Droitwich Spa
Encyclopedia
Droitwich Spa 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
.
times the village was known as Salinae and was located at the crossroads of several Roman road
s. 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, but since then it has grown considerably from overspill from Birmingham
with many housing estates being developed in the 1970s and '80s.
In July 2007, Droitwich was hit heavily by the UK-wide flooding
caused by some of the heaviest rainfall in many years. The flooding was pictured in UK-wide news, having flooded the majority of the heavily subsided high street. Many shops in the high street remained closed almost a 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 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 pan
s 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 centre 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 eight 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, 30 feet deep, and the deepest of the three pits, 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 redevelopment 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
Collectively known as the Droitwich Canal
, two canal
s 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 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).
s are also held regularly in Victoria Square.
In the central St Andrew's Square shopping precinct are several chain stores. 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.
Banks in the town include NatWest, HSBC
, Santander
, Lloyds TSB
, Halifax and Barclays. There are a number of estate agent
s.
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.
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.
, with one high school
: (Droitwich Spa High School
); two Middle school
s (Witton Middle School and Westacre Middle School); and nine First school
s (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.
In November 2011, Droitwich Spa High School
was judged to be 'inadequate' by OFSTED inspectors, who issued the school with an official notice to improve due to the school "performing significantly less well than in all the circumstances it could reasonably be expected to perform".
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 and a vibrant Salvation Army Hall.
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.
, Germany Gyula
, Hungary
(since 2001)http://teigntwin.co.uk/atoz/twins-d.htm Voiron
, France, (since 2010)
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
in northern Worcestershire
Worcestershire
Worcestershire is a non-metropolitan county, established in antiquity, located in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Warwickshire" NUTS 2 region...
, England, on the River Salwarpe
River Salwarpe
The River Salwarpe is a river in Worcestershire, England. Rising near Bromsgrove, it passes Stoke Prior, Upton Warren, Wychbold, Droitwich . After Droitwich, it meets the River Severn, at Hawford, . Andrew Yarranton attempted unsuccessfully to make it navigable in the 1660s....
.
The town is situated on massive deposits of salt
Salt
In chemistry, salts are ionic compounds that result from the neutralization reaction of an acid and a base. They are composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
, and salt has been extracted there since ancient times. The natural Droitwich brine
Brine
Brine is water, saturated or nearly saturated with salt .Brine is used to preserve vegetables, fruit, fish, and meat, in a process known as brining . Brine is also commonly used to age Halloumi and Feta cheeses, or for pickling foodstuffs, as a means of preserving them...
contains 2½ lbs. of salt per gallon
Gallon
The gallon is a measure of volume. Historically it has had many different definitions, but there are three definitions in current use: the imperial gallon which is used in the United Kingdom and semi-officially within Canada, the United States liquid gallon and the lesser used United States dry...
- ten times stronger than sea water and only rivalled by the Dead Sea
Dead Sea
The Dead Sea , also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. Its surface and shores are below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface. The Dead Sea is deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world...
.
History
In RomanAncient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
times the village was known as Salinae and was located at the crossroads of several Roman road
Roman road
The Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state, from about 500 BC through the expansion during the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire. Roman roads enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km...
s. Railway construction in 1847 revealed Roman mosaic
Mosaic
Mosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
pavements, and later excavations unearthed a Roman villa
Roman villa
A Roman villa is a villa that was built or lived in during the Roman republic and the Roman Empire. A villa was originally a Roman country house built for the upper class...
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
Sir Charles Hastings
Sir Charles Hastings was a medical surgeon and a founder of the British Medical Association, the BMA, originally Provincial Medical and Surgical Association on July 19, 1832....
from the Worcester
Worcester
The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...
Infirmary was the Physician.
Droitwich remained a fairly small town until the 1960s, when the population was still barely 7,000, but since then it has grown considerably from overspill from Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
with many housing estates being developed in the 1970s and '80s.
