Wedgwood Memorial College was a small residential college in
Barlaston
Barlaston is a village and civil parish in the borough of Stafford in the county of Staffordshire, England. It is roughly halfway between the city of Stoke-on-Trent and the small town of Stone. According to the 2001 census the population of the ...
, near
Stoke-on-Trent in
Staffordshire, England
Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...
. The college was owned and operated by
Stoke-on-Trent City Council until it was closed down by the council in March 2012. It still houses the centre of
Esperanto education at Estoril House.
There is also a similarly named building in
Burslem
Burslem ( ) is one of the six towns that along with Hanley, Tunstall, Fenton, Longton and Stoke-upon-Trent form part of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, England. It is often referred to as the "mother town" of Stoke on Trent.
...
, the
Wedgwood Institute
The Wedgwood Institute is a large red-brick building that stands in Queen Street, in the town of Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. It is sometimes called the Wedgwood Memorial Institute, but it is not to be confused with the former ...
, which is sometimes called the "Wedgwood Memorial Institute". This is a completely separate institution.
The college, a member of the
Adult Residential Colleges Association, offered short courses in literature and languages (French, German and Esperanto); political science and history; and art, art history and architectural history.
Wedgwood Memorial College had a non-circulating library with 15,000 volumes available for research and private study.
The buildings were also rented out for weddings, parties and small conferences, with eight rooms available that accommodated from ten to 40 people per room. One of these rooms is the
Montagu C. Butler Library, located in
Esperanto House on the grounds of the college.
History of college
The Barlaston estate was acquired by
Wedgwood
Wedgwood is an English fine china, porcelain and luxury accessories manufacturer that was founded on 1 May 1759 by the potter and entrepreneur Josiah Wedgwood and was first incorporated in 1895 as Josiah Wedgwood and Sons Ltd. It was rapid ...
in the 1930s, and the college opened in February 1945 in
Barlaston Hall, a country house. The building was endangered by
coal mining operations and a
geological fault, which caused major diagonal cracks in the walls. The college moved from Barlaston Hall to Victorian and Edwardian buildings in Barlaston village.
Esperanto instruction
Esperanto House, the headquarters of the
Esperanto Association of Britain
The Esperanto Association of Britain (EAB) is a registered educational charity whose objective is to advance education in and about the international language Esperanto and to preserve and promote the culture and heritage of Esperanto for the educa ...
has its main office on the Estoril site of Wedgwood Memorial College.
Between 1960 and 2011, the last opportunity prior to its 2012 closure, Wedgwood Memorial College offered a week-long
Esperanto summer school every August. This came about partly through the influence of
Horace Barks, the Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent, who was an advocate of Esperanto.
The college offered a weekend course in
Esperanto theatre every January and a weekend residential course in Esperanto language every October. The
Esperanto Association of Britain
The Esperanto Association of Britain (EAB) is a registered educational charity whose objective is to advance education in and about the international language Esperanto and to preserve and promote the culture and heritage of Esperanto for the educa ...
offers a partial subsidy to Esperanto learners attending the Wedgwood Memorial College programme and who have first completed such an introductory course.
Notes
Further reading
*
External links
Esperanto Association of BritainMontagu C. Butler LibraryCatalogue of Buter Library (downloadable)
{{Coord, 52.9429, -2.1657, type:edu_region:GB-STS, display=title
Esperanto education
Further education colleges in Staffordshire
Adult education in the United Kingdom
Esperanto in the United Kingdom
Barlaston