"We are delighted the government have recognised the international importance of Saltaire in World Industrial History and look forward to UNESCO's ratification of the fact."
- Clive Woods Saltaire Village Society - April 1999


It's a real step forward in putting Saltaire on the national and international map alongside many others of the world's greatest treasures. It shows the Government recognises Saltaire is of outstanding universal value..... UNESCO will have to send a team over the next few years to write a report to send back to the Heritage Committee but just being nominated by the Government is a great honour - a bit like being nominated for the Oscars - Chris Leslie MP - April 1999

........as far as Bradford as a whole is concerned Saltaire's inclusion surely has to be welcomed. As part of the metropolitan district the village.....is an important asset to Bradford. Its spreading fame gives a growing number of people a reason to come here and discover what other things the district has to offer.
'Comment ' Bradford Telegraph and Argus 6th April 1999

Read the Culture Secretary's press release - 3rd July 2000

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Why is Saltaire Important?
Salts Mill was one of the first of the big mills built to take advantage of British dominance in world trade.in the mid-Nineteenth Century.
The mill integrated on one site all the diverse processes of the worsted trade which had been mechanised, one by one, over the previous fifty years.This was made possible by the capital which had been accumulated in the period since the end of the Napoleonic Wars.
Saltaire village was built by Titus Salt as a solution to the problems raised by uncontrolled and unplanned industrialism and urbanism in the first half of the century. He provided well planned houses with facilities for modern sanitation and utilities. The village was also provided with a church and chapels, an Institute a school and a park all set a healthy location away from the dirt and smoke of Bradford but in one of the most commercial sites in the North of England. Although not the only example of an Industrial village dating from that time it is the largest and the most complete.

But it is also the one which is both a living community and an example of post-industrial regeneration. In 1984 the station was reopened and Saltaire became a convenient place to live for people working in Leeds or Bradford. In 1987 the late Jonathan Silver bought the Mill and developed it as a business centre. An unusual entrepreneur he developed it in an unusual way centering everything on the 1853 Gallery home of the largest collection of David Hockney pictures in the world
Over the past few years Saltaire has received a number of prestigious awards from the Civic Trust, Europa Nostra and the British Urban Regeneration Association (with details of Saltaire's award.)

Bradford Council's Saltaire Tourist trail (there is an error on the map - the station is Saltaire not Shipley)

Prince of Wales praises Saltaire regeneration; read his speech
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Who was Sir Titus Salt?

Sir Titus Salt
1803 - 1876

Businessman, public servant, philanthropist, town planner

born: Morley, West Riding of Yorkshire 20th September 1803
1822 moved to Bradford - boom town of the West Riding
Late 1820s began spinning Donskoi wool; in the mid 1830s he began experimenting with alpaca
Mixed fabrics (Alpaca and Mohair woven with cotton or silk) was the right product at the right time and in the 1830s and 40s he became very rich through the production of fashion fabrics while building up trade links with Peru, Chile, South Africa, and Turkey.
In the 1840s one of a group of non-conformist businessmen who secured the incorporation of the town.
Became one of the first Bradford Aldermen and in 1848-9 was the second Mayor of Bradford
Decided not to retire at age 50 instead he built a large Mill near Shipley, 3.5 miles north of Bradford and moved all of his production there. Around the Mill he constructed a model community of 800 houses with a church and chapels , a school, a hospital and Institute with gym and library.He named it Saltaire
1853 Salts Mill opens.
1859 Salt MP for Bradford
1867 Awarded Legion d'Honneur by Napoleon III in recognition of his achievement at Saltaire
1869 created baronet
1872Housing at Saltaire completed
1876 The last building - the Sunday School - built. Sir Titus Salt dies
For a larger history of Sir Titus and his times click here
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Books on Saltaire
Clive WoodsSaltaire History and Regeneration (2000)

Abraham Holroyd Saltaire and its Founder, Piroisms Press, 2000 (ISBN 0-9538601-08)
Jim Greenhalf Salt and Silver: a story of hope (2nd edition)Bradford Bradford Libraries 1998
(all three in print)
Jack Reynolds The Great Paternalist: Titus Salt and the Growth of Nineteenth Century Bradford1983(op)

Jack Reynolds Saltaire an introduction to the Village of Sir Titus Salt Bradford Art Galleries and Museums(nd)

Details of these and other books about Saltaire

The Boston Globe on Saltaire

World Heritage
Unesco World Heritage pages
Unesco Descriptive list of World Heritage sites
Lynn Salmon's List of World Heritage sites with hyperlinks
The existing World Heritage Site in Yorkshire: Eighteenth Century gardens at Studley Royal gardens and ruins of Cistercian monastery :Fountains Abbey( Saltaire to Fountains Abbey 28miles/45km [55mins])
Other World Heritage sites in the North of England
Medieval Cathedral Church at Durham ( Saltaire to Durham: 87miles/139km[1hr44m])
Hadrian's Wall second century Roman frontier fortifications stretching 70 miles from the Solway Firth to the mouth of the Tyne(Saltaire to Housesteads: 132m /213km [2hr 40m])
In order to qualify for inclusion in the list Saltaire will have to produce a management plan here is that of Hadrian's Wall


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Where is Saltaire? (the Shipley College map showing Saltaire in relation to the rest of West Yorkshire. Other maps are available on the Getting to Saltaire page.)

Salts mill

To find out more information about Saltaire
please contact the Tourist Information Centre
on 01274 774993
(international:+44 1274 774993)
fax: 01274 774464
(international:+44 1274 774464)

Main Page
(with constantly updated news of Saltaire)
*
* Getting to Saltaire* Pictures of Saltaire * Books at Saltaire* Tourist information
* Victoria Hall - Saltaire's unique international and community venue
* Events at Victoria Hall August, September, October 1999*
History of Salt and his times to 1853*History 1853 -1876*Books about Saltaire
*a walk along Albert Terrace * Maps of Saltaire Region
* The Marble Likeness of their Liberal Master *Links
Northern Tourist Links(Bradford)