In July 2007, Droitwich was hit heavily by the UK-wide flooding
2007 United Kingdom floods
The 2007 United Kingdom floods were a series of destructive floods that occurred in various areas across the country during the summer of 2007. The most severe floods occurred across Northern Ireland on 12 June; East Yorkshire and The Midlands on 15 June; Yorkshire, The Midlands, Gloucestershire,...
caused by some of the heaviest rainfall in many years. The flooding was pictured in UK-wide news, having flooded the majority of the heavily subsided high street. Many shops in the high street remained closed almost a 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 AgesMiddle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
. Salt tax was levied by the King until it was abolished as a tax in 1825. The Wintour
Wintour
Wintour is a surname, and may refer to* Anna Wintour, the editor-in-chief of American Vogue.* Patrick Wintour, political editor of The Guardian.* Robert Wintour, one of the leading members of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot....
family, a local family owned up to 25 salt evaporating pan
Salt evaporation pond
Salt evaporation ponds, also called salterns or salt pans, are shallow artificial ponds designed to produce salts from sea water or other brines. The seawater or brine is fed into large ponds and water is drawn out through natural evaporation which allows the salt to be subsequently harvested...
s 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 centre 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 eight 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, 30 feet deep, and the deepest of the three pits, 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
Spa town
A spa town is a town situated around a mineral spa . Patrons resorted to spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. The word comes from the Belgian town Spa. In continental Europe a spa was known as a ville d'eau...
. 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
UK Geothermal Springs
This is a list of geothermal springs in the United Kingdom, otherwise known as hot springs* Tunbridge Wells, Kent thermal spring* Stoney Middleton Thermal Springs, Derbyshire 17.2 degrees C, 63 degrees F...
in the United Kingdom outside Bath, but it does not meet the most common definition of a hot spring
Hot spring
A hot spring is a spring that is produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater from the Earth's crust. There are geothermal hot springs in many locations all over the crust of the earth.-Definitions:...
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
John Corbett (industrialist)
John Corbett was an English industrialist, philanthropist and Liberal Party politician of the Victorian era. He is particularly associated with salt mining in Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire.- Family background :...
who built the nearby Chateau Impney
Chateau Impney
Chateau Impney is an imposing 19th century house built in the style of an elaborate French château near Droitwich Spa in Worcestershire, England...
for his French-Irish wife in the French 'chateau' style. He was responsible for the redevelopment of Droitwich as a Spa.
Opened in the 1930s was the town's lido
Lido
The Lido is an 11 km long sandbar located in Venice, northern Italy, home to about 20,000 residents. The Venice Film Festival takes place at the Lido every September.-Geography:...
, 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
Droitwich Spa Lido
The Droitwich Spa Lido is a lido in Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire, England. It is one of the few remaining inland, open-air salt-water swimming pools in the UK.-Brief history:...
Transport
Droitwich Canal
The Droitwich Canal is a synthesis of two canals in Worcestershire, England; the Droitwich Barge Canal and the Droitwich Junction Canal. The Barge Canal is a broad canal which opened in 1771 linking Droitwich Spa to the River Severn at Hawford Mill, Claines...
, two canal
Canal
Canals are man-made channels for water. There are two types of canal:#Waterways: navigable transportation canals used for carrying ships and boats shipping goods and conveying people, further subdivided into two kinds:...
s met in the town centre. These are the Droitwich Barge Canal built by James Brindley
James Brindley
James Brindley was an English engineer. He was born in Tunstead, Derbyshire, and lived much of his life in Leek, Staffordshire, becoming one of the most notable engineers of the 18th century.-Early life:...
in 1771 and the Droitwich Junction Canal built in 1854. The Junction canal linked Droitwich to the Worcester and Birmingham Canal
Worcester and Birmingham Canal
The Worcester and Birmingham Canal is a canal linking Birmingham and Worcester in England. It starts in Worcester, as an 'offshoot' of the River Severn and ends in Gas Street Basin in Birmingham. It is long....
