Saltaire: West Yorkshire's World Heritage Site
Titus Salt opened his state-of-the-art mill in 1853 on a new site a few miles from Bradford. Over the next twenty years he oversaw the building of a new model village.
Saltaire’s neatly planned streets were a world away from overcrowded and insanitary Bradford. Saltaire had schools, a hospital, a social club, an educational institute, a park, and a magnificent Congregationalist ‘cathedral’. It even had proper sewers.
Today, Saltaire stands largely intact. In 2001 it was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO as an outstanding example of a nineteenth century model town that demonstrates the social and economic impact of the textile industry.
Our collection of over 7000 documents, photographs, maps, plans, newspaper cuttings, artworks, books and objects tells the local and global story of Saltaire since the 1850s.
Saltaire Collection
Explore the Collection
Search and browse the Collection catalogue
View online exhibitions
See some of our items from the comfort of your own home
Discover the stories of Saltaire and its people
View our histories of Saltaire, travel through our timelines, and read the biographies and personal memories of some of the people who built, worked in, lived in, and saved Saltaire
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Featured contents
The story of Saltaire
Learn about the history of Saltaire from its foundation to its recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage site
Tours of Saltaire
Follow our video tours around Saltaire in English (with subtitles) or Urdu. Or travel our online or downloadable heritage trails for families and children
For researchers
Find out how our collection can help local historians, academic researchers and others interested in industrial heritage and social history
Get involved
Discover the opportunities for volunteering, donating items, and supporting the Saltaire Collection
Recent news
At the end of July the Saltaire Collection and Shipley College welcomed three generations of the Salt family and two of the Roberts family to Saltaire
Find out about the first Bradford Heritage Festival. Events all across Bradford and district 11 to 13 July.
Signup for a free history-themed tour of the World Heritage village of Saltaire on Saturday 12 July.
Snippets of history
Read about Dr. Ethel May Magill who studied at Salt High School and went to be a pioneering British physician, radiologist, and author
Read about the tragic drowning of Mabel Webster, daughter of Halifax carpet magnate Henry Crossley and niece of Catherine Salt (née Crossley)
Read how a progressive education at Salts Girls High school allowed Edith Dolby to study mathematics at Cambridge and become a renowned head teacher
Supporting learners
As one of only two UNESCO World Heritage sites in Yorkshire, Saltaire allows learners of all ages to engage directly with the past at a site of global cultural significance.
Our Learning Resources are currently being updated ready for publication later in 2024.