Widnes ( ) is an industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021 census had a population of 62,400.
Historically in Lancashire, it is on the northern bank of the River Mersey where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. Directly to the south across the Mersey is the town of Runcorn. Upstream to the east is Warrington, and 4 miles downstream to the west is Speke, a suburb of Liverpool.
Before the Industrial Revolution, Widnes was a small settlement on marsh and moorland. In 1847, the chemist and industrialist John Hutchinson established a chemical factory at Spike Island. The town grew in population and rapidly became a major centre of the chemical industry. The demand for labour was met by large-scale immigration from Ireland, Poland, Lithuania and Wales. The town continues to be a major manufacturer of chemicals, although many of the chemical factories have closed and the economy is predominantly based upon service industries.
Widnes and Hough Green railway stations are on the Liverpool–Manchester line. The main roads through the town are the A557 in a north–south direction and the A562 east–west. The disused Sankey Canal terminates at Spike Island. The Silver Jubilee Bridge crosses the River Mersey west of Warrington. In 2017, the Mersey Gateway Bridge opened to relieve congestion at the older bridge. The Catalyst Science Discovery Centre is the United Kingdom's only museum dedicated solely to the Chemical Industry and is inside Hutchinson's former administrative building. The town's sport stadium hosts Widnes Vikings rugby league club.
The motto of Widnes is the Latin phrase ("Industry Enriches").
History Toponymy The most usual explanation for the origin of the name Widnes is that it comes from the Danish words , meaning 'wide', and , meaning 'nose', referring to the promontory projecting into the River Mersey. However, the Widnes promontory is not particularly wide and another possible explanation is the first part derives from the Danish , meaning 'a wood' and possibly referring to a tree-covered promontory. Earlier spellings of the name have been Vidnes, Wydnes and Wydness.
Early history There is little evidence of any early human occupation of the area although a flint arrowhead was discovered at Pex Hill, suggesting there was some human presence in the Stone Age. Pex Hill is a disused quarry, located to the north of the town. Roman roads by-passed the area but some Roman coins were found where the Ditton railway station stands today. In the 9th century Vikings invaded the country and Widnes was at the extreme south of the Danelaw. The River Mersey derives its name from the Anglo-Saxon , which means boundary river, the boundary being that between the Danelaw and the Saxon kingdom of Mercia. At the beginning of the 20th century, it was believed that some earthworks on Cuerdley Marsh had been constructed by the Vikings but an archaeological investigation in the 1930s found nothing to confirm this.
Following the Norman conquest of England, William the Conqueror granted the Earldom of Lancaster to Roger the Poitevin who in turn granted the barony of Widnes to Yorfrid. Yorfrid had no sons and his elder daughter married William fitz Nigel, the second Baron of Halton. On Yorfrid's death the barony of Widnes passed to that of Halton. The current St Luke's, a Norman church, was built in Farnworth. Its date of origin is uncertain but it is likely to be around 1180.Stephen Richard Glynne, James Augustus Atkinson, Chetham Society, Notes on the Churches of Lancashire, 1893.Foster, Alan, A History of Farnworth Church, its Parish and Village, 1981. In 1500 the South Chapel was added to the church and in 1507 a grammar school was established in Farnworth; both were endowments from Bishop William Smyth. Until the middle of the 19th century, the area consisted of the scattered hamlets of Farnworth, Appleton, Ditton, Upton and Woodend. Nearby were the villages of Cronton and Cuerdley.
In the 1750s the Sankey Canal was constructed. This linked the area of St. Helens with the River Mersey at Sankey Bridges, near Warrington and was in operation by 1757. It was extended to Fiddler's Ferry in 1762 and then in 1833 a further extension to Woodend was opened. In the same year the St Helens and Runcorn Gap Railway was opened. The railway connected St Helens with an area in Woodend which was to become known as Spike Island. The termini of the canal and railway were adjacent and here Widnes Dock, the world's first railway dock, was established. Despite these transport links and the emergence of the chemical industry at nearby Runcorn and elsewhere in the Mersey Valley, the Industrial Revolution did not arrive at Widnes until 14 years later, with the arrival at Spike Island of John Hutchinson.