. The canals were abandoned in 1939 but a restoration program saw them re-opened in 2011.
The railway station
Droitwich Spa railway station
Droitwich Spa railway station serves the town of Droitwich Spa in Worcestershire. It is located just to the south-west of Droitwich Spa Junction of the Worcester to Leamington Spa Line and the Worcester to Birmingham New Street Line...
, formerly on the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
, is just outside the town centre with trains to Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, Worcester
Worcester
The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...
, Kidderminster
Kidderminster
Kidderminster is a town, in the Wyre Forest district of Worcestershire, England. It is located approximately seventeen miles south-west of Birmingham city centre and approximately fifteen miles north of Worcester city centre. The 2001 census recorded a population of 55,182 in the town...
and Stourbridge
Stourbridge
Stourbridge is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, in the West Midlands of England. Historically part of Worcestershire, Stourbridge was a centre of glass making, and today includes the suburbs of Amblecote, Lye, Norton, Oldswinford, Pedmore, Wollaston, Wollescote and Wordsley The...
.
Broadcasting
Near Droitwich there is the central longwaveLongwave
In radio, longwave refers to parts of radio spectrum with relatively long wavelengths. The term is a historic one dating from the early 20th century, when the radio spectrum was considered to consist of long, medium and short wavelengths...
broadcasting facility of the UK (Wychbold
Wychbold
Wychbold is a village in the Wychavon district of Worcestershire, England. It is by junction 5 of the M5, and is on the A38 north-east of Droitwich, near to where they cross the River Salwarpe. Just outside the village on the A38 is Webbs of Wychbold, one of the UK's largest garden centres....
BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
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 local pubs and an eclectic mix of traditional shops. Farmers' marketFarmers' market
A farmers' market consists of individual vendors—mostly farmers—who set up booths, tables or stands, outdoors or indoors, to sell produce, meat products, fruits and sometimes prepared foods and beverages...
s are also held regularly in Victoria Square.
In the central St Andrew's Square shopping precinct are several chain stores. On July 14, 2005, Waitrose
Waitrose
Waitrose Limited is an upmarket chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom and is the food division of the British retailer and worker co-operative the John Lewis Partnership. Its head office is in Bracknell, Berkshire, England...
opened a new supermarket
Supermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
in the grounds of the old covered market, directly behind the heavily-subsided High Street. Also, in early 2008, a new Aldi
ALDI
ALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG, doing business as ', short for "Albrecht Discount", is a discount supermarket chain based in Germany...
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
Carpetright
Carpetright plc is one of the largest British retailers of floor coverings. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.-History:...
and Land of Leather
Land of Leather
Land of Leather was a furniture retail store based in Northfleet, Kent in the United Kingdom. It operated in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.- History :...
. The park already has DFS
DFS
-File systems:* Depth-first search, an algorithm for traversing or searching a tree* DCE Distributed File System * Disc Filing System, a filesystem developed by Acorn Computers...
and Homebase
Homebase
Homebase is a British home improvement store and garden centre, with 350 stores across the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. It is well known by its green and orange colour scheme. Together with its sister company Argos , it forms part of Home Retail Group. Homebase recorded sales figures...
stores. There is also a Spar on Oakland Avenue and a Tesco Express on Primsland.
Banks in the town include NatWest, HSBC
HSBC Bank (Europe)
HSBC Bank plc is one of the four major clearing banks in the United Kingdom and is a wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdings. The business ranges from the traditional High Street roles of personal finance and commercial banking, to private banking, consumer finance as well as corporate and...
, Santander
Santander
-People:*Francisco de Paula Santander , a Colombian military and political leader born in Cúcuta*Kike Santander , a Colombian composer and record producer born in Santiago de Cali...
, Lloyds TSB
Lloyds TSB
Lloyds TSB Bank Plc is a retail bank in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1995 by the merger of Lloyds Bank, established in Birmingham, England in 1765 and traditionally considered one of the Big Four clearing banks, with the TSB Group which traces its origins to 1810...
