John Corbett
(1817-1901)
John Corbett, also known as 'The Salt King', owned a thriving
salt works on the banks of the Worcester and Birmingham Canal at
Stoke Prior, near Droitwich Spa. He revolutionised the
commercial manufacture of salt through his discovery of extracting
it from beneath the ground by pumping in large volumes of water and
sucking out the resultant brine. Corbett then used giant
evaporating pans to separate the salt from the water. Corbett
was a philanthropic employer and did much to improve the working
and living conditions for his employees as testified by a stained
glass window in St Michael's Church, Stoke Prior, that was paid for
by local folk.
Corbett, who was also MP for Droitwich Spa and Mid
Worcestershire, amassed a fortune from his works at Stoke Prior and
sold his business to the Salt Union Ltd for £660,000 in 1888.
He built himself a grand house near Droitwich Spa called
'Chateau Impney', now a hotel and conference centre. Corbett
also bought St. Andrew's House and turned it into The Raven Hotel
and built the Worcestershire Brine Baths Hotel, both in Droitwich
Spa. Corbett's influence can also be found in the almshouses 'for
decayed salt makers' at nearby Wychbold. He also paid for the
re-building of Droitwich Spa railway station and made numerous
other gifts including the rebuilding of the church at Stoke
Prior.
John Corbett died in 1901 and is buried in the churchyard at St
Michael's in Stoke Prior.
