Old College, Aberystwyth | |
---|---|
General information | |
Architectural style | Gothic |
Town or city | Aberystwyth |
Country | United Kingdom |
Coordinates | 52°24′53″N4°5′18″W / 52.41472°N 4.08833°W |
Construction started | c.1795 |
Completed | 1865 |
Design and construction | |
Architect(s) | John Nash; J P Seddon |
Designations | |
Listed Building – Grade I | |
Official name | University College of Wales Old College Building |
Designated | 21 July 1961 |
Reference no. | 10251 |
Old College, Aberystwyth, is a building that forms part of the University of Aberystwyth in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales. It was built in 1795 by John Nash and is a Grade I listed building.
Before the Old College, Castle House stood in its location on Aberystwyth's seafront. In 1795, John Nash replaced Castle House with Old College. He hired George Jones as the architect to build the Old College, which he did quickly in the Gothic style. [1] In 1864 it was purchased by Thomas Savin who wanted to turn it into a hotel but was forced to abandon the project a year later due to financial troubles. [2] [3] From there it was sold in 1872 for £10,000, £70,000 below its original cost price, to the then University College Wales, Aberystwyth, who turned it into a college for higher education; the University College later became a constituent part, in 1893, of the University of Wales. [2]
In 1885, the building was damaged by fire and only survived through the University's board paying for repairs as public funds were not available. During the renovation J P Seddon, the architect hired to carry out the reconstitution, was sacked because the University were concerned that his plans would prove too expensive. [3] This was because Seddon despised the original design of the building and wanted to make it more intricate but was fired before he was able to complete it. [3]
The Old College remained the main campus in Aberystwyth until the 1960s when the majority of teaching was moved to the Penglais campus near the National Library of Wales. Despite this, administration of Aberystwyth University remained at the Old College along with the teaching of Education and Welsh. [3] In 2012, plans were made for the Old College to become a new postgraduate centre as a part of a new cultural quarter in Aberystwyth. [4] In 2015, the University applied for £19 million of Heritage Lottery Funding to allow for the renovation of the Old College. [5]
In 1961 the Old College was granted listed Grade I status. The reason for it being listed is because it was a "...particularly important example of that style so loved by wealthy Victorian patrons and so imaginatively created by architects of the period". [1] [6]
John Nash was one of the foremost British architects of the Georgian and Regency eras, during which he was responsible for the design, in the neoclassical and picturesque styles, of many important areas of London. His designs were financed by the Prince Regent and by the era's most successful property developer, James Burton. Nash also collaborated extensively with Burton's son, Decimus Burton.
Ceredigion, historically Cardiganshire, is a county in the west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire to the south, and the Irish Sea to the west. Aberystwyth is the largest settlement and, together with Aberaeron, is an administrative centre of Ceredigion County Council.
Aberystwyth University is a public research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The university has over 8,000 students studying across three academic faculties and 17 departments.
Aberaeron, previously anglicised as Aberayron, is a town, community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales. Located on the coast between Aberystwyth and Cardigan, its resident population was 1,274 in the 2021 census.
Cardigan is both a town and a community in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. Positioned on the tidal reach of the River Teifi at the point where Ceredigion meets Pembrokeshire, Cardigan was the county town of the historic county of Cardiganshire. Cardigan is the second-largest town in Ceredigion. The largest town, Aberystwyth, is one of the two administrative centres; the other is Aberaeron.
Lampeter is a town, community and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales, at the confluence of the Afon Dulas with the River Teifi. It is the third largest urban area in Ceredigion, after Aberystwyth and Cardigan, and has a campus of the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. At the 2011 Census, the population was 2,970. Lampeter is the smallest university town in the United Kingdom. The university adds approximately 1,000 people to the town's population during term time.
Devil's Bridge is a village and community in Ceredigion, Wales. Above the River Mynach on the edge of the village is a series of three stacked bridges, constructed hundreds of years apart, from which the village gets its English name.
