Latest Book written by John Richard Hodges
Chateau Impney - The Story of a Victorian Country House
Impney Hall was built between 1869 and 1875 for John Corbett the ‘Worcestershire Salt King’ and his wife Anna and their family. John Corbett rose from the son of a Delph canal boat carrier to become one of the most successful entrepreneurs of his age. This book tells the story of this extremely wealthy industrialist and great philanthropist and of his splendid Victorian Mansion ‘Impney Hall.’
Each of the chapters tells a different part of the story of this Victorian country house, through the second part of Queen Victoria’s reign and into the 20th and 21st Centuries. This is the story of a splendid Victorian Country mansion and of the incredible periods of English history its life has spanned.
Here is a brief outline of the first three chapters of the book:
The first chapter deals with John Corbett giving a brief outline of his life and career. Chapter two looks at the splendid Victorian mansion, which is the subject of this book and the Chapter three looks at the gardens and the park which John and Anna created at Impney.
Chapters four to nine view the history of the mansion through the 20th and into the 21st Century. Hopefully people will enjoy the story of this unique country house and find much of interest and encounter a few pleasant surprises.
John Corbett - Chapter I
‘The story of Impney Mansion is virtually the story of Droitwich itself, from the Victorian Era onwards; its history as strange and fascinating as one of the classic novels of that period, the characters strutting its stage as wild and turbulent as any that peopled them.
The figure of John Corbett, Esq., MP, emerges, clear cut and vigorous, virtually owning the town of Droitwich; a hard headed Victorian, amassing wealth on a prestigious scale, and spending with equal lavishness in order to gratify the sentimental whim that was to provide a chateau in England for his French bride.’
So wrote Ralph Edwards in his beautifully illustrated brochure produced by his ‘Ralph Edwards Enterprises Company’ when the Chateau was opened to the public in 1949.
John and Anna Corbett:-courtesy of St. Augustine’s Church & Stuart Denlegh-Maxwell ©
This first chapter outlines the story of John Corbett (1817-1901)showing the incredible life of this enterprising Victorian. John Corbett was a man of ambition and pride, a man who was one of the most generous philanthropists of his age. A self-made entrepreneur whose early life started as the son of a Delph canal boat carrier anc became one of the richest and most successful men in England.
John Corbett amassed a fortune which was spent helping his fellow men in terms of schools, houses, a model village for his workpeople at Stoke Works and the restoration of many churches and cathedrals. He helped the poor, built and funded hospitals and almshouses and became the Liberal candidate for Droitwich in 1874 and for the district of Mid-Worcestershire when the political areas merged. John was an MP from 1874 until 1892 when he retired from politics. Towards the end of his life his various titles were many and after a lifetime of service it seems a pity Queen Victoria did not feel him worthy of a title- something he would have enjoyed a great deal.
‘John Corbett Esquire of Impney Mansion, Justice of the Peace, Deputy Lieutenant of Merionethshire and Member of Parliament. He was a Commissioner of the Severn Navigation, Director of the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, the Gloucester Ship Canal and Sharpness Docks, Associate Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Member of the Royal Historical Society, the Harleian and Cymmrodorian Societies, and the Sanitary Society.’
Impney Mansion - Chapter II
This tells the story of John and Anna’s ‘fantastic’ French Chateau built in the Worcestershire countryside. Chateau Impney is a house for which it was stated: ‘…so well planned and built it will still be there in a 1000 years time. This may be true and only time will tell, but it is a magnificent Victorian mansion planned and constructed down to the smallest detail. The fine house to reflect the status and success of John, his wife Anna and his family and was filled with finest furniture, china, books and paintings to equal any of his contemporaries.
The Park and Gardens - Chapter III
It shows the layout of the magnificent park with the red and fallow deer which John and his family would have seen from the windows of the house and the 3000 trees which John planted in the park and the grounds of the mansion.
