Burleydam Women's Institute

It was Burleydam W I 81 st Birthday on July 7 th 2026 and 9 of the members went on a guided walking tour of Nantwich. It had been a glorious day and was still quite hot when, with our guide, Andrew, a volunteer from the museum, we set off, from there which is in Pillory street.

So of course, our first stop was at the pillory or stocks, which no longer exist, but were a stricture that held a criminal firmly in them usually situated in the marketplace. That townspeople could show their anger with him by pelting him with rotten eggs and suchlike. We moved on up Love Lane to the Nantwich Players little theatre which has a capacity of a hundred or so and was originally a warehouse. Burleydam W I recently saw Agatha Christie’s ‘And Then There was None’ and also, Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Ernest’ there.

From there we walked on to Barker Street where the houses on the left had originally been alms-house and opposite them stabling for the Coaches and horses. At the end of Barker Street, so called because of the use of bark in the nearby Tannery, we face a row of beautiful Georgian townhouses. This was where the Tannery was situated. Because of the proximity of the river Weaver, there were several tanneries in Nantwich. Walking further down this street we pass the oldest property in Nantwich, the black and white building from where the Stagecoaches left town.

Moving on to Oat Market, Andrew showed us photographs of the way the streets used to look before redevelopment and explained about the Great Fire of Nantwich. This happened on 10 December 1583 and devastate the centre of the town leaving 900 people, half the population homeless. Such was the concern, that Queen Elizabeth 1 raised a Nationwide proscription, and gave £1000 herself, towards the rebuilding of the town.

The Crown Hotel in the centre of the town was rebuilt at that time. Having thanked Andrew for a really interesting tour which concluded at the Church, members proceeded to the Red Cow for a well deserved supper with a birthday cake made by the President Rosemary. A visit, on a perfect summer evening, that will stay in the memory for many years to come.