Droitwich Spa
Droitwich Spa is a town in northern
Worcestershire,
England, on the
River Salwarpe and has a population of 22,585 (
2001). The town is situated on massive deposits of
salt, and salt has been extracted there since ancient times. The natural Droitwich
brine contains 2 1/2 lb of salt per
gallon - ten times stronger than sea water and only rivaled by the
Dead Sea [
1].
In the time of the Romans, it was known as "Salinae", and several
Roman roads ran to the town.
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 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. Originally a target population of some 45,000 was in the offing, but it is at present about half that.
Salt and Brine
Salt was extracted by pumping up saturated brine from the salt deposits, and evaporating the brine; over the years the removal of enormous quantities of salt from the substrata of the town led to considerable, if gradual, subsidence in some parts of the town; one photograph from the early 20th century shows one Droitwich house tilted at a considerable angle from the vertical.
In the
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 original Brine Baths have long since closed, but a new brine bath (part of the Droitwich Spa private hospital) is open to the public for relaxation and hydrotherapy.
The salt industry was industrialised and developed in the 19th century by
John Corbett who built the nearby
Chateau Impney.
Opened in the
1930s was the town's
lido, a large open-air swimming pool, which used diluted brine from beneath the town. See:
Droitwich Spa LidoTransport
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.Plans are currently being made to re-connect the Junction Canal to the Worcester and Birmingham Canal at
Hanbury and to re-connect the Barge Canal to the
River Severn at
Hawford.
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,
AM transmitter Droitwich. 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
In 2005
Waitrose opened a new
supermarket in the grounds of the old covered market, directly behind the heavily-subsided High Street, Droitwich Town centre also has a
Morrisons. Other shops in the central shopping precinct include:
Boots the Chemist,
W H Smith,
Peacocks,
Wilsons Pet Store,
Argos (soon to be built) and
Wilkinsons.
There are a range of banks represented in the town, including
NatWest,
HSBC,
Alliance & Leicester,
Lloyds TSB,
Halifax and
Barclays.
Lido
Until the late-90s
Droitwich Spa Lido was open as a public open-air salt-water swimming pool. Since then various schemes have come and gone, legal/commercial arguments continue as to the viability of re-building and reopening this facility. Recently, an open air water play area has been revealed, after many years of speculation as to what would happen with this site.
However many Spa residents are disgruntled that they or their children will not have the facilities of an outdoor lido like the past generation of Droitwich Spa residents.
The Lido Park remains a pleasant and popular space, with Droitwich Cricket Ground on its edge.
|
Westwood House, Droitwich |
Entertainment
The Norbury Theatre hosts regular shows year-round.Much of the Norbury Theatre Building has been turned into apartments.
Droitwich has a selection of eat-in and take-out restaurants.
There are currently no late night clubs in Droitwich, with many people choosing to go to Worcester or even Birmingham for a night out. There are of plenty of pubs in Droitwich including: The Fox and Goose, The Riflemans Arms, The Star and Garter, The Hop Pole, The Red Lion,The Talbot, Barley Mow, The Doverdale and The Castle.
Of these pubs, the Red Lion has taken on 24-hour licencing.
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 Peters, St Josephs, Tibberton, Westlands and Wychbold First Schools). There is also a fee paying private school, Whitford and Dodderhill.
Until the late 80s another middle school existed called St. Richard De Wych, C of E. This school was closed and the land built on with further housing development in the Westlands Estate (Formerly known as 'Boycott Estate')
Places of Worship
The Church of the Sacred Heart and St Catherine of Alexandria. This Droitwich church is one of the most remarkable in England as it is covered in
mosaics.
Football
Droitwich Spa Football Club
Rugby
Droitwich Rugby Football Club
*
Rik Mayall - actor and writer in The Comic Strip, The Young Ones, Bottom and many other TV programmes.
*
Edward Winslow, one of the
Pilgrim Fathers was born in the town in
1595.
*
Ashley Giles, famous Ashes hero in
2005.
*
Matt Neal, BTCC champion.
*
Bad Ems,
Germany*
Around Droitwich (Archive Photograph Series) - ISBN 0752407473
*
Droitwich in Old Photographs - ISBN 0862994217
*
The Droitwich Discovery - ISBN 057312146X
*
Droitwich RFC *
Droitwich Advertiser (local newspaper) *
The Brine Baths *
Droitwich Spa Football Club*
The Church of the Sacred Heart and St Catherine of Alexandria*
Droitwich Spa High School
