Saltaire

Saltaire was commissioned in 1851 by Sir Titus Salt, a leading industrialist in the Yorkshire woollen industry. The name of the village is a combination of the founder's surname and the name of the river. Salt moved his business (five separate mills) from Bradford 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. Salt employed the local architects Francis Lockwood and William Mawson.

File:Saltaire-map-1893-768x614.jpg

Similar, but considerably smaller, projects had also been started around the same time by Edward Akroyd at Copley and by Henry Ripley at Ripley Ville. The cotton mill village of New Lanark, which is also a World Heritage site, was founded by David Dale in 1786.{{cite book |last1=Huxley |first1=Victoria |title=World Heritage sites of Great Britain and Ireland : an illustrated guide to all 27 World Heritage sites |date=2009 |publisher=Interlink Books |location=Massachusetts |isbn=978-1566567695 |page=226}}

Salt built neat stone houses for his workers (much better than the slums of Bradford), wash-houses with tap water, bath-houses, a hospital and an institute for recreation and education, with a library, a reading room, a concert hall, billiard room, science laboratory and a gymnasium. The village had a school for the children of the workers, almshouses, allotments, a park and a boathouse. Recreational initiatives were also encouraged such as the establishment of a drum and fife band for school age boys and a brass band, precursor of today's Hammonds Saltaire Band, for men of the village.{{cite web|title=History: 1855 to 1894|url=http://hammondsband.org.uk/1855-to-1894/|website=The Hammonds Saltaire Band|access-date=21 December 2015}}

With the combination of quality housing, employment, recreation, educational facilities and social services the model town represented a landmark example of enlightened 19th century urban planning.Bell, C. and R. (1972) City Fathers: The early history of town planning in Britain, Penguin, HarmondsworthCherry, G. (1979) 'The Town Planning Movement and the Late Victorian City', Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, New Series, Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 306–319 The building phase was nearing completion in 1871. The census from that year shows that Saltaire had 800 dwellings (755 houses and 45 almshouses), which contained 4,389 people.{{sfn|Dewhirst|1960|p=141}} In October 1872, Saltaire, along with Dean Clough Mill in Halifax, were featured highlights of the Japanese Government's Iwakura Mission tour of modern industrial Britain.{{cite book|last=Kunitake|first=Kume|title=Japan Rising: The Iwakura embassy to the USA and Europe|year=2009|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=978-0-521-73516-2|page=182|editor=Chushichi Tsuzuki and R. Jules Young}}

Sir Titus died in 1876 and was interred in the mausoleum adjacent to the Congregational church.{{sfn|Dewhirst|1960|p=137}}{{cite ODNB|first=David|last=James|title=Salt, Sir Titus, first baronet|id=24565|date=23 September 2004}} When Sir Titus Salt's son, Titus Salt Junior, died, Saltaire was taken over by a partnership which included Sir James Roberts from Haworth.

Roberts had worked in wool mills since the age of eleven. He had significant business interests in Russia, and spoke Russian fluently. Roberts came to own Saltaire, but chose to invest his money heavily in Russia, losing some of his fortune in the Russian Revolution. He endowed a chair of Russian at Leeds University and bought the Brontës' Haworth Parsonage for the nation. He is mentioned in T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land. Roberts is buried at Fairlight, East Sussex. His legacy can still be seen in Saltaire: he named Roberts Park, to the north of the river, after his son when he gave it to Bradford Council in 1920.{{cite web |title=Roberts Park, Saltaire, Yorkshire |work=The Victorian Web |access-date=27 February 2015 |date=1 October 2012 |url=http://www.victorianweb.org/art/parks/20.html}}

