Nantwich's long-forgotten reputation as a thriving centre of boot and shoe production has been brought back into focus, as part of 2026 Cheshire Day celebrations.

Marking the county's rich industrial past, Cheshire Archives has highlighted Nantwich's once-flourishing footwear trade, an industry that, for centuries, quietly connected the historic market town to major English cities.

From the 16th through to the 19th century, Nantwich shoemakers were known for crafting durable work boots that supplied Lancashire's booming mill towns.

As demand grew, the town adapted, producing more fashionable footwear that was sold in major urban centres including Manchester and London by the late 18th century.

At the heart of this industry was an early version of mass production known as the "putting-out" system.

An inventory attached to the will of Nantwich shoemaker William Hayles (Photo: Cheshire Archives).

Merchants would supply materials and designs to local families, who worked from their homes cutting leather, stitching uppers and soles, and finishing shoes before returning them for sale.

A recently highlighted archival document, an inventory attached to the will of local shoemaker William Hayles, offers a rare glimpse into how this decentralised system operated in practice.

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By the 1820s, Nantwich began transitioning towards factory-based production.

Small workshops, such as Leonard Gilbert's premises on Market Street, signalled the start of a more industrial approach.

This shift accelerated towards the end of the 19th century with the introduction of powered machinery, gradually replacing traditional handcrafting methods.

By the 1930s, however, Nantwich's once-bustling shoe trade had largely faded, leaving behind only fragments of its industrial legacy, now preserved and rediscovered through the county's archives.

Cheshire East Council's representative on the Cheshire Archives Board, Cllr Jill Rhodes, said: "Cheshire has such a rich manufacturing tradition.

"It is so fascinating to discover new stories of Cheshire's past and how our archive service has been able to collate such a diverse collection of historic images and stories of our past."

READ MORE: Cheshire East plants 168 football pitches worth of new woodland.

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