Titus’s father, Daniel, founded a Bradford business as a wool-stapler. In 1824, Titus joined his dad’s business, Daniel Salt and Son, expanding with a spinning business in Thornton Rd in 1834. By then Bradford was a magnet for people seeking work or a business; the city experienced a 78% population growth in 30 years due to the raw-wool-cloth industry. Alas Bradford mills flooded untreated industrial waste.
Mill
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But to escape the polluted and overcrowded Bradford slums for greener pastures, he decided to relocate his business and his employees. Local architects Henry Lockwood & Richard Mawson planned a new community where Salt’s work force would be healthier, happier and more productive. Work began in 1851 and continued for decades. Salt planned for a wide range of public buildings and amenities, so work soon commenced on Saltaire’s industrial community. In Aug 1854 Lockwood & Mawson hired contractors in the local press to erect a large dining hall opposite the mill with offices & kitchen. The Dining Hall fed the mill’s workforce, who mainly lived outside the site.
The vast, ultra-efficient textile factory was the first building completed. Then, moved by Bradford workers’ poor living conditions, and his religion, Salt decided to create an industrial town named Saltaire in rural surroundings, named from Salt and from the River Aire flowing in the village.
Titus purchased land near Shipley and the Mill opened with great fanfare Sept 1853, Salt’s 50th birthday. The mill took in raw materials, scour, wash, comb, draw, spin and weave, design and finish these materials into high quality cloth. Its 3,000 workers could produce 30,000 yards of cloth daily.
Workers' cottages
Wiki
Then they designed the entire village in a classical style inspired by the Italian Renaissance. The Salts Mill and the decent houses were built from 1851-71 to allow workers to live decently, locating a large textile mill near Leeds-Liverpool Canal & railway, so his raw materials and finished goods could be easily moved. Salt planned his workers’ village with public buildings that were impressive looking and well designed for purpose. Lockwood & Mawson planned a new community where Salt’s workforce would be healthier, happier & productive. Work began 1851 and continued until 1876. A vast and modern textile factory, the Mill, was ready first. Lockwood & Mawson designed it all in a classical It-alian Renaissance style. The finest work was Congregational Church, set in a spacious land-scaped garden. The new church was opened in Ap 1859, a precious Victorian gem. It boasts important architectural and historical features; now the United Reformed Church is set in landscaped gardens.
Congregational Church, and later United Reformed Church
Real Yorkshire Blog
In Jan 1886, Titus Salt Jr proposed that holding an Arts Exhibition at Saltaire could raise funds for a new building for Art-Science education and to honour his dad. The Exhibition Building was completed in 1887. It housed 14 large class rooms, central hall and gallery - the Institute of Technology and now a main site for Shipley College.
Discover the mill workers, the residents of the village and their education and leisure interests. During the early C19th Titus Salt achieved great success in the textiles industry in the growing Yorkshire town of Bradford. By mid-century Bradford had become hugely overcrowded and insanitary.
The Mausoleum built onto the church has Titus' remains. Although a committed Congregationalist, Titus was not restrictive about religious worship in his town. He didn't compel his workforce to attend a church. In Oct 1866, laying a stone for a new Wesleyan Chapel was celebrated.
Discover the mill workers, the residents of the village and their education and leisure interests. During the early C19th Titus Salt achieved great success in the textiles industry in the growing Yorkshire town of Bradford. By mid-century Bradford had become hugely overcrowded and insanitary.
The Mausoleum built onto the church has Titus' remains. Although a committed Congregationalist, Titus was not restrictive about religious worship in his town. He didn't compel his workforce to attend a church. In Oct 1866, laying a stone for a new Wesleyan Chapel was celebrated.
Factory School, opened 1868
now Shipley College Salts Building
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The lofty hall gave space for the Factory School, church services, Sunday school, reading room & library. There was space for 500+ to attend social events, concerts, lectures on current issues & celebrations. The Factory Schools opened in 1868 on Victoria Rd, for 750 people. The classrooms had central heating, gas lighting and fitted cupboards.
Playgrounds behind the schools included covered areas for use in bad weather. Titus and his 5th son Titus Jr were modern thinking in establishing well-provisioned education, but the new school’s capacity was soon insufficient to meet children requiring education. Space was made available for art and science education in the Saltaire Club and Institute opposite the schools.
Victoria Hall
Alarmy
Salt Schools on Victoria Rd, Institute and Victoria Hall were built by John Barry, opening 1871. The facilities were huge, containing a lecture hall seating 800, classrooms, 2 art rooms, chess rooms, laboratory, gym, library of 8,500 books, reading room and concert venue; their task was to provide a social club and an educational institute to supply the advantages of a public house without its evils. Its ornamental belltower is seen throughout the village. Titus was keen to see adults self-improving. Building the Factory Schools was followed by a grand project opposite the new school.
