Town Tour - Walk the Walk or Ride the Ride
Droitwich Spa sign
Turning around and retrace your route back towards town and you will pass one of the wooden signs for Droitwich Spa depicting a man making salt.
Shortly on your right you will come to Church Road.
Turn up the road and follow it all the way to St. Augustine’s Church on Dodderhill.
The remains of two roman forts have been found in this area.
During excavations in 1977 & 1985, 85 objects of pottery, bronze and coins were found.
St. Augustine’s ChurchA Norman church stood here in 1220 AD.
The church was originally built in the shape of a cross with a tower in the centre. It is thought subsidence caused the church to be redesigned and strengthened. The north transept is part of the twelfth century building and it was re-faced with brickwork around 1840.
Subsidence has been a continual problem causing distortion of floor levels. John Corbett who was patron of the Church of England Living of Dodderhill was instrumental in the restoration of the Church. Captain Norbury is also buried here. It has been rumoured that there is a secret passage from Dodderhill to Norbury House in the town, but this is extremely unlikely.
From the churchyard you can obtain a panoramic view over the town and countryside.
Leave the church grounds either by returning down the road to where it joins Crutch Lane and then right down Crutch Lane to the A38 or in the far left hand corner of the churchyard there is a footpath leading down to the side of the railway bridge on the A38.
Passing under the railway bridge turn right into Vines Lane. The slopes of the hill used to be a huge vineyard in Roman times, hence the name Vines Lane. Below in the Salwarpe Valley were the salt pits. There were probably five of these each surrounded by evaporating pans made of lead.
The Romans built straight roads radiating out from Droitwich Spa to carry salt to their legions in different parts of Britain. Vines Lane is now a cul-de-sac and as you proceed up the road you will see that it divides with an island in the middle. This island is the site of a well. It was filled in years ago, but the brine still came to the surface and the road was divided to avoid the wet area. In 1977 a spring appeared again and covered the area with salt, but the spring has now been capped.
Gardner’s Arms Public HouseAt the end of the island you will see the Gardner’s Arms Public House and this is an opportunity to stop for refreshments.
Opposite the Gardner’s Arms there is a bridge over the river Salwarpe into Vines Park and just to one side is a statue of St. Richard de Wyche.
St. Richard de WycheThis was once a place of pilgrimage with flowers being brought every year on April 3rd. Once in the 13th century the main salt pit at Upwych dried up and Richard de Wyche, as he was at that time, blessed the well and the brine ran again.
He later became Bishop of Chichester and following his death was made a Saint.
In Vines Park the river Salwarpe and the canal run parallel. In 1767 James Brindley, the first real civil engineer, surveyed the route for a canal to join Droitwich to the River Severn at Grimley and this led to a six mile canal being opened on March 12th 1771.
This allowed vessels to sail from the Salt Wharfs in Droitwich, taking their cargos directly to the port of Bristol.
These vessels were known as Trows and for the salt trade had were developed into a special version, which became known as With Barge or “witches”. Their masts were on winches to allow them to sail under bridges and they were able to take the maximum cargo on a shallow draught.
CanalThe canal was necessary because the River Salwarpe was often too low in summer for the transportation of the salt.
Follow the canal towpath to the second swing bridge where you need to make a decision.
Canal BasinYou can either cross over the bridge back into the town or continue on the towpath to the canal basin with the Railway Public House at the top end (another chance to stop for refreshments).
However, you will need to retrace your steps afterwards back to the swing bridge.