Coleg Harlech was a residential adult education college for mature students in Harlech, Gwynedd, later on part of Adult Learning Wales - Addysg Oedolion Cymru.
Coleg Harlech was a residential adult education college for mature students in Harlech, Gwynedd, later on part of Adult Learning Wales - Addysg Oedolion Cymru.
It was Wales' only long-term, mature-student residential education college and was established in 1927 by Thomas Jones, Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet under four prime ministers including David Lloyd George and Stanley Baldwin, to continue the work of Workers' Educational Association in a residential environment, with Ben Bowen Thomas as its first warden. Plas Wernfawr was acquired at a knock-down price from a seller sympathetic to the project to be the base for the college.
Starting with just six students, mostly from the South Wales Coalfield area, numbers increased to 30 in the 1930s, 70 in the 1960s, serving the whole of Wales. Then, with Ieuan Jeffries-Jones as warden, Coleg Harlech began offering a two-year diploma course validated by the University of Wales, which became a preparation for university education for those who had missed out on earlier education: it became well known as a "second chance" college, often for people who, for economic or social reasons, never had a first chance.
By the 1980s and 1990s, higher education institutions generally were growing, and expanding access opportunities wider than before. This began to threaten Coleg Harlech’s niche, and ultimately Coleg Harlech, once funded as a unique institution in Wales, came under the funding regime with other further education colleges, and became less distinctive. [1]
Coleg Harlech always had a close association with the WEA and merged with WEA (North Wales) in 2001 to become Coleg Harlech Workers' Educational Association North Wales (CHWEAN); CHWEAN subsequently evolved via two further mergers into Adult Learning Wales, which operated the site until its sale in 2019.
The college's residential students were once supported financially by bursaries from the Welsh Government, previously the Welsh Office, but as access to higher and further education widenened and the college's provision became less distinctive, these came to an end, in effect bringing about the termination of residential courses.
In February 2017 it was announced that Coleg Harlech would be closing as an adult education site at the end of the academic year. [2] It was sold to local businessman Leslie Banks Irvine in April 2019, [3] but then put on sale again in September that year [4] as four properties with a total asking price of around £630,000. [5]
In 2021 a petition to the Welsh Government stating "The Welsh Government should re-purchase and refurbish Coleg Harlech" gained 6,666 signatures. [6] [7]
In around February 2022, the Welsh Government approved some funding for emergency works to protect the buildings. [8]
The institution has always been named, simply, Coleg Harlech: there is no ‘English version’ of the name even though it translates as 'Harlech College'.
The campus is centred on Plas Wernfawr, a house originally built in 1907–08 for George Davison, [9] and designed in Arts and Crafts style by the radical architect George Henry Walton. The building is in simple classical style, built of dressed blocks of local grey stone. The east front demonstrates strong horizontal lines, formed by two rows of sash windows, a projecting dentilated string course at eaves height forming the base of a pediment which contains a central oculus. [10] [11] Walton also laid out the garden. After it became Coleg Harlech, a library wing was added, designed by local architect Griffith Morris in an Art Deco style. [12] Plas Wernfawr, together with the terraces revetment walls of the garden on the seaward side is a Grade II* listed building. The forecourt and garden structures on the inland side are listed Grade II.
Plas Wernfawr once held a collection of artworks which had been donated or purchased by the college over the years. [13] However, a financial crisis at the college in 2013 forced the sale of these artefacts and many rare books from the college library. [14]
The Great Hall, part of Walton's original design, was destroyed by fire in 1968. It was replaced by a brutalist theatre building, designed by Gerald Latter for Colwyn Foulkes & Partners. [15] [16] The theatre building was opened as Theatr Ardudwy in 1973 but subsequently changed its name to Theatr Harlech. It was operated by a separate body from the college until the Coleg closed its doors to learners in 2017. It is considered by The Twentieth Century Society to be a building at risk, along with the college's 12-storey residential tower, also designed by Latter in 1968. [17] [16]
It was reported in 2021 that the theatre "could be set to reopen", [18] after previous reports of police investigations into earlier plans. [19] [20]
The campus also includes a Gymnasium built c. 1970 to designs by Colwyn Foulkes [21] and an Amenity Centre, designed in 1985 by the Percy Thomas Partnership. [22] Other buildings including a concrete tower block once used for accommodation and Wern Fach, once the Warden's residence.
Gwynedd is a county in the north-west of Wales. It borders Anglesey across the Menai Strait to the north, Conwy, Denbighshire, and Powys to the east, Ceredigion over the Dyfi estuary to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. The city of Bangor is the largest settlement, and the administrative centre is Caernarfon. The preserved county of Gwynedd, which is used for ceremonial purposes, includes the Isle of Anglesey.
