I WISH to draw your attention to misinformation in your item about Jabez Thompson’s brickworks and Last Supper terracotta reredos in your May 16 edition.

The article states that the Lion Salt Works operated from the 1850s, finally closing in 1958. Both dates are incorrect.

Lion Salt Works was started in 1894 by Henry Ingram Thompson (Jabez’s nephew), and finally closed in1986.

By that date it was the last operational open pan salt works in the whole country.

As such it was important from a heritage point of view, so the site was taken over by Vale Royal Council, to prevent the works being demolished and the site re-developed for other purposes.

After discussions, studies and surveys, it was decided that it was feasible to restore the dilapidated buildings, and the Works opened as a heritage site and museum in June 2015.

The quoted 1850s date may be due to confusing Lion Salt Works with the adjacent Alliance Salt Works, set up in 1856 by Henry’s father and grandfather, both named John Thompson, and later owned by Jabez (John junior’s brother and Henry’s uncle).

I can offer no suggestion about where the incorrect 1958 closure date came from.

Mike Tingle Lion Salt Works guide