, Halifax and Barclays. There are a number of estate agent
Estate agent
An estate agent is a person or business that arranges the selling, renting or management of properties, and other buildings, in the United Kingdom and Ireland. An agent that specialises in renting is often called a letting or management agent...
s.
Lido
Until the late 1990s Droitwich Spa LidoDroitwich Spa Lido
The Droitwich Spa Lido is a lido in Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire, England. It is one of the few remaining inland, open-air salt-water swimming pools in the UK.-Brief history:...
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
Lido
The Lido is an 11 km long sandbar located in Venice, northern Italy, home to about 20,000 residents. The Venice Film Festival takes place at the Lido every September.-Geography:...
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
Chateau Impney
Chateau Impney is an imposing 19th century house built in the style of an elaborate French château near Droitwich Spa in Worcestershire, England...
, built in the style of a traditional French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
chateau
Château
A château is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally—and still most frequently—in French-speaking regions...
, which is now a hotel, restaurant and conference centre. In Droitwich, The Raven Hotel is a wattle and daub
Wattle and daub
Wattle and daub is a composite building material used for making walls, in which a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle is daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung and straw...
hotel that holds a central position within the town.
Droitwich Spa High School and Feeder establishments
The Droitwich Spa pyramid of schools works on a three tier systemThree-tier education
Three-tier education refers to those structures of schooling, which exist in some parts of England, where pupils are taught in three distinct school types. A similar experiment was also trialled in Scotland....
, with one high school
Upper school
Upper Schools tend to be schools within secondary education. Outside England, the term normally refers to a section of a larger school. There is some variation in the use of the term in England.-State Maintained Schools:...
: (Droitwich Spa High School
Droitwich Spa High School
Droitwich Spa High School is a Secondary school and specialist Sports College in Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire, England It serves the town of Droitwich Spa and the surrounding villages with 1395 students enrolled, including 276 students in the sixth form...
); two Middle school
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
s (Witton Middle School and Westacre Middle School); and nine First school
First School
First school and lower school are terms used in some areas of the United Kingdom to describe the first stage of primary education. Some English Local Education Authorities have introduced First Schools since the 1960s...
s (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.
In November 2011, Droitwich Spa High School
Droitwich Spa High School
Droitwich Spa High School is a Secondary school and specialist Sports College in Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire, England It serves the town of Droitwich Spa and the surrounding villages with 1395 students enrolled, including 276 students in the sixth form...
was judged to be 'inadequate' by OFSTED inspectors, who issued the school with an official notice to improve due to the school "performing significantly less well than in all the circumstances it could reasonably be expected to perform".
Places of worship
There are six churches in Droitwich including the AnglicanChurch of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
churches of
St. Andrew's, a Norman
Norman architecture
About|Romanesque architecture, primarily English|other buildings in Normandy|Architecture of Normandy.File:Durham Cathedral. Nave by James Valentine c.1890.jpg|thumb|200px|The nave of Durham Cathedral demonstrates the characteristic round arched style, though use of shallow pointed arches above the...
building where St Richard
Richard of Chichester
Richard of Chichester is a saint who was Bishop of Chichester...
was probably baptised, The church tower was demolished in the 1920s after becoming dangerous due to land subsidence
Subsidence
Subsidence is the motion of a surface as it shifts downward relative to a datum such as sea-level. The opposite of subsidence is uplift, which results in an increase in elevation...
; St. Augustine
Augustine of Canterbury
Augustine of Canterbury was a Benedictine monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597...
's at Dodderhill
Dodderhill
Dodderhill is a village and civil parish, near Droitwich, Worcestershire, England, located on the River Salwarpe. The parish is bisected by the M5 motorway, constructed in 1962...
