Sandbach
The town of Sandbach is also home to two historic manors, Wheelock Hall and Sandbach Hall. The first mention of Sandbach comes from 1294 where the place was referred to as 'Sanbec'. This word can be identified as an Old English name meaning sand stream. It has been claimed that the name may have come from sand beds in the River Wheelock, which could possibly have led to sand accumulations along its banks resulting in sandbanks or sandbeaches. Supporting this theory are remains of oyster catchers close by which would further point towards sand deposits. However there are no records whatsoever of any large scale oyster fishing on either river.
It was originally sandstone that had been mined in the area, but this sandstone played an important role in the development of sand as a building material. Sand's usefulness as a sand-lime brick making material comes from the fact that it is 'free' and available locally. This made it cheap to produce bricks and resulted in several sand-brick factories opening across Cheshire.
However this settlement was never critically significant due to nearby Congleton being favoured by industry over Sandbach. Also, it failed to thrive after the River Wheelock was redirected away from Sandbach during irrigationin the early 19th century.