Our heritage treasure

Every year in September in the UK we have 'Heritage Open Days', when various of our heritage treasures are opened to the public for free, with volunteers on hand to help you explore and understand what you're seeing. Saltaire usually takes part and this year the Saltaire History Club were showing what is now known as the Victoria Hall, formerly The Saltaire Club and Institute. It is, of course, a building that is open throughout the year for our community, hosting classes and clubs, markets and fairs, concerts, exhibitions and weddings. It's not often, however, that you can see it without crowds of people thronging the rooms. 

The building was opened in 1871, sponsored by Titus Salt Jnr, the son of Saltaire's founder Sir Titus, and designed, as was the rest of the village and Salts Mill, by the architects Lockwood and Mawson. The 'Saltaire Literary Institute', I learned, came into being several years previously, meeting in houses and other rooms in the village. It was effectively a 'Mechanics Institute', one of a network across the country that existed to provide educational opportunities, reading rooms and informative lectures for working people. This dedicated building was designed as a home for all of these educational activities and as a place too for 'conversations, business, recreation and refreshments'. Membership was open to all, at a cost of two shillings a year. 

The main hall, originally dubbed 'The Victoria Hall', has a fully-sprung dance floor and at one time had a balcony right round the room (now only at the back). In 2009, a Wurlitzer organ was installed under the stage. Originally this came from the Gaumont Theatre in Oldham, where from 1937 it was used to provide entertainment and, no doubt, music to accompany silent films. It's had a few other homes before being brought to Saltaire. It is used for concerts and tea dances and, rather thrillingly, rises and falls on a hydraulic lift through the stage at the beginning and end of each performance. Someone was playing it for part of the time I was looking round. Wurlitzers have a very distinctive sound. 

The building has three main floors - the ground floor having the main dance hall and two other large rooms. Upstairs there are several smaller rooms, plus the elegant hall in my photo below. 

The basement has a large gym, as well as housing utilities and some smaller rooms. 

Originally the building had a large library, reading rooms, a laboratory, art rooms and lecture rooms. By 1887, the adult education side had grown so much that the Exhibition Building was constructed to the rear and the Art and Science Schools moved there. That allowed other activities to expand at the Club and Institute. There have been political rallies (Titus Salt Jnr's daughter, Isabel, was a passionate activist for women's rights and against poverty) and the annual 'conversazione', which involved dances and parties alongside exhibitions and discussions of new technology and developments in art, entertainment, history and science.