour at a banquet held by the Royal Society at the Old Marston Salt Mine.

The area was lit with thousands of lamps and the logistics of holding a royal event in such a venue must have been complicated. This visit did make an impression on people in the surrounding area as Robert Verdin, a local salt manufacturer, was said to have reminisced about the occasion, despite being only eight years of age at the time of the occasion.