Saltaire village remained under the ownership of the Mill until it was sold by Messrs. Salts (Saltaire) Ltd. to the Bradford Property Trust Ltd. on 31 July 1933.{{sfn|Dewhirst|1960|p=144}} In October 1933, the new owners came to an arrangement with Shipley Urban District Council to carry out improvements, including the renewal of gas services, provision of mains electricity, along with sewerage and sanitary improvements. This included "a comprehensive scheme to eliminate the waste water lavatories and the old type of coal store, and to erect new in their places." The full scheme included the removal of 43 houses to open out certain parts of the village.{{cite news|date=22 December 1934|title=Reconstruction of Saltaire Village|work=Shipley Times and Express|url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001711/19341222/011/0001|access-date=26 July 2021}}

File:Cottages at Saltaire - geograph.org.uk - 1636205.jpg

In December 2001, Saltaire was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.{{cite web|url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1028|title=Saltaire – UNESCO World Heritage Centre|publisher=UNESCO|access-date=17 October 2009}} This means that the government has a duty to protect the site. The buildings belonging to the model village are individually listed, with the highest level of protection given to the Congregational church (since 1972 Saltaire United Reformed Church) which is listed grade I. The village has survived remarkably complete, but further protection is needed as the village is blighted by traffic through the Aire Valley, an important east-west route. A bypass is proposed to relieve traffic pressure. Roberts Park, on the north side of the river, suffered from neglect and vandalism but has been restored by Bradford Council.{{cite news|url=http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/district/district_shipley/district_shipley_saltaire/4274921.__4_5m_Saltaire_park_scheme_under_way/|title=Roberts Park on schedule for 2010 opening|newspaper=Bradford Telegraph & Argus|date=8 April 2009|access-date=17 October 2009}} In July 2014 it was announced that planning officers had compiled a list of replacement front doors that were deemed to be "not in keeping with the buildings' historic status."{{cite news|url=http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/local/airelocal/11325541.Enforcement_warning_by_Council_as_it_cracks_down_on___39_rogue__39__front_doors_fitted_to_homes_in_historic_Saltaire/ |title=Enforcement warning by Council as it cracks down on 'rogue' front doors fitted to homes in historic Saltaire |newspaper= Bradford Telegraph & Argus |date= 8 July 2014|access-date=19 May 2019}}

File:Saltaire Building.JPG, Saltaire Village]]

Saltaire is a conservation area. Victoria Hall (originally the Saltaire Institute) is used for meetings, community events and concerts, and houses a Wurlitzer theatre pipe organ.{{cite news|last1=Tate|first1=Chris|title=Famous Wurlitzer brings the generations together at Victoria Hall, Saltaire|url=http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/local/airelocal/10199530.Famous_Wurlitzer_brings_the_generations_together_at_Victoria_Hall__Saltaire/|access-date=31 May 2016|work=Telegraph and Argus|date=1 February 2013}} The village is served by Saltaire railway station.{{cite book |last1=Huxley |first1=Victoria |title=World Heritage sites of Great Britain and Ireland : an illustrated guide to all 27 World Heritage sites |date=2009 |publisher=Interlink Books |location=Massachusetts |isbn=978-1566567695 |page=190}}

The Saltaire Festival, which first took place in 2003 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the foundation of Saltaire, is held every year over 11 days in September. The Saltaire Arts Trail is a visual arts festival that takes place each May. Its public events include art exhibitions, children's activities, a Makers Fair, and Open Houses where residents open their homes which become temporary art galleries.

Politically, Saltaire is part of the Shipley electoral ward of the City of Bradford, of the Saltaire and Hirstwood ward of Shipley Town Council,

{{cite web|url=https://shipleytowncouncil.wordpress.com/about/ |title=About|publisher=Shipley Town Council|access-date=26 July 2021}} and part of the parliamentary constituency of Shipley, currently represented by Anna Dixon of the Labour Party. From 1999 to 2005, parliamentarians from three chambers, Chris Leslie MP in the House of Commons, Lord Wallace of Saltaire in the House of Lords and Richard Corbett MEP in the European Parliament, all lived in Saltaire.