Bangor is a cathedral city and community in Gwynedd, North Wales. It is the oldest city in Wales. Historically part of Caernarfonshire, it had a population of 15,100 at the 2021 census. Landmarks include Bangor Cathedral, Bangor University and Garth Pier. The Britannia and Menai Suspension bridges connect the city to the Isle of Anglesey.
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Harlech is a seaside resort and community in Gwynedd, North Wales, and formerly in the historic county of Merionethshire. It lies on Tremadog Bay in the Snowdonia National Park. Before 1966, it belonged to the Meirionydd District of the 1974 County of Gwynedd. Its landmark Harlech Castle was begun in 1283 by Edward I of England, captured by Owain Glyndŵr, and in the 1480s, a stronghold of Henry Tudor. Once on a seaside cliff face, it is now half a mile inland. New housing has appeared in the low town and in the high town around the shopping street, church and castle. The two are linked by a steep road called "Twtil". Of its 1,447 inhabitants, 51 per cent habitually speak Welsh. The built-up area with Llanfair had a population of 1,762 in the 2001 census, over half of whom lacked Welsh identity, and the electoral ward which includes Talsarnau 1,997 in the 2011 census. The estimate in 2019 was 1,881. The population of the community, which includes just the village, was 1,263 as of the 2021 census.
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Llanystumdwy is a predominantly Welsh-speaking village, community and electoral ward in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd in Wales. The village lies on the southern coast of the Llŷn Peninsula, with a beach facing Cardigan Bay, between Criccieth and Pwllheli at the point where the A497 road crosses the Afon Dwyfor.
Workers' Educational Associations (WEA) are not-for-profit bodies that deliver further education to adults in the UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada.
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Adult Learning Wales is a registered charity and adult education provider serving the whole of Wales.
Sir Ben Bowen Thomas was a Welsh civil servant and university President. He served as Permanent Secretary to the Welsh Department of the Ministry of Education from 1945 to 1963, and was President of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth from 1964 to 1975. In June 1977 Thomas was awarded an Honorary Degree from the Open University as Doctor of the University.
Saint Tanwg is the patron saint of Llandanwg, Gwynedd, Wales. He is presumed to be the founder of St Tanwg's Church, the small church at Llandanwg near Harlech, although the presence of an inscribed stone which has been dated to the 5th century suggests the church was already in existence when Tanwg and his brothers arrived in the area early in the 6th century. This Llandanwg Stone is inscribed with two names, one being Ingenui ; the other is indecipherable. The stone is not local. It is thought to have come from the Wicklow Hills in Ireland. This means that it was probably brought over by a rich person. It is a reasonable conjecture that Ingenuus may have been the founder of the church in the late fifth century, and that St. Tanwg lived at this llan a generation or two later. Another stone, called the Equester Stone, is of 6th century date. It is inscribed Equestrinomine, an unusual form of wording otherwise known only from 4th century inscriptions in Italy and Gaul.
St. David's Hotel was an Edwardian Era hotel in Harlech, Wales. The building was located on the A496, adjacent to Theatr Harlech on the campus of Coleg Harlech, and Royal St David's Golf Club.
Dyffryn Ardudwy is a village, community and electoral ward in the Ardudwy area of Gwynedd, Wales. It comprises several small, almost conjoined, villages including Coed Ystumgwern, Llanenddwyn, Llanddwywe, Talybont and Dyffryn Ardudwy. It is situated on the main A496 coast road between Harlech and Barmouth. The ward had a population of 1,540 according to the 2011 census.
Iwan "Iwcs" Roberts is a Welsh actor, lyricist, singer, novelist, script writer and film producer of Dal y Mellt. He has worked on various films, including the BAFTA-winning productions Eldra and Y Lleill, and is well known for his portrayal of character Kevin Powell in the Welsh soap opera Pobol y Cwm. He has also had a successful career as a singer-songwriter, both as part of the duo Iwcs a Doyle and as a solo artist.
Talsarnau is a village and community in the Ardudwy area of Gwynedd in Wales. Its population was 525 in 2001, and had increased to 550 at the 2011 Census.
Coleg Cambria in North East Wales is one of the UK's largest colleges, with over 7000 full-time and 20,000 part-time students, and has international links covering four continents. Coleg Cambria was created following the merger of Deeside College and Yale College, Wrexham. Coleg Cambria began operating on 1 August 2013. Coleg Cambria is a young adult community for people aged 16 years and older.
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