Bradford was long a centre of the West Riding wool industry. The name is derived from the "Broad Ford" at Church Bank by the site of Bradford Cathedral, around which the city was founded sometime around the time of the Norman Conquest. The stream, called Bradford Beck, now passes through underground tunnels to the River Aire near Shipley.

Bradford was one of the many English cities which really came into its own in the Industrial Revolution. Bradford's textile industry dates back as far as the thirteenth century, but it was not until the nineteenth century that it became world famous. Yorkshire boasted plentiful supplies of iron ore, coal and soft water which were used in cleaning raw wool, and a coal seam which stretched as far as Nottingham provided the power that the industry needed. Sandstone, Bradford's local stone, provided an excellent resource for the building of the mills, and the large population of West Yorkshire meant there was a readily available workforce.

To support the textiles mills and machinery a large manufacturing base grew up in the city, leading to diversification with different industries thriving side by side. Today most of the older textile mills and some of the heavier industries have closed, but Bradford remains one of the north's important cities, with modern engineering, chemicals and financial services replacing the "dark satanic mills" of the revolution.

One of the mills that remains — now in the form of a museum — is Salt's Mill, in the heart of the industrial village and UNESCO designated world heritage centre of Saltaire. The village was built by enlightened industrialist Sir Titus Salt for his many employees. Also still standing is Lister's Mill (or Manningham Mills), once owned by Samuel Lister. It is believed that the chimney of Lister's mill can be seen from just about anywhere in Bradford.

This page was last updated: 23 August 2005

Town history extracts are taken from Wikipedia and are licensed under GFDL