Saltaire was the brainchild of Sir Titus Salt who made his fortune from Alpaca and Donskoi wool which made him one of the wealthiest men in Yorkshire. In 1853 Salts Mill was opened on Titus Salts 50th birthday. For the next 23 years he went on to create a model village for his workers around the mill with the last building being completed in 1876.
Sir Tutus created everything his workers would need from workers' housing, a church, a school, a place for adult learning and a park, among other facilities. All this gave his workers a nice place to live away from the dirt and pollution of the major industrial cities of the time. Eleven of the streets that comprise Saltaire are named after Sir Tituss children. After his death in 1876 he was given a civic funeral by Bradford which was watched by 100,000 people. As a fitting tribute his body was put in the mausoleum at Saltaire Congregational Church, opposite the mill he created.
In December 2001 Saltaire was designated a World Heritage Site by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Stating that Saltaire is an outstanding and well preserved example of a mid 19th century industrial town, the layout of which was to exert a major influence on the development of the garden city movement. The layout and architecture of Saltaire admirably reflect mid 19th century philanthropic paternalism, as well as the important role played by the textile industry in economic and social development.
Even in this modern time it is apparent how pleasant it must have been to live in the village and it must have made the occupants feel very honoured when comparing it to the squalor of nearby Bradford.
The huge Salts Mill has now been converted into shops, residential homes, business use and leisure. There is also the 1853 Gallery which has several rooms given over to the works of the Bradford-born artist David Hockney. The village is wonderfully intact though a lot of the buildings are not being used for their original purpose. Across the Leeds to Liverpool Canal and River Aire that are at the side of the mill there is a nice park that Sir Titus created.
Saltaire is a nice place to visit that gets you away from the hustle and bustle of modern life. Take a walk around the village taking in the superb architecture, do some shopping in the mill, browse the gallery and then have a nice picnic in the park.