Yale College, Wrexham (''Coleg Iâl'') is now part of

Coleg Cambria 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 ...

. Formerly a further education college situated in

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

North Wales North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...

, Yale College, Wrexham merged with

Deeside College Deeside College ( Welsh: ''Coleg Glannau Dyfrdwy'') (now part of Coleg Cambria) is located in Connah's Quay, Flintshire, North Wales. It was formerly a further education colle.g in August 2013 to create the college for North East Wales, one o ...

in August 2013 to create Coleg Cambria, the college for North East Wales, one of the largest UK colleges.bbc.co.uk - Deeside and Yale colleges merge as Coleg Cambria
/ref>legislation.gov.uk - The Coleg Cambria (Incorporation) Order 2013
/ref> Coleg Cambria is a Young Adult community for people aged 16 years and older.

consists of six campuses including Deeside, Yale Grove Park, Yale Bersham Road, Llysfasi, Northop and Wrexham Training. The college offers a wide range of courses from Further Education to HNC’s and Foundation Degrees for full and part-time students, apprentices and part-time community learners.

History

The history of Yale College can be summarised in four phases: Yale Grammar and Technical School, Yale High School from 1965, Yale Sixth Form, Yale College and now part of Coleg Cambria. It was founded in 1950 as a state school on a site at Crispin Lane as Wrexham Technical Grammar School and in 1965, when a brand new building was erected, it became Yale High School, named after

Elihu Yale Elihu Yale (5 April 1649 – 8 July 1721) was a British-American colonial administrator and philanthropist. Although born in Boston, Massachusetts, he only lived in America as a child, spending the rest of his life in England, Wales and India ...

, best known for being the prime benefactor of

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

, and whose family name derives from the nearby Welsh

commote A commote (Welsh ''cwmwd'', sometimes spelt in older documents as ''cymwd'', plural ''cymydau'', less frequently ''cymydoedd'')''Geiriadur Prifysgol Cymru'' (University of Wales Dictionary), p. 643 was a secular division of land in Medieval Wales ...

of Iâl. He is buried in Wrexham Parish Churchyard. In 1972, as part of the conversion of local schools to the comprehensive system, it was renamed as ''Yale Sixth Form College'' and the pupils re-located to other schools. The Crispin Lane site was incorporated into NEWI (now

Glyndŵr University Glyndŵr was one of six local government districts in the county of Clwyd in Wales from 1974 to 1996. History The district was created on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972. It covered the area of six former districts and two ...

) after the development of the Grove Park Campus. left, 'M' BlockIn 1995, work began on Yale's new campus which consisted of a mix of older and very modern, airy buildings in Wrexham city centre. Prior to dereliction, some of the buildings on the campus previously hosted ''Wrexham & East Denbighshire War Memorial Hospital'' up until the late 1980s, and another dating back to 1902 was previously ''Grove Park Grammar School'', which again closed in the 1980s. Out of the many buildings on the site, two of the largest were selected for refurbishment, and along with the newer buildings, the campus finally opened in 1998, known as the ''Grove Park'' campus which handles various qualifications including GCSEs, National Diplomas and A levels. In 1999, Yale University sued

Wrexham County Borough Council Wrexham County Borough Council () is the governing body for Wrexham County Borough, a principal area in north Wales, covering Wrexham and the surrounding area. History Elections take place every five years. The Labour Party held power on the ...

over the use of the name ''

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

'' (which had been the name of Yale University's undergraduate college for 225 years before Yale Wrexham was founded). As a result of the settlement of the trademark infringement suit, the Yale College in Wales must always be legally referred to as ''Yale College in Wrexham'' or ''Yale College Wrexham''. The name of the College in Welsh is Coleg Iâl Wrecsam. In November 2008 Yale College was announced as the overall winner of the Wales quality Award, in which organisations from across Wales compete for each year. 2008 was also the year the College achieved the highest workplace based learning inspection results in Wales, with eleven grade ones. The Yale College Grove Park Campus comprised eight buildings, five named after rivers in North Wales: Alun, Brenig, Clywedog, Dyfrdwy and Elwy, referred to as A, B, C, D and E Blocks. The shell of the Memorial Hospital houses Art and Multi-Media departments, as well as Yale College's own Gallery (hosting visiting artists), and the Regional Print Centre. This was known as MAB (Memorial Arts Building) or more simply, M Block. The old Grove Park school as G Block. There was a two story Foodcourt, housing Café Iâl (the College Refectory), a "Lifestyle Bar" (Café) for staff and students, a Student Café, Common Room and the studio of Radio Yale. YaleWrexhamBersham

The second campus at Bersham Road, Wrexham , which handles the vocational courses, such as

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad range of more speciali ...

plumbing Plumbing is any system that conveys fluids for a wide range of applications. Plumbing uses pipes, valves, plumbing fixtures, tanks, and other apparatuses to convey fluids. Heating and cooling (HVAC), waste removal, and potable water deliv ...

and

bricklaying Brickwork is masonry produced by a bricklayer, using bricks and mortar. Typically, rows of bricks called ''courses'' are laid on top of one another to build up a structure such as a brick wall. Bricks may be differentiated from blocks by siz ...

; this recently underwent an extensive redevelopment. Up until 2006, the college also possessed additional capacity in Roxburgh House, Wrexham, however the majority of the building was handed back to the vendor due to lease expiration. Previously the building handled apprenticeships and

training Training is teaching, or developing in oneself or others, any skills and knowledge or fitness that relate to specific useful competencies. Training has specific goals of improving one's capability, capacity, productivity and performance. I ...

References

External links

Coleg Cambria

Coleg Cambria Facebook

Coleg Cambria Twitter

Coleg Cambria YouTube Channel
{{coord, 53.0499, -2.9938, type:edu_region:GB, display=title Wrexham Further education colleges in Wrexham 1950 establishments in Wales Educational institutions established in 1950