Dr. Chris Upton was ill and unable to give his talk on 'Peaky Blinders'. Instead our President, Julian Hunt, gave a talk on 'John Corbett and the making of Droitwich Spa'.
Most people think of Droitwich as the little town you pass through on the way to Worcester. However, Julian admitted that it is his latest obsession and the subject of many hours of research. He discovered that the Romans realised that there were brine pits underground and a settlement was made in the area. Salt was a very valuable commodity and the brine was extracted from the ground, put into large saltpans, boiled and the salt collected and sold. It was transported via the salt ways to the River Severn at Worcester, where it was loaded onto boats and transported to all parts of the country. There was even a salt way which ran through Romsley.
There is evidence from Domesday records that the King owned the salt rights and the purchase of the saltpans brought in a large income. By 1215 the income was £100 and a charter was granted to Droitwich. By 1265 the area was deteriorating and twelve houses were pulled down. The working area was extended and the houses rebuilt, all for £40.
By 1554 Droitwich had become so important that it had two Members of Parliament. In 1714 a turnpike road was built and the tolls used to repair the roads. Many wealthy business men became interested in the town and the potential to develop it as a Spa. In 1832, during a cholera outbreak, they discovered that brine baths had healing properties. John Corbett became MP for the town in 1874 and to encourage visitors he built more baths and hotels, such as the Raven, for their comfort. Transport was improved with the building of a canal and railway and Droitwich thrived.
There was however a downside to all the extraction of brine. There was a lot of subsidence with dips in the roads and houses leaning at strange angles. John Corbett died in 1901 but they were still developing the town until the 1930s. The Brine Baths are now closed and flats have been built on the site. Droitwich is still changing and developing and it is well worth a visit if only to look for evidence of the past glories. Thank you, Julian for a most interesting talk.
The next meeting of the History Society will be on Tuesday 28th April at 7.30 p.m. in the Church Hall when Dr. Michael Hall will be giving a progress report on 'What the Court Rolls Tell Us'. The summer outing will be on Thursday 2nd July to the Carpet Museum, Kidderminster at 10.30 a.m. The annual dinner will be held at The Golf Club, Blakedown on Friday 10th July.
Pat Evans
Our first speaker for 2015 was Julian Hunt and his subject Romsley and Hunnington Schools and Schoolmasters attracted an audience of 60 plus, which included over 20 visitors.
Julian as usual had researched his subject very thoroughly, as had his father, Jo Hunt, before him. Julian said that due to advances in technology and the number of documents now being placed on the internet, he had in fact been able to add to what his father had discovered. "Take William Smith, Yeoman, living here in the 17th century,. Everyone knows he is the founder of the original school next to the Sun Inn, but it was not until we started on our Wills project that we discovered William Smith's Will of 20th December 1684 and we were able to read for ourselves the details of his bequests."
In his Will he stated that profits from land and tenements in Romsley and Nickersfield were to be used to provide some education for 22 children of the poorest families within the townships of Romsley and Hunnington. Not only that but some honest sober and industrious person fit to teach should be maintained and encouraged. Other later Wills which we studied also described bequests to the school.
Julian followed up his talk with photographs and descriptions of the school when it was held in what is now the Church Hall, where we were that evening, when at play time the children would go out and play in the road in front of the hall. The toilet and other facilities in the Hall were rather primitive, but eventually the children of Romsley and Hunnington were provided with a much more modern school a short distance away, and this is the one that Ruth Harper and Friends will be talking to us about in a few months time.
Our talk on the 24th March will be given by Dr. Chris Upton, Senior Lecturer at Newman University on 'Peaky Blinders - The Gangs of Birmingham', and our Court Rolls research group will next meet in the Church Hall at 2.30 p.m. on 1st April. Come and join us.
June Humphreys
Over thirty five members attended our meeting on 25th November. Paul Share welcomed everyone and announced that June Humphreys, our secretary, was resigning after over 23 years service. Paul asked for any volunteers to take over from June. This will not be an easy task as June has done such an efficient job!
