THE Lion Salt Works Museum has been hailed a success story amid worrying news that 24 historic sites have been added to the north west’s ‘at risk’ register.

The Salt Works in Ollershaw Lane was for 17 years a member of the Historic England’s notorious list, but a £10 million project transformed it into a museum telling the story of salt, opened in 2015.

The project was managed by Cheshire West and Chester Council, and made possible by grant support from the Heritage Lottery Fund and Historic England provided grant funding (£300,000) and expert advice.

The salt towns of Cheshire were first established by the Romans.

Fast forward to the late 19th century and salt works dominated the area around Northwich, many controlled by the monopolistic Salt Union.

In 1894 Henry Ingram Thompson constructed ‘Lion Salt Works’ which ran for nearly 100 years until 1986, when the outbreak of the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970) saw the loss of a major market in West Africa.

The public body tasked with preserving historic buildings has today, Thursday, published its annual snapshot of heritage assets in the region.

While 63 per cent of entries – or 104 sites – have been removed from the original list published 20 years ago, 58 sites remain.

This year, 24 sites have been added to the register.