, completed in 1220 and rebuilt in the 18th century on a hill which was the site of a former a Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
fort and a later Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon architecture
Anglo-Saxon architecture was a period in the history of architecture in England, and parts of Wales, from the mid-5th century until the Norman Conquest of 1066. Anglo-Saxon secular buildings in Britain were generally simple, constructed mainly using timber with thatch for roofing...
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
Edward Winslow
Edward Winslow was an English Pilgrim leader on the Mayflower. He served as the governor of Plymouth Colony in 1633, 1636, and finally in 1644...
, one of the Pilgrim Fathers who was born in the parish. St. Nicholas which was built Victorian times, near the railway station
Droitwich Spa railway station
Droitwich Spa railway station serves the town of Droitwich Spa in Worcestershire. It is located just to the south-west of Droitwich Spa Junction of the Worcester to Leamington Spa Line and the Worcester to Birmingham New Street Line...
; and the Roman Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart and St Catherine of Alexandria
The Church of the Sacred Heart and St Catherine of Alexandria
The Church of the Sacred Heart and St Catherine of Alexandria is a Catholic church situated in Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire, England, noted for its remarkable mosaics.-The Mosaics:...
, on a building styled on the Roman basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
churches of Ravenna
Ravenna
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...
in Italy, and having the feature of the interior walls being covered almost entirely of mosaic and marble designed by Gabriel Pippet
Gabriel Pippet
Gabriel Pippet was an English artist.Pippet was born in Solihull in 1880. As well as being was an artist, he was known as an illustrator and a wood carver. Pippet's work was influenced by Pre-Raphaelites, the Arts and Crafts Movement, and medieval manuscript design...
.
There are also a number of other chapels including Methodist, Baptist and a vibrant Salvation Army Hall.
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 regularlySport
Droitwich leisure centreLeisure centre
A leisure centre in the UK and Canada is a purpose built building or site, usually owned and operated by the city, borough council or municipal district council, where people go to keep fit or relax through using the facilities.- Typical Facilities :...
at Briar Mill has gym
Gym
The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...
facilities, sports halls, a swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size 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
Grand National Archery Society
The Grand National Archery Society is the governing body for the sport of archery in the United Kingdom. Under this main body are 8 Regional Societies and then many different county societies. It is affiliated to FITA, the Fédération Internationale de Tir à l'Arc and is a member of the British...
. Other local sports include boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
, football, judo
Judo
is a modern martial art and combat sport created in Japan in 1882 by Jigoro Kano. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw or takedown one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an...
, Tae Kwon Do, Karate
Karate
is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Islands in what is now Okinawa, Japan. It was developed from indigenous fighting methods called and Chinese kenpō. Karate is a striking art using punching, kicking, knee and elbow strikes, and open-handed techniques such as knife-hands. Grappling, locks,...
, Ju Jitsu and tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
.
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 RichardRichard of ChichesterRichard of Chichester is a saint who was Bishop of Chichester...
, Bishop of ChichesterBishop of ChichesterThe Bishop of Chichester is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Chichester in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the Counties of East and West Sussex. The see is in the City of Chichester where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity...
, was born in Droitwich in 1197 - John HemingesJohn HemingesJohn Heminges was an English Renaissance actor. Most noted now as one of the editors of William Shakespeare's 1623 First Folio, Heminges served in his time as an actor and financial manager for the King's Men.-Life:Heminges was born in Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire in 1556...
, born in Droitwich in about 1556, was an actor in William ShakespeareWilliam ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's company - Edward WinslowEdward WinslowEdward Winslow was an English Pilgrim leader on the Mayflower. He served as the governor of Plymouth Colony in 1633, 1636, and finally in 1644...
, one of the Pilgrim Fathers was born in the town in 1595. - Rik MayallRik MayallRichard Michael "Rik" Mayall is an English comedian, writer, and actor. He is known for his comedy partnership with Ade Edmondson, his over-the-top, energetic portrayal of characters, and as a pioneer of alternative comedy in the early 1980s...