Salt Hospital, with hospital marker under top window
later converted to flats
2 storeyed Salt Hospital in Victoria Rd had an Infirmary and Dispensary with 6 beds and was well equipped to perform surgical operations. As demand for its services grew, it began to provide treatment for the local community plus for mill workers, closing in 1979 to become flats.
The residential area covers just 25+ acres and eventually consisted of 21 streets, 2 roads, 2 terraces and 4 places. 850 quality houses of varying sizes (2-7 bedrooms) were built in William Henry St, house occupancy being dependant on ability to pay the graded rents. and many shops completed the model village. The houses ranged, all superior to working-class houses in nearby Bradford and Shipley. They had a proper drainage system; water and gas were supplied to each house, and each had a back yard and a private toilet. The streets were built to be open-ended to let in sun and air. By 1871 the community had 4,389 residents. The range of shops built included grocers, chemist, post office, butchers, hardware shops and retail facilities. Once complete, the village comprised 800+ high quality homes, two churches, school, park, adult education institute, hospital, baths, washhouse and 45 almshouses for the aged or infirmed within the community, fronted by a peaceful trees and plants. Almhouse occupants were personally selected by Salt during his lifetime and later by a board of trustees. Once accepted, the tenants lived rent free and received a weekly pension. The census showed that Saltaire had 4,389 people.
Salt later improved conditions eg see the very impressive Victoria Rd School site 1869. The rich outer architecture honoured education and the classes suited the 750 pupils. This imposing building was soon outgrown by Saltaire’s burgeoning population. The Salt family lobbied for a new school and by 1878 it had been built. Not as charming, but big enough to cope with demand. This school is now part of Shipley College, Victoria Rd. Its Italianate richly carved architecture has columned loggias, round-topped windows, overhanging eaves, turret & school bell. The centre displays Salt’s coat of arms in a roundel surrounded by laurel leaves, scrolls and relief carvings. The school was for workers’ children, parks, boats and games. Leisure activities included a boys’ drum-&-fife band and brass band for village men. Titus Jr & wife strongly wanted education for the under-5s, leading to a separate pre-school.
By combining quality housing, employment, recreation, educational facilities and social services, the model town embodied a special example of progressive C19th urban planning. The building phase was nearly completed in 1871 when the census showed Saltaire had 755 houses and 45 alms houses, for 4,389 people.
Titus died in 1876 and was interred in the mausoleum beside the Congregational church. When his son Titus Salt Jr died in 1887, Saltaire was taken over by a partnership including Sir James Roberts from Haworth. Roberts had worked in wool mills since he was 11, had sizable business interests in Russia. Roberts came to own Saltaire, but chose to invest his money heavily in Russia, losing much money in the Russian Revolution. He endowed a chair of Russian at Leeds Uni and bought the Brontës' Haworth Parsonage for the nation. Roberts died in 1935 and was buried at Fairlight Sussex.
The residential area covers just 25+ acres and eventually consisted of 21 streets, 2 roads, 2 terraces and 4 places. 850 quality houses of varying sizes (2-7 bedrooms) were built in William Henry St, house occupancy being dependant on ability to pay the graded rents. and many shops completed the model village. The houses ranged, all superior to working-class houses in nearby Bradford and Shipley. They had a proper drainage system; water and gas were supplied to each house, and each had a back yard and a private toilet. The streets were built to be open-ended to let in sun and air. By 1871 the community had 4,389 residents. The range of shops built included grocers, chemist, post office, butchers, hardware shops and retail facilities. Once complete, the village comprised 800+ high quality homes, two churches, school, park, adult education institute, hospital, baths, washhouse and 45 almshouses for the aged or infirmed within the community, fronted by a peaceful trees and plants. Almhouse occupants were personally selected by Salt during his lifetime and later by a board of trustees. Once accepted, the tenants lived rent free and received a weekly pension. The census showed that Saltaire had 4,389 people.
Salt later improved conditions eg see the very impressive Victoria Rd School site 1869. The rich outer architecture honoured education and the classes suited the 750 pupils. This imposing building was soon outgrown by Saltaire’s burgeoning population. The Salt family lobbied for a new school and by 1878 it had been built. Not as charming, but big enough to cope with demand. This school is now part of Shipley College, Victoria Rd. Its Italianate richly carved architecture has columned loggias, round-topped windows, overhanging eaves, turret & school bell. The centre displays Salt’s coat of arms in a roundel surrounded by laurel leaves, scrolls and relief carvings. The school was for workers’ children, parks, boats and games. Leisure activities included a boys’ drum-&-fife band and brass band for village men. Titus Jr & wife strongly wanted education for the under-5s, leading to a separate pre-school.
