Sir Titus Salt
"Sir Titus Salt was a mill owner and philanthropist in Bradford who managed to combine the ability to make profits from his business, whilst at the same time providing good working conditions and housing for his workers.
Part of his early success came when he discovered a way of using wool from Alpacas, a South American camelid like a small llama. The yarn he produced became known as Alpaca after the animal itself. He also extensively used Angora goat fibres. Both yarns produce very soft woollen garments.
Titus Salt at one point had 5 mills and was the biggest employer in Bradford. However Living conditions in the city were very poor for the mill workers and after he became mayor in 1848 he tried to campaign for better housing conditions.
When this failed, he decided to take action himself. He bought land within Bradford’s boundary, but in an unpolluted area of the borough. He then built a large mill designed to be well lit and ventilated, and included after burners on his boilers to reduce pollution.
He also built a model village for his workers, with good housing, public baths, a school, a church, a hospital and the public park where this statue is now situated.
The village was located on the banks of the River Aire and he named it Saltaire. He employed Lockwood and Mawson as his architects for all the buildings in the village. In 2001 UNESCO designated the village as a World Heritage Site, and it is the only one in the world where the whole site was designed by one firm of architects. http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1028
Saltaire is also an Anchor Point of the European Route of Industrial Heritage in the categories of 'Textiles' and 'Production & Manufacturing'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Route_of_Industrial_Heritage
In later life Salt became a Liberal Member of Parliament for Bradford in 1859 but had to retire due to ill health in 1861. Eight years later he was made a Baronet of Saltaire in the County of York." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titus_Salt
The Statue
The statue was erected in 1903 and unveiled by, Mr. James Roberts J.P. who at that time was the owner of both Saltaire Mill and the village including the park.
It was erected to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Titus Salt’s birth and also the 50th anniversary of the opening of Salts Mill.
It is a larger than life size statue made of bronze standing on an Ashlar Stone base. The stone base has bronze panels describing the reason for the statue and showing an Angora goat, and an Alpaca.
Sir Titus Salt is shown as he was in later life, with full beard and wearing a Victorian frock coat. He is holding an unrolled parchment. I can’t find any reference to what the parchment is for, but I like to think it is the plans for his factory and worker’s village.
The statue stands on a high position in the park, and is actually on top of ‘The Half Moon’ cafe. He is facing away from the Village of Saltaire, rather than towards it as might be expected. This is supposed to be because he was always looking to the future.
The sculptor was Francis Derwent Wood, and the statue became an English Heritage Listed Building on 18th October 1985 (Reference 337886). http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-337886-statue-of-sir-titus-salt-set-in-centre-o
The inscription on the front bronze panel is
TO COMMEMORATE THE
HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY
OF THE BIRTH OF
SIR TITUS SALT BART
AND THE
FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF
SALTAIRE MILLS
THIS STATUE WAS ERECTED
THE 20TH SEP 1903
BY MR JAMES ROBERTS JP