Why did Titus Salt build Saltaire?
A – There are many reasons. He was 50 years old in 1853 and had made a fortune from his mills in Bradford. He was already aware of other entrepreneurs who had constructed model villages in other parts of the country. He had first hand experience of the dreadful conditions which existed in Bradford in the 1840s. There was a particularly severe outbreak of cholera in Bradford in 1848. He had clear ideas of what could improve the conditions of his workers, and in many ways Saltaire was built to rectify all the faults which he could see in Bradford. He wanted to be in control of this model project, and to be the only authority here. He wanted to have a business to pass on to his sons. And finally there was genuine philanthropy – “to do good by my fellow men”.