The speaker for the evening was Andrew Hamilton. The title of his talk was "Meet at Dawn, Unarmed". This was an account of the First World War based on the diary of his Grandfather, Captain Robert Hamilton of the 1st Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment. He wrote his diary throughout the six months he spent in France, on the Front Line, in 1914. His description of the rain and the mud and the discomforts of the trenches, together with the daily fight for survival from the shelling and snipers, brought home to us the horrors of war a hundred years ago.
He made many friends, including Montgomery, and the war cartoonist, Bruce Bairnsfather. One of the most famous extracts of the diary was his account of the 1914 Christmas Truce at 'Plugstreet Wood' near 'St. Yves'. The English and German troops ceased fighting to celebrate Christmas Day. They left their trenches, which were only 80 yards apart, and greeted each other, exchanging cigarettes and cigars.
The diaries were beautifully written as were his letters to his wife Renie. She also kept a diary of her life at home, with her thoughts of the devastating war. Andrew's enthralling talk was illustrated with original photographs and cartoons. He has written two books with Alan Reed, "Meet at Dawn, Unarmed" and "We Good...We No Shoot" based on his Grandfather's diary and a day unique in the world's history. In this centenary year of the First World War, Robert Hamilton's first hand account enlightened us to the reality of the time and the bravery of the men who fought for their country.
The next meeting of the society will be on Tuesday 24th February at 7.30 p.m. in the Church Hall when Julian Hunt will give a talk on "Romsley Schools and School Teachers, 1684-1950". Everyone is welcome.
Pat Evans
On 28th October the Society had a well attended talk by Andy Shepherd, one of our members, on 'Scouting in Romsley and Hunnington'. It is always interesting to hear about local history and Andy, who has been Group Scout Leader for many years, didn't disappoint with his talk.
The worldwide Scout Movement was begun by Robert Baden Powell in 1907 when he published 'Aids to Scouting' and 'Scouting for Boys' setting out his ideas on 'Instruction in Good Citizenship'. In 1910 the Guides were formed and in 1916 the Wolf Cubs.
Scouting came to Romsley and Hunnington when the St. Kenelm's Scout Group was registered in 1937. They met in the Church Hall and later in the School. The group was led by Stanley Shaw and we were privileged to have May Wridgway, nee Shaw, one of the first Akelas, at our meeting. Her husband, John, ran the scouts both before and after the war and he encouraged them to go camping, even if it was only in a field at Shut Mill.
Unfortunately the group had to close in 1954 and was only started again in 1966 at the instigation of the Rev. David Copley. Twelve cubs and 14 scouts met for the first time in the school hall. One of those boys was Andy Shepherd and little did he realise what an important influence that meeting would have on the rest of his life!
By the 1970s there was a growing need for the scouts to have their own Headquarters. In 1976 a second hand hut was purchased and sited on the playing fields. In 1984 the first Beaver group was formed but by the 1990s the hut was looking tired and it was decided to try to raise £170,000 to build a new Scout Centre. After a lot of fund raising events in the village by the Group Scout Committee and a lot of hard work by Richard Taylor to secure a National Lottery Grant of £98,000, work began on the new Scout Centre, not a Scout Hut anymore! It was opened in September 1999 with facilities for the whole community.
The Scouts have always taken an active part in village events. In 1951 they had even planned a whole week of activities for the 'Festival of Britain'. In 2014 the Scout Group is still a flourishing village organization with 74 members still striving to be good citizens!
As with all history it is only when you look back that you appreciate what has been achieved. The youths of the villages of Romsley and Hunnington are indebted to Andy Shepherd and all the Scout Leaders, past and present, for their dedication to Scouting and for the important roll they have played in influencing their young lives for the better.
Pat Evans
On Tuesday 23rd September, our Chairman, Paul Share, welcomed everyone to the 2014-2015 season of the Society and said that the outing to Wightwick Manor in July was enjoyed by all.
2014 is the 300th anniversary of the birth of William Shenstone. Julian Hunt, our President, and Andrew Maund of King's School, Worcester, gave a very interesting account of the life and works of our local poet.
