St Matthias, Bristol
| St Matthias | |
|---|---|
 |
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 Location within Bristol
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| General information | |
| Architectural style | Gothic Revival |
| Town or city | Bristol |
| Country | England |
| Coordinates | 51°29′04″N 2°31′48″W / 51.4845°N 2.5299°W |
| Construction started | 1851 |
| Completed | 1852 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | John Bevan |
St Matthias (known colloquially as St Matts) is one of the campuses belonging to the University of the West of England. The campus is located in the suburb of Fishponds in Bristol.
Contents |
[edit] History
The campus was previously a teacher training college, originally called the Gloucester and Bristol Diocesan Training Institution for School Mistresses, which opened in 1853.
The original buildings were constructed in 1851-2 by John Bevan with Jonathan Clarke, in a Gothic Revival style. The building was extended in 1903. Today it is a grade II listed building[1] and the Lodge is listed Grade II.[2]
[edit] Departments and Courses
St Matthias is home to departments within the faculty of Creative Arts, Humanities and Education, including:
- Department of Culture, Media and Drama
- Department of History, Philosophy and Politics
- Department of English, Linguistics and Communication
[edit] Buildings & Facilities
The campus has some attractive[who?] Victorian Gothic buildings, and is set around a quad. The campus has also a refectory, a gymnasium, a Students' Union bar, a library and on-site accommodation.
[edit] Activities
As home to the department of Drama, several small theatre companies exist on the campus. The Bristol Centre for Performing Arts bases its drama group here, as does the UWE Drama Society. The Regional History Centre is also based at St Matthias, and consists primarily of members of the department of History.[3]
[edit] Planned Closure
The University plans to close the campus by 2015 as a part of a relocation project. The plan is to consolidate the various departments of the faculty of Creative Arts, Humanities and Education from St Matthias and Bower Ashton to move to new facilities at Frenchay campus.[4] Leaving St Matthias would save money that is spent on maintaining the old buildings, which can be instead invested into teaching and resources.
The project's planned facilities will be new lecture and seminar rooms and specialist facilities for drama and media students.[5]
The project was originally intended to be completed by September 2011, but the time frame was extended at the time to September 2012.[6] It was revealed in August 2011 that the completion of phase 2 of the project was under review and the September 2012 open date was no longer planned.[7]
[edit] References
- ^ St Matthias College at Images of England
- ^ Lodge to St Matthias College at Images of England
- ^ The Regional History Centre at the University of the West of England
- ^ http://blogs.uwe.ac.uk/teams/stmatthias-relocation/archive/2011/08/25/smmprp-incorporated-into-ace-redevelopment-project.aspx
- ^ http://www.uwe.ac.uk/aboutUWE/smmp-relocation/about.shtml
- ^ http://blogs.uwe.ac.uk/teams/stmatthias-relocation/archive/2010/07/07/project-timeframe-extended-by-12-months.aspx
- ^ http://blogs.uwe.ac.uk/teams/stmatthias-relocation/archive/2011/08/30/smmprp-incorporated-into-ace-redevelopment-project.aspx