By combining quality housing, employment, recreation, educational facilities and social services, the model town embodied a special example of progressive C19th urban planning. The building phase was nearly completed in 1871 when the census showed Saltaire had 755 houses and 45 alms houses, for 4,389 people.
Titus died in 1876 and was interred in the mausoleum beside the Congregational church. When his son Titus Salt Jr died in 1887, Saltaire was taken over by a partnership including Sir James Roberts from Haworth. Roberts had worked in wool mills since he was 11, had sizable business interests in Russia. Roberts came to own Saltaire, but chose to invest his money heavily in Russia, losing much money in the Russian Revolution. He endowed a chair of Russian at Leeds Uni and bought the Brontës' Haworth Parsonage for the nation. Roberts died in 1935 and was buried at Fairlight Sussex.
Saltaire Park, later Roberts Park
National Lottery Heritage Fund
Extensive Saltaire Park across the river Aire opened in C19th, designed and laid out by William Gay. The name changed in 1920 to Roberts Park when the second owner, Sir James Roberts, gifted the park to the local Council to honour his late son. The park, was a key element of the model village, offering many leisure activities for the worker eg archery, croquet, cricket and pavilions. The northern portion has windy paths, landscaped gardens, pavilions, East Park lodge, promenade with shelters and Salt’s statue. And the original bandstand.
Saltaire retained ownership of the Mill until it was sold to Bradford Property Trust in 1933. The new owners arranged with Shipley Urban District Council for improvements eg renewal of gas services, provision of mains electricity, sewerage & sanitary services. It included a complete scheme to eliminate the waste-water toilets and the old type of coal store, and to erect new facilities, requiring the removal of 43 houses to open the village. In 2014 planning officers replaced front doors with those of historic status.
Saltaire was selected for the World Heritage List in Dec 2001 and Europe’s Route of Industrial Heritage website as a fine example of a C19th model town demonstrating the social and economic impact of the textile industry. And it was recognised for its global influence on town planning. The model village’s buildings are individually listed with UNESCO, the highest honour going to Congregational church. UNESCO protects natural and cultural sites of global importance.
Salts Mill closed Feb 1986; owner Jonathan Silver bought it in 1987 to convert the mill into a multi-functional site with an art gallery, cafes & headquarters of a technology company. In the art gallery, large rooms are for Bradford-born artist David Hockney: paintings, drawings, photos & stage-sets. Then there book shops, art supplies, jewellery, sportswear, antiques, bicycles and housewares.
The Saltaire Collection in Shipley College holds special books, documents, photos and historical objects. Note the ongoing research into residents/workers, the Salt and James Roberts families who built and sustained Salts Mill; photographs and documents related to working in the mill and living in the village; legal and business documents; personal memoirs; maps; and crockery for Royal visits etc. The History Club has great lectures.
Saltaire retained ownership of the Mill until it was sold to Bradford Property Trust in 1933. The new owners arranged with Shipley Urban District Council for improvements eg renewal of gas services, provision of mains electricity, sewerage & sanitary services. It included a complete scheme to eliminate the waste-water toilets and the old type of coal store, and to erect new facilities, requiring the removal of 43 houses to open the village. In 2014 planning officers replaced front doors with those of historic status.
Saltaire was selected for the World Heritage List in Dec 2001 and Europe’s Route of Industrial Heritage website as a fine example of a C19th model town demonstrating the social and economic impact of the textile industry. And it was recognised for its global influence on town planning. The model village’s buildings are individually listed with UNESCO, the highest honour going to Congregational church. UNESCO protects natural and cultural sites of global importance.
Salts Mill closed Feb 1986; owner Jonathan Silver bought it in 1987 to convert the mill into a multi-functional site with an art gallery, cafes & headquarters of a technology company. In the art gallery, large rooms are for Bradford-born artist David Hockney: paintings, drawings, photos & stage-sets. Then there book shops, art supplies, jewellery, sportswear, antiques, bicycles and housewares.
The Saltaire Collection in Shipley College holds special books, documents, photos and historical objects. Note the ongoing research into residents/workers, the Salt and James Roberts families who built and sustained Salts Mill; photographs and documents related to working in the mill and living in the village; legal and business documents; personal memoirs; maps; and crockery for Royal visits etc. The History Club has great lectures.
In 2003 Saltaire Festival celebrated the city’s 150th anniversary, now held in Sept; Saltaire Arts Trail is a visual arts festival held in May. Credit to City of Bradford.
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