- actor and writer in The Comic StripThe Comic StripThe Comic Strip is a group of British comedians, known for their television series The Comic Strip Presents.... The core members are Adrian Edmondson, Dawn French, Rik Mayall, Nigel Planer, Peter Richardson and Jennifer Saunders, with frequent appearances by Keith Allen, Robbie Coltrane and...
, The Young OnesThe Young Ones (TV series)The Young Ones is a British sitcom, first broadcast in 1982, which ran for two series on BBC2. Its anarchic, offbeat humour helped bring alternative comedy to television in the 1980s and made household names of its writers and performers...
, BottomBottom (TV series)Bottom was a British sitcom television series that originally aired on BBC2 between 1991 and 1995. It was written by comic duo Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson who star as Richie and Eddie, two flatmates living on the dole in Hammersmith, London...
and other TV programmes, lived in Droitwich when he was a child. - Ashley GilesAshley GilesAshley Fraser Giles MBE is a retired English cricketer. Giles played the entirety of his 14-year first-class career at Warwickshire County Cricket Club where he is now employed as Director of Cricket...
- England cricketCricketCricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er lives in Droitwich and in 2005 was made an honorary citizen of the town. - Matt NealMatt NealMatthew Neal is a British motor racing driver. He won the British Touring Car Championship in 2005, 2006 and 2011. He has also won a European Touring Car Championship race. He is 6' 6" tall, making him almost entirely unable to race single-seaters...
, British Touring Car Championships champion. - John BickertonJohn BickertonJohn Edward Bickerton is an English golfer.Bickerton was born in Redditch, England. He turned professional in 1991....
, European Tour Golfer. - John CorbettJohn Corbett (industrialist)John Corbett was an English industrialist, philanthropist and Liberal Party politician of the Victorian era. He is particularly associated with salt mining in Droitwich Spa, Worcestershire.- Family background :...
, "Salt King" - Graham OakeyGraham OakeyGraham Oakey is an English former football player. Oakey made 88 league appearances for Coventry City.Born in Droitwich, Worcestershire in 1954, Graham was a product of Coventry's youth development system. He made his league debut in a home 2-2 draw against Manchester City in September 1974...
, professional footballer for Coventry City in the 1970s born in Droitwich in 1954. - Cyril HarrisonCyril HarrisonCyril Stanley Harrison was an English cricketer: a left-handed batsman and slow left arm bowler who made 17 first-class appearances for Worcestershire in 1934 and 1935....
, professional cricketerCricketerA cricketer is a person who plays the sport of cricket. Official and long-established cricket publications prefer the traditional word "cricketer" over the rarely used term "cricket player"....
who made 17 first-class cricketFirst-class cricketFirst-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...
appearances for the Worcestershire County Cricket ClubWorcestershire County Cricket ClubWorcestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Worcestershire...
in 1934 and 1935. - Charlie GreenCharlie Green (singer)Charlie Green is an English-singer from Droitwich, Worcestershire, England. Green is best known for appearing on the second series of the British television talent contest Britain's Got Talent....
, singer
Twinning
Bad EmsBad Ems
Bad Ems is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the county seat of the Rhein-Lahn rural district and is well known as a bathing resort on the river Lahn...
, Germany Gyula
Gyula, Hungary
Gyula is a city in Békés county in south-eastern Hungary. It lies close to the border with Romania, on the river Fehér-Körös.-History:The first recorded reference to Gyula was in a document dated 1313 which mentions a monastery called Gyulamonostor . By 1332 the settlement around the monastery was...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
(since 2001)http://teigntwin.co.uk/atoz/twins-d.htm Voiron
Voiron
Voiron is a commune in the Isère department in south-eastern France.- History :Voiron long formed part of Savoy, but in 1355 was exchanged by the count with France for Faucigny and Gex.Historical population:* 1901: 12,625- Geography :Voiron stands at a height of 950 ft., on the Morge Voiron...
, France, (since 2010)
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