Over, St Chads

The parish is a mixture of green fields and populated areas. Housing is mixed with many large private estates, some affluent areas, some old established housing and three large housing association estates.

Today, Winsford has a population of some 33,000 and a diverse employment base. Winsford is made up of three parishes Over, St Chads, and Wharton. These ancient parishes were combined to form Winsford in the 19th century. St Chads's itself has a population in the region of 10,500.

The church of St Chad is steeped in history, a church has stood on the site since 1307 with the present building being the result of extensions in 1543 and 1925.

Winsford as a town developed as the result of large salt deposits which are relatively easy to mine. The salt industry in Winsford continues today in the guise of Salt Union Ltd who operate the UK's biggest rock salt mine from the Winsford Rock Salt mine and is Britain's largest supplier of natural rock salt. The company produces salt year round, building stock levels through the spring, summer and autumn, for use by governments and local authorities during the winter months.

The name "Winsford" is of uncertain origin but probably derives from Wain's or Wynne's and Ford (Mr Wain’s crossing point of the river Weaver). There may well have been a ford at the lower end of Welsh Lane where it meets the river. The River Weaver was canalised in 1798 from Frodsham to Winsford Town Bridge to allow salt to be transported to Northwich and Liverpool for export. The most prominent geographical feature of note is the Flashes. This area of open water is created by salt being washed out of underlying rock and the subsequent collapse of the overlying rock. Flashes are common features of Cheshire landscape and Winsford's are the largest and most well known. Top Flash is a well used fishing water and the largest flash, Bottom Flash is popular for sailing, fishing, and walking.

In recent years Winsford has become an important administrative centre with the building of Vale Borough Council's HQ in 1991, this building is now utilised by Cheshire West & Chester Council. Cheshire Fire & Rescue Service moved their HQ to Winsford in 1997 and Cheshire Police opened their new HQ at Woodford Park in November 2003. Recent years has seen further investment in the town with the building of Winsford Lifestyle Centre, a large multi-purpose venue with both leisure and theatre facilities. Spring 2010 saw the opening of the new Winsford Learning Zone which will provide education and training for 250 full-time students and will also be used to house some of the academic subjects from the Winsford joint sixth form as well as adult education and work-based learning.