Salt High School building, Saltaire, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom

The Salt School building on Victoria Road opened in 1868 as the location for the Factory School associated with Salts Mill. Before this, the Factory School was housed in the Dining Hall further down the road.

There were both day scholars and half-timers, who would work at the mill for half a day and attend school for the other half. Boys entered on the right and girls on the left and the school was designed to cater for 750 children initially. In 1874, there were 806 half-timers and 454 day scholars, with an average attendance of 665. The schools were constructed with state-of-the-art technology: hot water central heating, gas lighting, and tip-up lavatories.

In 1878, the school moved to the newly-built Albert Road Board School (today Saltaire Primary School). The Victoria Road building became the Salt High School catering for both girls and boys. The High School eventually moved to a new site on the far side of Roberts Park. Today the original building, along with the Exhibition Building, Dining Hall and the Jonathan Silver building, forms Shipley College, a further education institution.

Outside the building there are two lions and two more on the opposite side of the road. Their names can just be made out, inscribed on their pedestals: Peace, War, Vigilance and Determination. Local legend has it that these were originally constructed for Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square. This is, unfortunately, almost certainly a myth.