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The village of Saltaire [click picture for enlargement] The ongoing and uncontrolled growth throughout the 1830s and 1840s created an environment that led to serious health problems in Shipley. A letter to the General Board of Health in London, dated 5th December 1851, states: "The inhabitants have for sometimes past been greatly injured in the matter of health, as well as seriously inconvenienced by a want of water, and the drains and sewage are in a sad state." In April 1853, a Local Board of Health was established in Shipley, specifically in order to allow the town to have elected representatives empowered to take control of planning and health standards within the town. At this time there were only 3,272 people living in 664 houses in the whole township, but with the development of Saltaire already in progress, it was known that the town would soon need substantial new facilities for its growing population. The construction of the ‘model’ village of Saltaire started in 1851. The village was built by the Bradford textile manufacturer Titus Salt, who wanted to build a mill large enough to enable the whole process of converting raw wool into finished cloth to be done on one site. The concept of a industrial 'model' village was not new, and the fame of Saltaire, as created by architects Mawson and Lockwood, came from the high standard of design - the houses being of a size and quality then virtually unknown in the construction of working class housing - as well as the facilities provided for its inhabitants. Following the development of Saltaire, the rest of the township of Shipley expanded rapidly. Several other large mills were built in the town, which in turn led to an increase in house building throughout the town. As a result, between 1801 and 1881, the population grew from 1,008 to 15,093. During the 1880s a major slum-clearance and rebuilding programme in the centre of the town, generated by the Shipley Improvement Act 1873, resulted in the creation of a new commercial and shopping district, which prepared Shipley for the 20th century.
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