Milner Field

[1][2][3][4] Titus Salt Junior purchased an existing Elizabethan manor house named Milner Field and surrounding land in or around 1870.

Salt employed a little known Victorian architect, Thomas Harris, to design and build the new house[5] and no expense was spared obtaining the best stone, wood and other materials.

After visiting Dayton and receiving reports of significant mineral deposits, the company decided to invest in the production of coal and iron, building blast furnaces and a small town for workers.

In 1887, the youngest daughter of Queen Victoria, Princess Beatrice and her consort stayed at Milner Field and officially opened the Yorkshire Royal Jubilee Exhibition at Saltaire.

Titus Salt Junior had announced in 1886 that he planned a great exhibition in Saltaire to offset the costs of a new building erected in honour of his father.

Titus Salt Junior was aware of the great success of the 1851 Royal Exhibition at Crystal Palace and hoped that similar numbers would be attracted.

The day that Titus Junior was to meet the Salt School governors, to discuss the debt, he felt ill and left the mill for his home.

Gates was one of a number of manufacturers who made personal wealth from the burgeoning West Yorkshire textile trade, and he became similarly cursed over his family's years at the house.

An auction was organised, with lavish literature, but folklore was still strong in those days and nobody wanted to live in a place with such a tragic reputation that reflected the Gothic greyness of the grand house.

Another auction arranged for 1930 again failed to result in a sale, and at this point, with the house now owned by the Salts Mill estate, the roof was removed to avoid paying rates (local taxes).

Tales of ghosts and misfortune saw the neglect hasten, and the estate was billeted by the Home Guard (Bingley) who used the shell of the building for grenade practice.

There has been mention of a fire, but whether this was an isolated incident or designed to strip the house of remaining timber prior to a second explosion attempt is unknown.

[9][better source needed] The group's aim is to expose (safely) as much of the outline of the remains so as to give an idea of the shape and scale of the house, the conservatory, the terraces and the kitchens and servant's quarters as possible, to preserve for the enjoyment of others.