Droitwich has a role in period TV drama The Last Kingdom, which is based on Bernard Cornwell’s series of novels about Anglo-Saxon Britain.

Set in the late 9th century, one of the locations for the action is a place called Saltwic in the Kingdom of Mercia. In the period the drama is set, Droitwich was known as Saltwic (the ‘wic’ meaning an important trading centre) and the salt industry was controlled by the King of Mercia, who had a palace in nearby Wychbold.

The Last Kingdom also had a minor character called Godric of Droitwich.

Historians tell us that after the Romans left Droitwich, the Anglo-Saxons constructed salt furnaces and the town became England’s foremost salt producing centre. In 1086, William The Conqueror’s inventory of England mentioned Droitwich 25 times, compared to Worcester’s paltry 11.