{{update|date=September 2024}}

Saltaire is surrounded by a buffer zone established to protect the context of the World Heritage Site.{{cite web |title=NOMINATION OF SALTAIRE VILLAGE FOR INCLUSION IN THE WORLD HERITAGE LIST |url=https://whc.unesco.org/uploads/nominations/1028.pdf |website=whc.unesco.org |access-date=11 June 2023 |page=14}} Concerns have been raised over plans announced{{when|date=September 2024}} by Bradford Council and Action Airedale to site a bypass through the buffer zone to either side of the World Heritage Site and to tunnel beneath the village.[https://web.archive.org/web/20130722194320/http://www.saltairevillage.info/Protect_Saltaire_0002_Facts_on_the_proposed_bypass.html Facts on the proposed bypass]. Saltaire Village Within sight of the mill, the tunnel would follow the line of the railway and exit behind the United Reformed Church.[https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=116169194717293747992.00000112bde3ce150dea8&t=h&om=1&ll=53.838146,-1.78957&spn=0.032008,0.080338&z=14 Google Maps] with proposed tunnel and protected areas. As it would pass alongside the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, it could impact on this Conservation Area. The route would impact on an ancient semi-natural woodland and the Woodland Garden of Remembrance at Nab Wood Cemetery.{{cite web|url=http://www.sweeble.com/story/view/1530|title=Saltaire World Heritage Site in Danger|publisher=Sweeble|date=20 June 2007|access-date=31 July 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630083516/http://www.sweeble.com/story/view/1530|archive-date=30 June 2007}}

No progress on a bypass for Saltaire has been made as it has been described as "financially unviable". Instead Bradford Council are{{when|date=September 2024}} focussing on the Shipley Eastern Relief Road, which will feed traffic into Bradford along the existing Canal Road Corridor.{{cite web |title=Phase 1: Bradford Shipley Route Improvement Scheme |url=https://www.yourvoice.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/bradfordshipley1 |website=yourvoice.westyorks-ca.gov.uk |access-date=11 June 2023 |quote=What happened to canal extension along aire vally{{sic}} from shipley{{sic}} also what happened to tunnel under shipley? a dual carriage way along the shipley to bradford route ie airevally{{sic}} is the only way. Steve w asked over 4 years ago – The proposed plan to Tunnel under Shipley is now several decades old and was not financially viable. Extending the Canal is not part of this scheme.}}{{cite news |title=Government supports study into potential of new Yorkshire bypass |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-supports-study-into-potential-of-new-yorkshire-bypass |access-date=11 June 2023 |work=GOV.UK |date=7 September 2018}}

Salts Mill closed as a textile mill in February 1986, and Jonathan Silver bought it the following year and began renovating it. Today, it houses a mixture of business, commerce, leisure, and residential use. In the main mill building are:

• The 1853 art gallery: several large rooms given over to the works of the Bradford-born artist David Hockney: including paintings, drawings, photomontages, and stage sets.
• Industrial companies including the electronics manufacturer ARRIS International plc (formerly Pace plc).
• Various shops. In 2006, there are shops selling books, art supplies, jewellery, outdoor wear, antiques, suits, bicycles, and housewares; the last includes pieces by internationally known designers such as Alvar Aalto and Philippe Starck.
• Restaurants and cafes.

The "New Mill", on the other side of the canal, is divided between offices for the local National Health Service Trusts and residential flats.

