Saltaire Mills, Leeds and Liverpool Canal

Image: © David Dixon Taken: 25 Mar 2015

The large building on the southern bank of the canal (left as we are looking at it here) is Salts (or Salt’s)* Mill at the heart of Saltaire Village World Heritage Site which was built 1851-53. The building opposite is the north block or “new mill”, added in 1868. Both were designed in Italianate style by local architects Henry Lockwood and Richard Mawson for Titus Salt. A covered walkway connected the two mills. When it opened in 1853, Salts Mill was the largest industrial building in the world by total floor area and employed approximately 3000 workers. It was one of the most modern in Europe and boasted many features such as improved smoke burners, flues to remove dust and dirt and incorporating noisy machinery in the lower levels to suppress the noise. The factory in full production had 1200 looms and could produce over 30000 yards of cloth a day http://www.haworth-village.org.uk/outandabout/saltaire/saltaire.asp . The mills closed in 1986, with renovation beginning the following year. Salts Mill now houses a mixture of business, commerce, leisure including several large rooms given over to the works of the Bradford-born artist David Hockney , shops, restaurants and cafes. It is also home to microelectronics manufacturer Pace. New Mill is now divided between offices for the local National Health Service Trusts and residential apartments. Salts Mill is a grade II* listed building (English Heritage Building ID: 337546 http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-337546-saltaire-mills-main-block-including-shed British Listed Buildings). New Mill is a grade II listed building (English Heritage Building ID: 337547 http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-337547-saltaire-mills-north-block-new-mill-and- British Listed Buildings). * The spellings Salts Mill and Salt's Mill (ie. with and without an apostrophe) are both commonly used. The former is used consistently by the Salts Mill website http://www.saltsmill.org.uk/ and the Saltaire Village website http://www.saltairevillage.info/ ; the latter by Visit Bradford from the official Bradford Tourist Information service http://www.visitbradford.com/ .

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