Country	England
Official name	Droitwich Spa
Latitude	52.267
Longitude	-2.153
Civil parish	Droitwich Spa
population	22,585
population ref	(2001) |shire_district Wychavon
static image
Shire county	Worcestershire
Region	West Midlands
Constituency westminster	Mid Worcestershire
Post town	DROITWICH SPA
Postcode district	WR9
Postcode area	WR
Dial code	01905
Os grid reference	SO895632
London distance	125m }}

Droitwich Spa (often abbreviated to Droitwich) is a town in northern Worcestershire, England, on the River Salwarpe. The town is situated on massive deposits of salt, and salt has been extracted there since ancient times. The natural Droitwich brine contains 2½ lbs. of salt per gallon - ten times stronger than sea water and only rivalled by the Dead Sea.

History

In Roman times the village was known as Salinae and was located at the crossroads of several Roman roads. Railway construction in 1847 revealed Roman mosaic pavements, and later excavations unearthed a Roman villa or corridor house some 40 metres (130 ft) long.

Droitwich Lunatic Asylum was established in 1791. Records at the Worcestershire County Record Office show its presence in 1837 to 1838. An advert in the Transactions of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association, in 1844, records that Martin Ricketts, of Droitwich was the Surgeon and Sir Charles Hastings from the Worcester Infirmary was the Physician.

Droitwich remained a fairly small town until the 1960s, when the population was still barely 7,000; however, it has grown considerably since due to overspill from Birmingham with many housing estates being developed in the 1970s and 1980s.

More recently, in July 2007, Droitwich was hit heavily by the UK-wide flooding caused by some of the heaviest rainfall in many years. This flooding was pictured in UK-wide news, having flooded the majority of the heavily subsided high street. Many shops in the high street remain closed almost one year later. The flooding crossed from the stream and canal in Vines Park, crossed Roman Way, and spilled across to the High Street some 100 metres from the source stream.

Following specialist inspections at Droitwich Spa Brine Baths on Friday 12 December 2008, the facility has been closed to allow further building investigations to take place and to avoid any potential hazard to the public or staff.

Salt and brine

Rock salt and brine was extracted by the Romans and this continued through the Middle Ages. Salt tax was levied by the King until it was abolished as a tax in 1825. The Wintour family, a local family owned up to 25 salt evaporating pans locally by the 1600s.

Brine rose naturally to the surface under sub-artesian pressure at three sites along the River Salwarpe within Vines Park in the center of Droitwich. This brine was unusually fully saturated with sodium chloride salt, and was extremely valuable because it was economic to boil, and the yield of salt was high. Because of its value the brine was divided into shares, one share comprising 6912 gallons which produced 8 tons of salt annually in the set boiling period. When it rained, particularly in the winter when brine was not being boiled, the rain water which is less dense that saltwater, settled at the top of the brine and was readily removed. Originally brine for boiling was extracted with buckets lowered into the pits which naturally refilled according to the water table. Upwich, the deepest of the three pits, that was 30 feet deep, supplied most of the brine for this ancient industry, while the pit at Netherwich was only 18 feet deep. The Middlewich pit between the two was affected by the drawing of brine at the other two pits and eventually it fell into disuse. Steynor, in the 17th century discovered the pit and set up business for himself, but eventually due to the lack of brine he failed to compete with the town monopoly. The underground brine solutions were only 200 feet deep and in 1725 it was found that bore-holes could be sunk at the base of these pits to reach brine in unlimited quantities without having to rely on natural brine flow. At that point the monopoly ceased, and everyone wanted to buy land close to Upwich pit to ensure finding brine that was not affected by underground water channels that diluted these natural brines. With this increase in production and pumps that were now being used to draw brine, there was gradual subsidence in some parts of the town. After the monopoly ceased and commercial companies sank their own artificial wells all over Vines Park.

