Sir Titus Salt’s Hospital: The former Yorkshire hospital building where doctors treated workers with anthrax
The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Saltaire to the north of Bradford, the UK’s largest Victorian model village, took 20 years to build, starting with the construction of the iconic Salts Mill in 1851-53 that would eventually employ more than 4,000 textile workers.
Many of these were accommodated in a purpose-built colony of 850 houses.
After the completion of his great mill the manufacturer, politician and philanthropist Sir Titus Salt went on to provide a range of amenities to cater for the wellbeing of his workforce and their families.
These included wash-houses, bath-houses, a library, reading-room, concert hall, village school, church, park, boathouse, and in 1868 a hospital.
Industrial accidents were then still commonplace, and having a hospital nearby allowed injuries to be dealt with promptly.
The hospital also provided medical services to Saltaire residents, with workers paying into a sickness benefit scheme.
Among medical conditions treated at the hospital was one termed woolsorter’s disease, which would later become known as anthrax.
In the winter of 1873 there was a spate of deaths among those who worked with alpaca and mohair wool and it was thought they had inhaled spores of the bacterium Bacillus anthracis from infected animals.
Controversy raged, however, when one of the hospital's surgeons suggested that the dangers could be mitigated by workers observing strict temperance.
In total the hospital development and a range of 45 almshouses for people no longer able to work cost £25,000 to construct.
The original building was two storeys high and had nine beds and a dispensary.
A third floor added in 1909 saw the number of beds increased to 17, while a further enlargement in the 1920s brought the beds total to 30.
The hospital closed in 1979, and after a period as a nursing home the building was converted into residential apartments.