Film footage of Saltaire and the nearby Shipley Glen Tramway in 1914 is held by the Yorkshire Film Archive.{{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20130722030704/http://www.yfaonline.com/film/easter-shipley-glen-1912 "Shipley Glen (1914)"]}}, Yorkshire Film Archive. Retrieved 4 April 2020 A two-minute short clip showing workers leaving Salts Mill on 24 July 1900 is held by the British Film Institute.{{cite AV media|url=http://player.bfi.org.uk/film/watch-workforce-leaving-salts-works-in-saltaire-1900-1900/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150711174052/http://player.bfi.org.uk/film/watch-workforce-leaving-salts-works-in-saltaire-1900-1900/|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 July 2015|title=Workforce Leaving Salt's Works in Saltaire|work=British Film Institute|date=24 July 1900|access-date=20 March 2017}}

2009

• Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen (BBC TV television drama){{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/bradford/content/articles/2009/08/03/spanish_flu_dewsbury_feature.shtml|title=Dewsbury Town Hall is small-screen star!|publisher=BBC|access-date=18 May 2019}}

2014

• The Hunter's Prayer (film){{cite news|url=http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/11658111.Hollywood_film_makers_pick_Saltaire_as_location_for_new_movie/|title=Hollywood film makers pick Saltaire as location for new movie|work=Telegraph & Argus|date=10 December 2014|access-date=25 July 2018}}

2015

• An Inspector Calls (BBC TV Movie){{cite news|url=http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/local/airelocal/11806376.Saltaire_is_filming_location_for_TV_adaptation_of_An_Inspector_Calls/|title=Saltaire is filming location for TV adaptation of An Inspector Calls|work=Telegraph & Argus|date=20 February 2015|access-date=9 March 2015}}
• Countryfile, 25 May 2015 (BBC TV Series){{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05w949h|title=Where Town Meets Country|access-date=15 December 2020|publisher=BBC}}

2017

• The Hunter's Prayer (film starring Sam Worthington){{cite web|url=https://www.screenyorkshire.co.uk/funding/productions/the-hunters-prayer/|title=The Hunter's Prayer|website=Screen Yorkshire|access-date=18 May 2019}}

2018

• Funny Cow (film starring Maxine Peake){{cite news |url=http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/16031334.Three_films_shot_in_district_set_for_cinema_release/|title=Bradford City of Film supports new films Funny Cow, Ghost Story and Dark River|work=Telegraph & Argus|date=19 February 2018|access-date=24 July 2018}}
• The ABC Murders (BBC TV Series starring John Malkovich){{cite web|url=https://www.screenyorkshire.co.uk/funding/productions/the-abc-murders/|title=The ABC Murders|website=Screen Yorkshire|access-date=15 January 2019}}

2019

• The English Game (Netflix series written by Julian Fellowes){{cite news|url=https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/heritage/netflix-are-filming-a-new-period-drama-written-by-julian-fellowes-in-saltaire-1-9771651|title=Netflix are filming a new period drama written by Julian Fellowes in Saltaire|work=Yorkshire Post|access-date=18 May 2019}}

2020

• Countryfile, 13 December 2020 (BBC TV Series){{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000qf9v|title=Stour Estuary|access-date=15 December 2020|publisher=BBC}}

2022

• Gentleman Jack (TV series){{cite web |title=First look at Suranne Jones in new series of Gentleman Jack filmed in district |url=https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/19893867.sneak-peek-new-series-bbc-gentleman-jack-filmed-saltaire/ |access-date=1 June 2022 |website=Bradford Telegraph and Argus |date=2 February 2022 }}
• Our Great Yorkshire Life{{cite web |title=Historic Saltaire building showcased on national TV show |url=https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/19830997.salts-mill-featured-channel-5s-great-yorkshire-life/ |access-date=1 June 2022 |website=Bradford Telegraph and Argus |date=7 January 2022 }}

