Once a collection of derelict timber and brick buildings, the Lion Salt Works stands today as a unique visitor attraction representing over two millennia of history. Saved from decay, the site—a scheduled ancient monument—now draws over 130,000 yearly visitors.
- Sector
- Culture
- Tags
- Scheduled Monument
- Service
- Conservation architecture
Situated in the heart of the Cheshire salt mining area, the Lion Salt Works evaporated brine to make salt from its inception in 1895 until closure in 1986. It is the UK’s last open-pan salt-making site, and one of only three left in the world. Its survival keeps alive a two-thousand-year-old salt-making tradition dating back to the Romans.
Donald Insall Associates was first appointed in 2000 to develop an action plan for the site and later to lead the restoration. Aided by £5m NLHF funding, the site was reimagined as a heritage attraction and salt museum, with existing buildings carefully restored and a new visitor centre added.
Today, the Lion Salt Works is a thriving visitor attraction. Part of an international heritage trail drawing visitors, in 2024 the site hosted 134,896 visitors, disseminating Cheshire’s salt-making heritage and culture, securing a history almost lost to time.
A viable future for a scheduled ancient monument
The objective was to bring the Lion Salt Works into viable use as a high-quality visitor attraction to secure a long-term future for the site while maintaining its historical significance.
Owned, operated and developed by five generations of the Thompson family, the buildings were originally constructed as cheaply as possible, never intended to be more than temporary sheds. Contrast this with the site’s status as a scheduled ancient monument, and the biggest challenge was to restore the collapsing structures and give them the longevity which is expected of a scheduled monument without affecting their character.
No longer a deteriorating industrial monument, the site stands as a museum and education centre that brings to life the salt-making process. The working buildings have been sensitively restored and now offer a route that explains the salt-making process, aided by oral listening posts, reconstructed scenes with models and an immersive audiovisual show. The former Lion pub houses a museum telling the story of the Cheshire salt industry and the works. Other buildings have been reimagined as a visitor centre, café, shop, conference suite and children’s play area.
This has been a technically brilliant restoration of a uniquely challenging group of buildings. It has rescued the last working inland open pan salt works in the UK from a state of dereliction, and turned it into a fascinating museum, whilst retaining its authentic heritage value throughout.
Project Team
| Client | Cheshire West and Chester Council |
| Client | Lion Salt Works Trust |
| Conservation architect | Donald Insall Associates |
| Structural engineer | Arup |
| Archaeology | Cheshire West and Chester Council |
| M&E engineer | Bob Costello Associates |
| Interpretation design | Richard Fowler Associates |
| Project manager and cost manager | Turner Townsend |
| Site manager and contracts manager | Wates |
| Specialist restoration contractor | William Anelay |
| Industrial heritage consultant | Industrial Heritage Consulting |
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