Video 2: Salt's Mill - the First Victorian 'Super Mill'

Working conditions for workers of the mills in Bradford in the 1840s were dangerous, cramped and frightening. The city was even once described as ‘the dirtiest, filthiest and worst regulated town in the kingdom’.

I'd had enough. I wanted a brand new, state-of-the-art mill, with all the latest technology. So I closed the small mills that I owned, and brought everything everything here  to create one SUPERMILL!

Using the wool from alpacas, he combined it with other materials, and created a new fabric that was cheap, popular and felt just like silk. To celebrate the opening of such a fantastic mill, Sir Titus threw a big party and invited all of his 3500 workers. They ate two tons of meat, half a ton of potatoes, 320 plum puddings and 100 jellies.

What a feast! It was such an exciting place to work; we sold our fabrics all over the world. My mill was one of a kind. Indeed, the top floor is still the largest room in the world at 115 by 50 metres.

That’s longer than the pitch at Wembley!

After I died, my family carried on running the Mill but they sold it in 1892. Almost 100 years later, a great man called Jonathan Silver bought the Mill, and his family still run it today.

It is no longer used for industry, but still houses many businesses today.