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Writer's pictureMaximus Nostramabus

Bradford

Updated: Oct 30

Model village for textile - Saltaire 1028

Saltaire
What and Why

During the mid-19th century CE, there was a wave of model village being built around the United Kingdom, and if you do remember, another blogged heritage site of the same nature was New Lanark. Saltaire was built in mid-19th century CE by Titus Salt, a leading industrialist in the woollen industry. The name of the village is a combination of the founder's surname and the name of the river Aire. Salt moved his business to this site near Shipley to arrange his workers and to site his large textile mill by the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and the railway. The mill was actually one of the largest in the world during the time.

Similar to New Lanark, Salt built neat Victorian style stone houses for his workers with tap water, bath-houses, a hospital and an institute for recreation and education for the community around his industry. There was even an alms house built for retirement and those who passed away would have their name inscribed on the wall. All of them lived long life.

Clearly this attracted a lot of visitors to see the accomplishments of the mill. The mill continued its operations until as recent as 1986 CE and was renovated to become a mixture of business, commerce, leisure and residential use. Today it is pretty much a bland art gallery.

Toponymy

As above, the name of Saltaire is a combination of the founder's surname and the name of the river Aire. The name Bradford is derived from the Old English brad and ford, meaning the broad ford or crossing.

See
Saltaire site map (from internet)

New mill

Unfortunately the site is pretty boring and illustrates very little, much less than New Lanark. The new mill is fully renovated and has become an art gallery rather than a museum It is one of those site which personally I do not feel it lives up to the UNESCO hallmark.

Art gallery

There is fairly little to show inside Saltaire regarding its rich history. The art gallery is pretty much what might interest a few people.

Almshouse

The almshouse of the complex is one to visit. The building itself is uninteresting but at the portal it lists out those workers' age when they passed away. The names show that all of them died at a ripe old age, indicating that they were all well taken care of.

Age of workers outside almshouse
Getting There and Around

A stone's throw from Saltaire train station. The mill will not spend you more than two hours.

UNESCO Inscription
UNESCO sign
Saltaire, West Yorkshire, is a complete and well-preserved industrial village of the second half of the 19th century. Its textile mills, public buildings and workers' housing are built in a harmonious style of high architectural standards and the urban plan survives intact, giving a vivid impression of Victorian philanthropic paternalism.
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