How did this Milner Field get its name?

Lynda Milner is appealing for any information as to how the ruined house Milner Field, once famous not only for its grandeur but for the bad luck it brought its occupants, got its name.

Built by the son of industrialist and philanthropist Sir Titus Salt, Milner Field House has a fascinating history.

Built between 1871 and 1873 by Titus Salt Jnr, the fifth and youngest son of Sir Titus, the mansion had a large conservatory, kitchen gardens, greenhouses, stables, a boating lake, lodges, woodlands and much more befitting a house of its size and grandeur.

The then Prince of Wales, the future King Edward VII, visited the house in 1882, as on another occasion, did Princess Beatrice, the youngest daughter of Queen Victoria.

Milner Field was believed to be cursed

But by the 1920s the house, built on a hill above Saltaire with views across the Aire Valley, had attracted a macabre reputation and was thought to be cursed. It seemed to bring nothing but misfortune to its wealthy inhabitants.

Sir Titus Jnr died in the billiard room in 1887, from a heart condition worsened by business woes. When Salts Mill and Milner Field was sold to Sir James Roberts he was plagued by tragedy too. Three of his four sons died and the other was badly injured in the First World War then lost his pregnant young wife to the Spanish flu epidemic. Sir James’s daughter Alice married a man who later shot dead a man thought to be her lover.

Families who lived in Milner House in later years fared little better. The huge house was also damp and difficult and expensive to heat. In the early 1930s it was put up for sale but there were no takers and it was abandoned. Many building materials were stripped away and used for the repair of other local landmark buildings including Salts Mill.

In the Second World War the crumbling mansion was used by the local Home Guard for grenade practice.

The house were eventually demolished in the 1950s.

Remains of the mansion can still be found on the overgrown site including the conservatory’s mosaic floor, a fraction of wall, an intact brick cellar with a vaulted ceiling and stairs above, carved blocks of stone, gateposts and scatterings of well-made bricks among the rubble.

The house has been extensively written about by local historians and continues to intrigue people to this day. Videos have been posted on YouTube, as adventurers explore the ruins in the woodland.

“I am intrigued by the name. My surname is Milner - my husband’s family originated in West Yorkshire,” says Lynda My father-in-law was born in the village of Robin Hood near Wakefield in 1892 and subsequently became the first chemistry graduate from the University of Leeds.

“His father before him was a stone mason locally. What interests me particularly is why the name Milner was used for the house - I would love to find out more.”

Lynda, who was born in Ripon and now lives in Nottinghamshire, is making the appeal to see if she can discover any family connections to the Milner family.

If anyone has any information please contact helen.mead@nqyne.co.uk or ring 07816 872105.