Droitwich

Droitwich, a municipal borough in Worcestershire, on the Salwarpe, 6 miles NNE. of Worcester. It is a railway junction, and is connected by canal with the Severn. Originally a British town, and probably the Roman Salinae, it was first known as Wych, from the salt-springs, to which Droit was afterwards prefixed, expressing a legal right to them. Its chief trade is salt, for which it has been famous from remote times, the brine-springs yielding over 100,000 tons of salt a year. Pop. (1851) 4660; (1891) 4021. Droitwich sent one member to parliament until 1885. The saline baths here are now visited annually by thousands. See W. Bainbrigg's The Droitwich Salt Springs (1873).