In the mid 19th century, Droitwich became famous as a Spa town. Unlike other places, the medicinal benefits were not derived from drinking the spa water, which is almost saturated brine, but from the muscular relief derived by swimming and floating in such a dense, concentrated salt solution, at the town's brine baths (first opened in 1830). The spa water at Droitwich is the warmest in the United Kingdom outside Bath, but it does not meet the most common definition of a hot spring as the water is below standard human body temperature.

The original Brine Baths have long since closed, but a new brine bath (part of the Droitwich Spa private hospital) opened to the public for relaxation and hydrotherapy. But this too is now closed for financial reasons (December 2008). No date is yet known for it to reopen.

The salt industry was industrialised and developed in the 19th century by John Corbett who built the nearby Chateau Impney for his French-Irish wife in the French 'chateau' style. He was responsible for the re-development of Droitwich as a Spa.

Opened in the 1930s was the town's lido, a large open-air swimming pool, which used diluted brine from beneath the town. After many years of closure it was reopened in 2006. See: Droitwich Spa Lido

Industry and commerce

Transport

Collectively known as the Droitwich Canal, two canals met in the town centre. These are the Droitwich Barge Canal built by James Brindley in 1771 and the Droitwich Junction Canal built in 1854. The Junction canal linked Droitwich to the Worcester and Birmingham Canal. The canals were abandoned in 1939 but a restoration program saw them re-opened in 2011.

The railway station, formerly on the Great Western Railway, is just outside the town centre with trains to Birmingham, Worcester, Kidderminster and Stourbridge.

Broadcasting

Near Droitwich there is the central longwave broadcasting facility of the UK (Wychbold BBC transmitter), which is also used for transmissions in the medium wave range, Droitwich transmitting station. It was sited near Droitwich because the huge block of underground salt provided a good ground earth and increased signal strength (as related by Mr. Humphreys, Chief Engineer for many years).

Retail

Droitwich shopping is mainly focused in the traditional town centre around Victoria Square, leading to the St Andrew's Square shopping centre and down to the original High Street, with its eclectic mix of traditional shops, local pubs. Farmers' markets are also held regularly in Victoria Square.

In the central St Andrew's Square shopping precinct are several chain stores. The centre was re-developed and new stores recently opened.

On July 14, 2005, Waitrose opened a new supermarket in the grounds of the old covered market, directly behind the heavily-subsided High Street. Also, in early 2008, a new Aldi store opened on the small retail park by Roman Way while the new Retail park was opened in late Autumn 2007 with two new stores, Carpetright and Land of Leather. The park already has DFS and Homebase stores. There is also a Spar on Oakland Avenue and a Tesco Express on Primsland.

There are a range of banks represented in the town, including NatWest, HSBC, Alliance & Leicester, Lloyds TSB, Halifax, and Barclays. There are a number of estate agents.

Amenities

Lido

Until the late 1990s Droitwich Spa Lido was open as a public open-air salt-water swimming pool. Following its closure various schemes were proposed, with significant legal and commercial arguments as to the viability of re-building and reopening this facility.

During Autumn of 2006, work started on renovating the lido and it was reopened on Monday 18 June 2007. The Lido Park remains a pleasant and popular space, with Droitwich Cricket Ground on its edge as well as a bandstand with regular performances.

Entertainment

The Norbury Theatre hosts regular shows year-round, including an annual pantomime, and also shows films. The Norbury has an active Youth Theatre for ages 12 to 18. Droitwich has a selection of national and ethnic restaurants and take-aways, On the outskirts of the town is the famous Chateau Impney, built in the style of a traditional French chateau, which is now a hotel, restaurant and conference centre. In Droitwich, The Raven Hotel is a wattle and daub hotel that holds a central position within the town.

