or NANTWICH, a market-town of the hundred of its own name, in the county of Chester, an hundred and sixty-five miles from London. It is situated on the banks of the river Weaver, and has by canals good water communication in all directions. It is one of the largest and best-built towns in the county, with regular streets and handsome houses. It was known to the Romans by the name of Saltinis, and must at all times have been a place of importance, from the vast quantities of salt procured from its vicinity. This product is partly made from brine springs highly saturated; and prodigious masses of rock-salt are drawn from mines, or rather quarries, near the town. These mines are many acres in extent. The roofs are supported by pillars, both of the same substance; and the translucent nature of the salt affords a pleasing and picturesque appearance. Many thousands of tons of this rock-salt are annually exported from Liverpool to the ports of Prussia, Russia, and Sweden, on the Baltic Sea. The country around yields a large portion of the best Cheshire cheese; and the trade in that article is carried on upon a very extensive scale, especially with London. The making of shoes is one source of employment; and many of them are sent to the metropolis and other parts of England. There is a well-supplied market, which is held on Saturday. The population of the town amounted in 1801 to 3463, in 1811 to 3999, in 1821 to 4661, and in 1831 to 4886; but the parish includes five other townships, which, by the last census, appear to make the inhabitants of the whole 5357.