Another useful piece of evidence are the rules for living in Saltaire. These go someway to support the theory of control. One of the rules is that no animals are allowed in the village, another consists of instructions when and how often to wash, and another states that gatherings in the street of more than eight people are forbidden. These rules are very strict, and mean that Salt has very strict control over the workers, and they were forbidden to do many things. The idea of not allowing gatherings of more than eight people was probably to stop any of the villagers plotting against Salt, and to keep order. But also in the documentary evidence, we read about the excellent conditions of Saltaire, and how Salt worked and planned hard to make it a good place, and these rules could have been necessary to keep it a healthy and well looked after environment. So as we look at the rules, we notice the other ones, such as forcing cleanliness and cheerfulness, and only honest, obedient and hardworking people being allowed into the village, we can see that not all the rules were there for Salt to keep a lot of control over the villagers.
Through my study of the site, I can see how much the idea of Salt’s only reason for building Saltaire being for control is supported, by the site evidence. Firstly, I studied the almshouses. Salt didn’t have to build these-he chose to. From looking at them and taking pictures, I noticed that they were quite impressive. They were there for retired workers of the mills, who had no family. They were fully bricked, and looked like they had had no renovations up to date, which showed they were well built. They were superbly situated- opposite the hospital (old were prone to illnesses), set in an area of open space, and on the edge of the village. The houses themselves looked quite big, especially for that time period. He had included many things, which were not necessary for his workers-just added bonuses.
Robert’s park was another area I looked at. Here, there is a river, fields, and a lot of open space. There would have been boating, cricket, and other activities available. Salt provided this for his workers enjoyment and leisure. Studying the streets and houses, I could see that the houses are different sizes and situated in different parts of the village, depending on what kind of job the workers had. The streets are cobbled, and not back-to-back as they would’ve been in Bradford at that time. They also had small holes for coal, or to scrape their shoes in. The institute was a big part of the villagers’ social lives, and Salt designed it to look nice. The designs were classical Greek and roman, and he provided a whole range of enjoyable activities, to suit everyone. Salt also built a school opposite the institute, which was for young factory workers, (both boys and girls) for ages nine and up. By law, Salt did have to provide some form of education, but he did not have to build the school-this was his own idea. Salt was an extremely religious person, and he built a church In Saltaire. It is situated directly opposite the mill, to encourage church going. The hospital was extremely well built, and needed no work or improvements, and could even take the third storey, which was recently added. All of this site evidence shows that Salt provided many luxuries and things to make life comfortable for the villagers, and made it a nice place to live. He provided many more things that he did not need to if his only objective was to gain control of his workers. So the evidence gathered shows that control was not his sole intention.
However, it definitely was one of his reasons for building Saltaire. This is because the rules were very strict, he provided no pubs, and also in the village there is a watchtower on Titus Street. Salt or some of his highest workers will have used this to keep an eye on the villagers.