Coming of the chemical industry
John Hutchinson built his first factory in 1847 on land between the Sankey Canal and the railway making alkali by the Leblanc process.Greatbatch, M. L. and Mercer, P. J., Spike Island, Halton Borough Council. This was an ideal site for the factory because all the raw materials could be transported there by the waterways and railway, and the finished products could similarly be transported anywhere else in the country or overseas. Further chemical factories were soon built nearby by entrepreneurs including John McClellan, William Gossage, Frederic Muspratt, Holbrook Gaskell and Henry Deacon. The town grew rapidly as housing and social provision was made for the factory workers. Soon the villages of Farnworth, Appleton, Ditton and Upton were subsumed within the developing town of Widnes. Woodend became known as West Bank. The substances produced included soap, borax, soda ash, salt cake and bleaching powder. Other industries developed including iron and copper works. The town became heavily polluted with smoke and the by-products of the chemical processes. In 1888 the town was described as "the dirtiest, ugliest and most depressing town in England"Daily News quoted by and in 1905 as a "poisonous hell-town".Daily Mail quoted in
The demand for workers meant that, in addition to people from other areas of the United Kingdom, including Ireland, large numbers of workers came from other countries. From the late 1880s significant numbers arrived from Poland and Lithuania who were fleeing from persecution and poverty in their home countries. Immigrants also came from other areas, in particular Wales. In 1890 the chemical companies making alkali by the Leblanc process combined to form the United Alkali Company, later one of the constituent companies of ICI. This involved practically all of the chemical industries in Widnes, which was considered to be the principal centre of the new company. However, during the 1890s the chemical business in Widnes went into decline as more efficient methods of making alkali were developed elsewhere.
Recent history
During the early decades of the 20th century, there was a revival in the local economy, particularly as the United Alkali Company began to manufacture new products. Improvements were being made to the structure of the town, in particular the opening of the Widnes–Runcorn Transporter Bridge in 1905 which gave the first direct link over the Mersey for road traffic. In 1909 the town became the first in Britain to have a regular covered-top double-decker bus service.
By 1919 the health of the residents of the town was improving. In the 1920s, and 1930s there was further diversification of the chemical industry and the products it manufactured. Slums were being replaced by more and better homes. After World War II more slums were cleared and there was ongoing growth and variation in the chemical industry. By the 1950s the town had 45 major chemical factories.
In 1961 the Silver Jubilee Bridge opened as free crossing, replacing the outdated Transporter Bridge. In 2017 a further crossing, the Mersey Gateway Bridge, opened to relieve congestion. This crossing was tolled. When the Mersey Gateway Bridge was opened, the Silver Jubilee Bridge was closed for maintenance. Now both bridges are operating, but as tolled crossings.
In recent years many of the old heavy chemical factories have closed to be replaced by more modern factories. Much of the land previously polluted by the old dirty chemical processes has been reclaimed, and there have been improvements in the cleanliness and environment of the town.
Governance Local government
Widnes is unparished with the exception of Halebank. The local authority is Halton Borough Council for which the town is divided into nine electoral wards, each electing three councillors.
From Saxon times Widnes was part of the hundred of West Derby in Lancashire. Modern local government in the town of Widnes began with the creation of the Widnes Local Board in 1865, prior to which the town had been part of the administrative district of Prescot. In 1892, the town received a charter of incorporation forming the Municipal Borough of Widnes. In 1974, as part of the Local Government Act 1972, Widnes Borough Council was abolished and its territory amalgamated with Runcorn to form the borough of Halton within the county of Cheshire. In 1998 the borough of Halton became a unitary authority. In 2009, the council entered into an agreement with the five metropolitan district councils of Merseyside to form the Liverpool City Region.
Westminster representation Widnes is in the Widnes and Halewood constituency for representation in the House of Commons. The seat has been held by Derek Twigg of the Labour Party since its creation for the 2024 general election.
Between 1983 and 2024, Widnes was in the Halton constituency which was held by the Labour Party since its creation. Widnes first became a parliamentary constituency and elected its first Member of Parliament in 1885.
Geography
Widnes is situated on the north bank of the River Mersey. The whole town is low-lying with some slightly higher areas in Farnworth and Appleton. To the south of the town a spur projecting into the river forms the West Bank area of Widnes; together with a spur projecting northwards from Runcorn these form Runcorn Gap, a narrowing of the River Mersey. Runcorn Gap is crossed by Runcorn Railway Bridge, carrying the Liverpool branch of the West Coast Main Line, and the Silver Jubilee Bridge, carrying the A533 road which then curves in a westerly direction towards Liverpool becoming the A562. The density of housing is generally high but there are some open green areas, including Victoria Park in Appleton and two golf courses which are geographically near the centre of the urban development. Most of the chemical and other factories are close to the north bank of the River Mersey.Ordnance Survey, Explorer 275 map A second road bridge, the Mersey Gateway, opened in October 2017, carrying a six-lane road connecting Runcorn's Central Expressway with Speke Road and Queensway in Widnes.
Drainage of the Widnes area is into the Mersey via Ditton, Steward's and Bower's Brooks. The bedrock of the area is rock from the Sherwood sandstone group. There are a few outcrops of sandstone but elsewhere the bedrock is covered by drift. Most of this consists of till except near the bank of the Mersey where it is recent alluvium.
When borings were made in the 1870s prior to the building of chemical works a deep gorge measuring around 100 feet (30 m) was found in the bedrock which was filled with glacial deposits. From this it was concluded that before the Ice Age the Mersey had flowed in a more northerly course, and when it was blocked by glacial deposits it had made a new channel through Runcorn Gap.