In 1714 William was born at 'The Leasowes', Halesowen, on the slopes of Mucklow's Hill, the son of Thomas Shenstone and Ann Penn, daughter of William Penn of Harborough Hall. He grew up surrounded by woods, fields, hills and lakes and this environment had a great influence on his life. He was well educated and went to Oxford where he met many poets and the sons of rich and important people. He is known to have visited his friends and been impressed by their large houses and fine gardens.
Although not the richest of men, if you were a poet with an eye for landscape gardening, you were set to become a success in 18th century society! His first poems were published for his friends and reflected his love of nature and the beauty of the countryside. The language of his poems was descriptive and flowery, but many had a melancholy air. 'The Schoolmistress' and 'The Judgement of Hercules' received praise from other poets.
He wrote poems about his lady friends and he wrote many letters to Lady Luxborough, but he never married, perhaps because his greatest love was landscaping the gardens and grounds of The Leasowes, with walks, pools and cascades. It was thought to be one of the most beautiful gardens in England. William died in 1763 but the grounds of the Leasowes are still open to the public, even though their glory is rather faded.
The next meeting of the Society is on Tuesday 28th October at 7.30 p.m. in the Church Hall, when Andy Shepherd will be giving a talk on 'Guiding and Scouting in Romsley and Hunnington'. The Court Rolls group will be meeting on Wednesday 12th November and Wednesday 10th December at 2.30 p.m. in the Church Hall.
Pat Evans
Our Annual Dinner took place on Friday 13th June at Blakedown Golf Club. It was a lovely warm evening and after an enjoyable meal the speaker, Michael Hall, gave a very interesting talk. He pointed out that history is full of instances of one event leading to another and that facts and making connections go hand in hand. Julian Hunt, our President, responded and said that much of the work on the Wills and Court Rolls was concerned with uncovering facts and connecting them, to bring together a picture of Romsley and Hunnington in times gone by.
At the meeting on Tuesday 24th June, the proposed speaker, Max Keen, had to postpone his talk until January 27. We were very grateful to John Billingham who agreed to give a talk instead. His subject was "The Edwardian Age".
When Queen Victoria died in 1901 her son, Albert Edward, who was born in 1841, succeeded to the throne as Edward VII. The Edwardian era had begun. Edward was a playboy prince. He loved horse racing, shooting, the theatre and generally having a good time. Although he was married to Queen Alexandra at the age of 21, he also had a string of mistresses throughout his life. There were many changes to the country in Edwardian times, which is usually thought of as the period before the First World War. It was a time of great social divide, with poverty for the poor and a life of luxury for the rich. In the large country houses you either belonged to upstairs or downstairs. The wealthy landowners had many servants who all knew their place.
Life was hard for the working class. Wages were low and the men had to work long hours in agriculture, industry, the mines, or the mills. There were reforms in education and the school leaving age was raised from 10 to 12 years and secondary schools were introduced. Women began to realise that they could play a more important role in the country and the suffragette movement, campaigning for votes for women, was formed.
There were many inventions in transport, instead of horse drawn vehicles, motor cars became popular, but only for the rich! The first flights over the English Channel and the Atlantic Ocean were made by aeroplanes. There was also the disastrous sinking of the Titanic and the failure of Scott's expedition to the South Pole.
King Edward VII was related to many of the rulers and royalty of Europe and he tried to keep the peace between them. He died in 1910 and his morals were reflected in the fact that both his wife, the Queen, and his last mistress were present at his death bed! For good or bad the Edwardian era had ended.
Pat Evans
© Romsley & Hunnington History Society, 2013-2022. View our Privacy Policy.
Website by Writing the Past. For technical queries contact the Webmaster.
Some contents of this website are taken from the book Romsley and Hunnington, a Millennium History,
written by Joe Hunt and Julian Hunt and published by the Parish Councils of Romsley and Hunnington, in association with the RHHS.
Please respect the copyright of our work and do not reproduce any of the information published on this website without permission.