Aberystwyth Castle is a Grade I listed Edwardian fortress located in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Mid Wales. It was built in response to the First Welsh War in the late 13th century, replacing an earlier fortress located a mile to the south. During a national uprising by Owain Glyndŵr, the Welsh captured the castle in 1404, but it was recaptured by the English four years later. In 1637 it became a Royal mint by Charles I, and produced silver shillings. The castle was slighted by Oliver Cromwell in 1649.
Llanerchaeron, known as "Llanayron House" to its nineteenth-century occupants, is a grade I listed mansion on the River Aeron, designed and built in 1795 by John Nash for Major William Lewis as a model self-sufficient farm complex located near Ciliau Aeron, some 2+1⁄2 miles south-east of Aberaeron, Ceredigion, Wales. There is evidence that the house replaced an earlier mansion. A later owner, William Lewes, was the husband of Colonel Lewis's inheriting daughter.
Llanbadarn Fawr is a village and community in Ceredigion, Wales. It is on the outskirts of Aberystwyth next to Penparcau and Southgate. It forms the eastern part of the continually built-up area of Aberystwyth. It holds two electoral wards, Padarn and Sulien which elect a Ceredigion County Councillor each and several Llanbadarn Fawr Community Councillors. At the 2001 census its population as a community was recorded at 2,899, increasing to 3,380 at the 2011 census.
The United Theological College located in Aberystwyth, in the county of Ceredigion in mid Wales, is a Grade II listed building which was the ministerial training college of the Presbyterian Church of Wales from 1906 to 2003 and an associate college of the University of Wales.
Aberystwyth is a university and seaside town and a community in Ceredigion, Wales. It is the largest town in Ceredigion and 16 miles (26 km) from Aberaeron, the county's administrative centre. In 2011, the population of the town was 15,935.
Bank y Llong was a Welsh bank. It got its name from an engraving of a ship decorating its bank notes. It was probably the first bank in Aberystwyth and was founded soon after the removal of the Custom House from Aberdyfi to Aberystwyth, around 1762.
The Thomas Parry Library at Aberystwyth was part of the library of the University of Wales Aberystwyth, it served the Department of Information Studies, Department of Law and Criminology and the School of Management & Business. It opened in June 1970 and closed 10 August 2018.
The Welsh Agricultural College (WAC) was established in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales, in 1970. In 1995, the WAC merged with the then University of Wales, Aberystwyth.
Edward Haycock Sr. was an English architect working in the West Midlands and in central and southern Wales in the late Georgian and early Victorian periods.
In the United Kingdom, the term listed building refers to a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural, historical, or cultural significance; Grade I structures are those considered to be "buildings of exceptional interest". Listing was begun by a provision in the Town and Country Planning Act 1947. Once listed, strict limitations are imposed on the modifications allowed to a building's structure or fittings. In Wales, the authority for listing under the Planning Act 1990 rests with Cadw.
Swyddfa'r Sir is a Grade II listed former hotel, former main offices of Ceredigion County Council and former Magistrates Court building located in Aberystwyth, well known as the outside of the police station in the BBC Wales police television series Y Gwyll (Hinterland).
Architecture of Wales is an overview of architecture in Wales from the medieval period to the present day, excluding castles and fortifications, ecclesiastical architecture and industrial architecture. It covers the history of domestic, commercial, and administrative architecture.
St Michael's Church is a parish church in the town of Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, Wales. St Michael's is the fourth church to stand on the site. The first dated from the 15th century but was in ruins by the mid-18th century. Its replacement only stood for some forty years before itself being replaced in 1829-1833 with a church designed by Edward Haycock Sr. of Shrewsbury. Nothing of the two earlier buildings remains. The Haycock church was itself superseded by the present church, built by Nicholson & Son of Hereford in 1886-1890. A fragment of the Haycock church remains to the west of the current building.
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