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