Crewe, town, Cheshire East unitary authority, historic county of Cheshire, northwest-central England.
Crewe was created when the Grand Junction Railway Company opened its Liverpool-to-Birmingham line in 1837 and then transferred its railway works to Crewe in 1843. The town was incorporated in 1877. In the early days the railway company owned and controlled almost everything in Crewe, and its monopoly was broken only in 1938 when the Crewe Corporation Act was passed. Today railways are still important, but the town’s many other industries include automobile and clothing manufacturing. The motorway from Birmingham to Liverpool and Manchester runs about 3 miles (5 km) east of Crewe. Pop. (2001) 67,683; (2011) 71,722.