Didsbury Campus
The Didsbury Campus on Wilmslow Road in Didsbury, a suburb of Manchester, England, was originally a private estate before becoming part of Manchester Metropolitan University; the oldest building on the site dates to around 1785. It became a theological college for the Wesleyan Methodist Church in 1842, about the same time as a chapel—later incorporated into the college—was built. These buildings are now listed.
In 1946 in response to a growing need for new teachers across the country, the site became a temporary teacher training college, becoming permanent in 1950. Over the next 30 years there was a significant building programme, with classrooms, lecture theatres, offices, sports facilities and a library all constructed. The college became a part of Manchester Polytechnic in 1977. In 2005 the campus became home to the Science Learning Centre North West.
The university closed the campus in 2014, sold the land to developers, and moved its facilities to a new purpose-built campus named Birley Fields in Hulme. All the buildings constructed after the Second World War were then demolished, with only the listed buildings remaining. As of 2018 these are being converted into homes as part of the site's redevelopment as a residential area.
History
Early history: 1465–1946
According to local historian Diana Leitch, the site has been in use since 1465; the first house was built in 1603 as part of a large estate with a deer park. In 1740 the site was purchased by the Broome family, and a new house was constructed after 1785 by William Broome, extant today as the front part of the university's former administration building, now known as Sandhurst House. By 1812 the house was occupied by a Colonel Parker, and in the 1820s and 1830s it was a girls' school. The site was purchased by the Wesleyan Methodist Church on 18 March 1841 for £2,000, and opened as a theological college on 22 September 1842 with a special service. The construction and later renovations were paid for from a centenary fund, an initiative started ten years previously by the Methodist scholar Adam Clarke.To the south of the main house, the Methodist owners constructed a chapel that could hold 300 worshippers, along with accommodation for staff. This was later dubbed the Old Pump House. In 1866 the main house was extended by the addition of two wings and a back to form a quadrangle, and the front was reclad in Kerridge stone. In 1877 a new church was built to serve the college, the large Victorian Gothic St Paul's Methodist Church, on an adjacent site, and the chapel became the college library and lecture theatre. By the end of the 19th century, Didsbury had become a branch of a national Wesleyan Theological Institution, along with Wesley College, Headingley, in Leeds and Handsworth College in Birmingham. The first president of the Institute was Jabez Bunting; John Hannah was among the first tutors.
During both world wars the site was used as a military hospital, with up to 200 beds and more than 5,000 patients receiving treatment between 1941 and 1945. In 1943 the Board of Education had begun to consider the future of education, following reforms that would inevitably come after the war ended. It was estimated that with the raising of the school leaving age, following the Education Act 1944, about 70,000 new teachers would be needed annually, almost ten times as many as before the war. In 1944 a report was produced by the Board of Education on the emergency recruitment and training of teachers, and it was decided that there were to be several new training colleges set up. These colleges were to be staffed by lecturers seconded from local authorities, with mature students selected from National Service conscripts. In 1945 the theological college, which was no longer required by the Wesleyans, was leased to the Manchester Education Authority. The new emergency training college was officially opened on 31 January 1946, with Alfred Body as its first principal.
Didsbury College of Education: 1946–1977
The college faced some difficulties initially, as the building which had accommodated 70 students previously now needed space for 224, including 140 living on site. In the first four years, renovations by the Ministry of Works included the removal of 60 chimney stacks, a new roof, new wiring and central heating. Many lectures took place away from the site in various schools and other buildings nearby, and temporary huts – which would become permanent – were constructed in 1947. The first students were all ex-service men who had been interviewed by boards established by the Ministry of Education; they completed a 2-year course over a period of just 13 months. The second cohort of 242 men completed their course in a similar amount of time. Didsbury became co-educational in 1948, with 158 female and 106 male students enrolling. There was some uncertainty about what was to become of the college once the emergency scheme ended; the Methodists, who still owned the building, had moved to Bristol. The University of Manchester had expressed an interest in using the site as student accommodation, and the Methodists also wished to set up a training college. In the end, by 1950, the emergency college was purchased by the City of Manchester and made permanent as Didsbury Teacher Training College, with an initial enrolment of about 250 male and female students. As a result of becoming a permanent college, Didsbury became part of Manchester University's School of Education. In 1956 Lord and Lady Simon of Wythenshawe granted the college of land on the opposite side of Wilmslow Road, allowing sports days to be held.Over the next two decades, numerous buildings were constructed on the site; Behrens, Birley and Simon were all named after prominent local families with ties to the college. The date the building was opened is given in parentheses where known:
- Simon Building. Included lecture rooms, a gymnasium, assembly hall, refectory and kitchen.
- Behrens Building
- Broomhurst Hall. A mixed halls of residence on the site of the playing field.
- Royal Ford Hall of Residence ; off-site.
- Birley Building. Included a refectory, kitchen and teaching rooms.
- Assembly hall and drama studio.
- Sports centre and swimming pool.
- Purpose-built library.
Didsbury Teacher Training College was renamed Didsbury College of Education in 1963, following the Robbins Report on Higher Education. By 1966 student numbers had risen to 1,100, with 107 staff. In the late 1960s, under the second principal Ronald Goldman, plans were made to change the college into the University of South Manchester, though these never came to fruition. By 1970 student numbers had increased significantly, to 1,550.
Polytechnic and university: 1977–2014
Didsbury became part of Manchester Polytechnic in 1977, renamed Didsbury School of Education. The merger was met with some opposition by students, who considered the polytechnic to be "quite different" from the college. The City of Manchester College of Higher Education merged with the polytechnic in 1983, and in 1992 it gained university status, becoming Manchester Metropolitan University. In the same year it merged with Crewe and Alsager College, which became the university's Cheshire campus. As part of a university, Didsbury was granted an annual research fund of £375,000, and by 1995 the first doctorates in education were being planned, with PhDs introduced later. There were 1,867 students by 1986, and throughout the 1980s and 1990s there were ongoing improvements to technology. Computers became commonplace, and interactive whiteboards were introduced across all classrooms by 2009. In 1999 the School of Education became known as the Institute of Education, and student numbers reached a peak of 3,207 in 2004. In 2005 the library was significantly renovated and updated, with mezzanine floors, a lift, and group study rooms being constructed. Didsbury became the base of the Science Learning Centre North West in 2005, following the building of new science laboratories costing £2 million. In 2008 the institute was renamed the Faculty of Education. It was placed 8th on the national league tables in the same year, and was the highest rated new university with a large education faculty.In 2006 the university made proposals to significantly develop Didsbury, bringing the School of Health, Psychology and Social Care and the Institute of Education onto the Didsbury site, after the closure of the Elizabeth Gaskell campus. Plans involved the creation of £19 million multi-storey teaching blocks and upgraded buildings, and improved access to facilities such as the library and sports centre. The plans were criticised by local residents, whose main concern was parking, since the plans could lead to 1,900 new students on site and 240 new staff. By 2008, plans had changed and it was decided to close the Didsbury campus and move the 2,740 students to a new facility in Hulme, later named Birley Fields. This new campus, close to the All Saints campus in the city centre, was designed to replace all of the university's other Manchester campuses, with funds arising from the land that was sold off. Reactions to the announced closure were mixed; local traders and businesses were worried about the impact of the loss of students, but many residents supported the move, especially those who had opposed expansion. The Didsbury campus was finally closed in August 2014, and the new £140 million Birley Fields campus opened on 2 October 2014, after two years of construction. In total, the university spent £350 million on new facilities at Birley Fields, as well as the All Saints and Cheshire campuses.