SJ5341 : ChemistryIntrigued by the name of the road and area on the western edge of Whitchurch after the question of its origins was raised in the
general discussion forum, I emailed Oswestry Library (as the nearest I could find an email address for) and have just received the following reply:
... An answer was eventually provided by staff at Whitchurch Library. The following is an extract from Paul Anderton's Exploring Whitchurch History (2009)
' One other, and an intriguingly named, district of Whitchurch, immediately west of Bathfields and Smallbrook Farm, is Chemistry. A farm with that name is found in the area, but it predates the acquisition of the name. This seems to refer to an oak-acid making business set up alongside the canal at the point where the main road swings south. According to THE FARMER'S ENCYCLOPAEDIA .... EMBRACING ALL THE MOST RECENT DISCOVERIES IN AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY (1842) "the bark of the oak is used for affording tannic acid in the manufacture of leather." Tanning was an art long practised in Whitchurch and shoe making had been a prominent trade in the town in the early nineteenth century."
There is more information in Mr Anderton's book which you could borrow through any Shropshire library or via the Inter-Library Loans network outside of Shropshire.Aren't our libraries wonderful?
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SJ 532 415 [100m precision]