Schools

The Droitwich Spa pyramid of schools works on a three tier system, with one high school: (Droitwich Spa High School); two Middle schools (Witton Middle School and Westacre Middle School); and nine First schools (Chawson, Cutnall Green, Hindlip, Ombersley, St. Peter's, St. Joseph's (a Primary School feeding into Blessed Edward Oldcorne High School, Worcester), Tibberton, Westlands—originally Boycott Farm First School—and Wychbold First Schools) and Dodderhill School (formerly named Whitford Hall and Dodderhill), an independent school for girls from 3 to 16 years. (Some boys are present in the nursery school). Dodderhill School is highly rated.

Places of worship

There are five churches in Droitwich including the Anglican churches of St. Andrew's, a Norman building where St Richard was probably baptised, The church tower was demolished in the 1920s after becoming dangerous due to land subsidence; St. Augustine's at Dodderhill, completed in 1220 and rebuilt in the 18th century on a hill which was the site of a former a Roman fort and a later Anglo-Saxon church; St Peter's, built on the site of a former Saxon church, has parts, including the chancel, that date from Norman times, and has a memorial to Edward Winslow, one of the Pilgrim Fathers who was born in the parish. St. Nicholas which was built Victorian times, near the railway station; and the Roman Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart and St Catherine of Alexandria, on a building styled on the Roman basilica churches of Ravenna in Italy, and having the feature of the interior walls being covered almost entirely of mosaic and marble designed by Gabriel Pippet. There are also a number of other chapels including Methodist, Baptist etc.

Tourism

Suggested very local highlights - the mosaics in the Sacred Heart Church, Droitwich Museum, the Lido (when it is open), canal marina developments, Chateau Impney hotel, cycle routes to Worcester, almost all off road and fair/good for families, some very old buildings down the High Street, Vines Park for salt extraction, Dodderhill/Vines location of Roman villa (not visible). Hanbury Hall, Norbury Theatre productions are usually good and they show films sometimes - a little further away Great Witley House and gardens, Worcester attractions. Railway runs to Birmingham and Worcester regularly

Sport

Droitwich leisure centre at Briar Mill has gym facilities, sports halls, a swimming pool and squash courts. There are also outside football and astroturf pitches with floodlighting. The centre also runs a squash league. Droitwich Archery Society, based at the Droitwich Rugby Football Ground, is a target archery club that was formed in 1967, and is affiliated to The Grand National Archery Society. Other local sports include boxing, football, judo, Tae Kwon Do, Karate, Ju Jitsu and tennis. Vinespark Bowling Club is a flat Green Bowling club situated by the canal in Vines park. Bowling also available in the Lido Park Droitwich Spa Pool League is headquartered at the Fox and Goose pub on westlands.

Location

Notable residents

St Richard, Bishop of Chichester, was born in Droitwich in 1197

John Heminges, born in Droitwich in about 1556, was an actor in William Shakespeare's company

Edward Winslow, one of the Pilgrim Fathers was born in the town in 1595.

Rik Mayall - actor and writer in The Comic Strip, The Young Ones, Bottom and other TV programmes, lived in Droitwich when he was a child.

Ashley Giles - England cricketer lives in Droitwich and in 2005 was made an honorary citizen of the town.

Matt Neal, British Touring Car Championships champion.

John Bickerton, European Tour Golfer.

John Corbett, "Salt King"

Graham Oakey, professional footballer for Coventry City in the 1970s born in Droitwich in 1954.

Cyril Harrison, professional cricketer who made 17 first-class cricket appearances for the Worcestershire County Cricket Club in 1934 and 1935.

Charlie Green, singer

Twinning

Bad Ems, Germany Gyula, Hungary (since 2001) Voiron, France, (since 2010 - http://www.ville-voiron.fr/)

References

Further reading

Around Droitwich (Archive Photograph Series) - ISBN 0-7524-0747-3

Droitwich in Old Photographs - ISBN 0-86299-421-7

The Droitwich Discovery - ISBN 0-573-12146-X

External links

Droitwich Spa Town Council website

Droitwich Spa Pool League Website

Category:Droitwich Spa Category:Towns in Worcestershire Category:Spa towns in England

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