St Matthias (known colloquially as St Matts) used to belong to the

University of the West of England The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a public research university, located in and around Bristol, England. The institution was know as the Bristol Polytechnic in 1970; it received university status in 1992 and ...

. The campus is located in the suburb of

Fishponds Fishponds is a large suburb in the north-east of the English city of Bristol, about from the city centre. It has two large Victorian-era parks: Eastville Park and Vassall's Park (once the Vassall Family estate, also known as Oldbury Court). T ...

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

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 and was later the humanities campus for UWE Bristol. As part of a project dedicated to the history of the campus, staff and students both past and present
share their memories of their time on campus
The original buildings were constructed in 1851-2 by John Bevan with Jonathan Clarke, in a

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

style. The building was extended in 1903. Today it is a grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

and the lodge is listed grade II.

Departments and courses

St Matthias was 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

Buildings and facilities

The campus has some

Victorian Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

buildings, and is set around a quad.

Closure

The University of the West of England closed the campus in September 2014 (with operations on the site ceasing on 4 July 2014) as a part of a relocation project. The various departments of the faculty of Creative Arts, Humanities and Education from St Matthias and

Bower Ashton Bower Ashton is a small district in south west Bristol on the western boundary with North Somerset, lying within the Southville ward, approximately two miles from the city centre. Ashton Court estate, a recreational area owned by Bristol City ...

have moved to new facilities at

Frenchay Frenchay is a village in the County of South Gloucestershire, England, and the Civil Parish of Winterbourne. It is on the outskirts to the north east of the city of Bristol. Frenchay was first recorded in 1257 as ''Fromscawe'' and later as '' ...

campus. As part of the planned closure UWE and the UWE Students' Union held a 3 day farewell party to celebrate the campus, its history, staff, ex- staff, students and alumni. In March 2014 it was announced that, subject to planning permission, the site would be sold and redeveloped by

Barratt Developments Barratt Developments plc is one of the largest residential property development companies in the United Kingdom operating across England, Wales and Scotland. It was founded in 1958 as Greensitt Bros., but control was later assumed by Sir ...

for housing and the listed buildings would become a Steiner School.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Matthias, Bristol University of the West of England, Bristol Grade II listed buildings in Bristol Grade II listed educational buildings Grade II listed churches in Bristol 1852 establishments in the United Kingdom

History

Archives

Departments and courses

Buildings and facilities

Closure

References