Blog 1 A Visit to Saltaire 14th January 2023


Bradford College FdA Textiles Practice - Textile Project 1

Saltaire Arts Trail 2023

Saturday 14th January – A Visit To Saltaire 

Saltaire, in Airedale, as a model industrial settlement owed its existence to Sir Titus Salt and his close experience of the life of Bradford between 1826 and 1850. Prior to the building of Saltaire, Bradford was becoming the world's wool textile capital [1]. 

A rapid rise in population occurred as people relocated to Bradford to work in the burgeoning factories. Living conditions deteriorated to such an extent that, by 1845 70% of all children born to woolcombers died before they reached the age of 15 years [2].

Sir Titus Salt needed to expand his factory in Bradford, this was difficult due to lack of suitable land. As a consequence he relocated his industries to Saltaire and built homes for his workers including church, shops, baths, wash house, park and a school. The homes were of better quality than those in Bradford and provided improved living conditions for the mill workers and their families. The building took place between 1852 and 1872. 


Image: Wood, C.H. (1976) The Mill - An aerial view. Bradford. Bradford Art Galleries & Museums

Saltaire was sold in 1894 and by 1933 the village was no longer owned by a company. Houses were owned privately.  Saltaire Village was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2001.

Art in Unique Spaces

 Saltaire hosts an annual community arts event celebrating the village's heritage ( Sat 27 - Mon 29 May) . For further information head to the Saltaire Arts Trail website:

https://saltaireinspired.org.uk/events/saltaire-arts-trail/ 

Saltaire Inspired aims to; 

  "...create art and community events in the unique spaces of Saltaire and present exciting and challenging contemporary visual art in accessible settings, inspiring people of all ages and backgrounds to take part."

Using the theme of ‘Habitat’ a textile piece will be created to be exhibited at the Saltaire Arts Trail. The final piece of work is to be exhibited in the Wash House Garden, an outdoor space in the village of Saltaire.

According to The Concise Oxford Dictionary (1976) a habitat is  'The natural home of an animal, plant or other organism'

In preparation for the installation a visit to the village took place and enabled the collection of images of the Wash House Garden, the village and allotment area.

Wash House Garden


When looking at the Wash House Garden a blackbird was very much in evidence. 




Front street and back lane - workers houses Saltaire


Sir Titus Salt built the village  between 1851 and 1872 in order to improve the lives of his workers and provide a skilled workforce for Salts Mill.





[1] Reynolds, J. (1985) Saltaire An introducton to the village of Sir Titus Salt. Bradford, Bradford Art Galleries and Museums

[2]  Briggs, A. (1970) Victorian Cities, London, Penguin









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