Bradford's Victorian buildings attract history society

The Victorian era - dated between mid 1837 and early 1901 - saw some of Bradford’s most iconic buildings brought to fruition.

It was a time when Bradford had changed from a rural town nestled among woodlands and fields to a metropolis.

Between 1801 and 1851, the population had risen from 6,400 to 104,000.

The city was rapidly expanding with older buildings largely replaced to meet Victorian society’s changing commercial needs.

VICTORIAN LIFE: On June 22, 1897, Bradfordian Richard Appleton showed the country’s first-ever same-day newsreel to an astonished Bradford audience. The subject was Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee procession earlier that day in London. The best architects and craftsmen - such as the legendary Lockwood & Mawson - created landmarks that would survive world wars and exemplify Victorian design at its finest. 

From the highest quality stone masonry to Gothic style structures, these buildings have caught the attention of The Victorian Society.

Traders in the Wool Exchange

The national charity, which campaigns for better use of the UK’s Victorian and Edwardian buildings and structures, is set to gather in Bradford for its annual meeting this October.

Victorian Society director James Hughes said: “Bradford is a great Victorian city, and in 2025 will be the UK City of Culture. No better time, therefore, to celebrate its nineteenth-century history, and the rich and remarkable architectural legacy of that period.

Inside the Wool Exchange - now Waterstones book shop (Image: Adam Porter, T&A Camera Club)

"Beyond the general Victorian character and feel of the city, it boasts some extraordinary buildings of the period, many of which the Society will visit. It promises to be a wonderful weekend.”

Queen Victoria's statue being unveiled The Lord Mayor of Bradford will welcome the society ahead of a weekend of guided walks around Bradford district’s Victorian gems.

The tours will take in major landmarks such as St George’s Hall, the Bradford Club, the Wool Exchange, and Little Germany, before a visit to see the Cathedral's Morris & Co windows. 

City Hall at night captured by Rais Hasan (Image: Rais Hasan, T&A Camera Club) The day ends at Undercliffe Cemetery, the Grade II*-listed Victorian burial ground.

Highlights of Sunday’s visits will include the extraordinary Grade II* listed Reform Synagogue of 1880, the second oldest surviving Reform synagogue in the country; Manningham and the Manningham Mills; and Cartwright Hall and its magnificent municipal gallery and grounds.

The historic village of Saltaire (Image: Newsquest) The celebration will end at Saltaire with walks through Titus Salt's industrial village from the 1850s.

The Society will not only report on its work over the course of the last year but highlight Bradford’s 19th and early 20th Century legacy.

Anna Dyson-Clarke, T&A Camera Club member, captured this beautiful shot of a wintery Undercliffe Cemetery (Image: T&A Camera Club) The Lord Mayor of Bradford, Councillor Beverley Mullaney, will join the Victorian Society Chair Professor Hilary Grainger and the Society’s Director James Hughes at Bradford’s Midland Hotel for the AGM. 

Norman Shaw’s banqueting hall in the Grade I-listed City Hall will then provide the backdrop to the society’s lectures and dinner.

Bradford's Reform Synagogue

Cllr Mullaney said: "I am delighted to welcome the Victorian Society to our great city.

"We will learn more from them about the influence of the Victorians, and to share some of the stories of great Victorians who have had such a marked impact on the city of Bradford.

"We will be sure to give everyone a real warm Yorkshire welcome and showcase what our city and district has to offer.”