It’s not unusual for people travelling along the A38 just north of Droitwich to do a double take. For standing in lovely landscaped grounds is a French chateau.

John Corbett, the leading light in the local salt industry in the 19th century (see separate entry) built the magnificent house in the style of Louis XIII following a business trip to Paris in 1855.

While in Paris, he was enchanted by a beautiful girl named Hannah (Anna) Eliza O’Meara, who had been brought up by her Irish parents in the French capital. The following year, Corbett returned to Paris to marry Hannah and they set up home in the Bromsgrove area, having five children together by 1867.

In 1868, Corbett stood for parliament as the Liberal candidate but was heavily defeated by the sitting Tory member for Droitwich, Sir John Pakington, who owned the magnificent Westwood House (see Westwood).

That same year, perhaps still licking his wounds, he bought the Manor of Impney then found a French architect to design a French chateau to impress his wife (and, perhaps, Pakington). The manor house was demolished and the immensely wealthy Corbett spared no expense either on the new chateau’s construction or its furnishings.

Over 3,000 men were involved in the construction of the chateau and its 120 acres of parkland, which featured lakes, waterfalls and tropical gardens.

It was finished in 1875, one year after Corbett had got his revenge on his rival Pakington, defeating him by 787 votes to 401 in the general election. However, the chateau was not a happy home for the Corbetts. If the plan had been to make Hannah feel more at home in England, it failed, and the couple separated within 10 years.

Corbett died 1901, and 46 years later the building became the well-regarded Chateau Impney Hotel, playing host to many famous faces including George Bernard Shaw. It closed during the Covid pandemic.

Click here for some nice drone footage of the Chateau Impney