TITUS Salt’s sense of social responsibility did not stop with the comfortable town he built for his employees.

He had long been a champion of the Rodda Smoke Burner, a device to reduce pollution, and as Mayor of Bradford had tried and failed to have it fitted compulsorily in all the city’s factories.

He installed it in his new mill, however, together with a ventilation system to keep the workplace itself clean and fresh. He even buried his machinery underground to reduce noise.

He restricted his workers to a ten-hour day, paid them well, and kept paying them even when business was slack, which was rare. Even Queen Victoria placed an order with Sir Titus.

Saltaire was a monument to private enterprise, liberality, and wisdom, and when Titus died in 1876, more than 100,000 people came to say their farewells. Afterwards, his family estimated that he had given half a million pounds to charity in his lifetime.*