• Martha Brown (servant to the Brontë family){{cite web|title=FAMILY AND FRIENDS – MARTHA BROWN|url=https://www.bronte.org.uk/the-brontes-and-haworth/family-and-friends/martha-brown|access-date=5 December 2020|website=Brontë Parsonage Museum}}
• Arthur Raistrick (geologist and archaeologist){{cite web|url=https://archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk/data/gb532-rai|title=The Elizabeth and Arthur Raistrick Archive – Archives Hub|website=archiveshub.jisc.ac.uk|access-date=18 May 2019}}
• Tony Richardson (film director and producer){{cite web|url=http://www.blueplaqueplaces.co.uk/tony-richardson-film-cell-plaque-in-saltaire-10141|title=Tony Richardson film cell plaque in Saltaire|website=www.blueplaqueplaces.co.uk|access-date=18 May 2019}}
• Sir Titus Salt (businessman and founder of Saltaire)
• Jonathan Silver (entrepreneur and owner of Salts Mill)
• Bob Stanley (music journalist and founding member of Saint Etienne (band))
• Marie Studholme (actor and singer known for Victorian and Edwardian musical comedy){{cite web|url=http://newsfromnowhere1948.blogspot.com/2010/10/sepia-saturday-gaiety-girl-and-sixpenny.html|title=News From Nowhere: Sepia Saturday : The Gaiety Girl And The Sixpenny Signature|last=Burnett|first=Alan|date=8 October 2010|website=News From Nowhere|access-date=18 May 2019}}

In the early 2000s, Saltaire was home to three parliamentarians, each a member of a different parliament: Chris Leslie MP in the House of Commons, William Wallace, Baron Wallace of Saltaire in the House of Lords, and Richard Corbett MEP in the European Parliament.

• The Scott Motorcycle Company was based in Hirst Works, Hirstwood Road, in the early 20th century.{{cite news |title=The motorcycle which really made its marque |url=https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/tahistory/10596056.the-motorcycle-which-really-made-its-marque/ |access-date=11 June 2023 |work=Bradford Telegraph and Argus |date=7 August 2013}}
• Pace plc head office is in Salts Mill.{{cite web |title=NOMINATION OF SALTAIRE VILLAGE FOR INCLUSION IN THE WORLD HERITAGE LIST |url=https://whc.unesco.org/uploads/nominations/1028.pdf |website=whc.unesco.org |access-date=11 June 2023 |page=63}}

• Crespi d'Adda – a UNESCO heritage listed "company town" built during industrial revolution in Italy
• Derwent Valley Mills – cotton mill with workers' housing

{{Commons category|Saltaire}}

File:Saltaire Victoria Hall 1.jpg|Victoria Hall, Saltaire Village

File:Saltaire Salts Mill.jpg|Salts Mill

File:Salts Mill.jpeg|Salts Mill and River Aire

File:Salts Mill 2.jpg|Salts Mill

Congregational Church - Saltaire - Inside.jpg|Inside of the Congregational Church

{{Reflist|refs=

{{cite book|title=Salt & Silver: A Story of Hope|last=Greenhalf|first=Jim|publisher=Bradford Libraries|year=1997|isbn=0-907734-52-9}}

{{cite web|url=http://www.umilta.net/SirJamesRoberts.html|title=Sir James Roberts|last=Holloway|first=Julia Bolton|access-date=17 October 2009}}

{{cite book|title=Saltaire and its Founder|last=Holroyd|first=Abraham|orig-year=1873|year=2000|publisher=Piroisms Press|isbn=0-9538601-0-8}}

}}

• {{cite journal |last1=Dewhirst |first1=Robert K. |title=Saltaire |journal=The Town Planning Review |date=July 1960 |volume=31 |issue=2|page=135 |publisher=Liverpool University Press |doi=10.3828/tpr.31.2.d123q46810014113 |issn=0041-0020}}

• [http://www.saltairevillage.info/ Saltaire Village website]
• [https://www.yorkshire.com/saltaire/ Saltaire in Yorkshire.com]
• [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1028/ Saltaire in the Unesco World Heritage site]

{{World Heritage Sites in the United Kingdom}}

{{Bradford}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Geography of the City of Bradford

Category:Tourist attractions in the City of Bradford

Category:Model villages

Category:Planned communities in England

Category:European Route of Industrial Heritage Anchor Points

Category:World Heritage Sites in England

Category:Populated places established in 1853

Category:Shipley, West Yorkshire

Category:Textile industry of the United Kingdom