Soap

The lower Mersey shores, from Liverpool to Warrington saw many early developments in the chemical and related industries, including soaps, candles and dyes. This was developing as early as the 1750s but the major growth in the industry occurred after 1800, when soapmaking in particular experienced a considerable expansion.

Warrington's soap industry was started in 1814 when Joseph Crosfield opened his small works at Bank Quay. The works grew slowly and in the late 1830s it was producing about 900 tons of soap a year. However competition in the soapmaking industry was fierce and Crosfields at this time was still only the 25th largest producer of soap in England (out of 296 listed).

In the 1860s, as the soapmaking process at Crosfields became more sophisticated and scientific, the works expanded and became the 5th largest producer in the country. Any available land around Bank Quay was purchased by the company. In the mid 1880s William Lever also bought land at Bank Quay for his soapworks and produced the first Sunlight soap in Warrington in 1885. He was to focus soap production at his model factory and utopian new community at Port Sunlight, but shrewdly kept hold of the site at Bank Quay.