Cotton College was a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

in Cotton, Staffordshire, United Kingdom. It was also known as ''Saint Wilfrid's College''. The school buildings were centred on Cotton Hall, a country house used by religious communities from the 1840s until the school moved there in 1873. The school closed in 1987 and the site is now derelict. The school and its chapel (St Wilfrid's church) are both

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

s.Cotton College, Cotton
from British listed buildings, retrieved 22 December 2014

History of the school

The school was founded in 1763 at Sedgley Park School, Wolverhampton – now a hotel. It was founded by William Errington at the recommendation of

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Richard Challoner. In 1873 it moved to Cotton Hall. The school closed in 1987 due to

financial Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...

difficulties.

Architecture

Cotton Hall

Original building

Cotton Hall appears to date back to 1630"Cotton College War Memorial", Historic England
/ref> and was most probably built by the Morrice family. Thomas Gilbert rebuilt the house in the eighteenth century. In 1843 Cotton Hall was sold to the

Earl of Shrewsbury Earl of Shrewsbury () is a hereditary title of nobility created twice in the Peerage of England. The second earldom dates to 1442. The holder of the Earldom of Shrewsbury also holds the title of Earl of Waterford (1446) in the Peerage of Ireland ...

. The Earl was a prominent Roman Catholic, who lived at

Alton Towers Alton Towers Resort ( ) (often shortened to Alton Towers) is a theme park and resort complex in Staffordshire, England, near the village of Alton, Staffordshire, Alton. The park is operated by Merlin Entertainments, Merlin Entertainments Group a ...

nearby. He offered the building to a religious community under the leadership of

Frederick William Faber Frederick William Faber (28 June 1814 – 26 September 1863) was a noted English hymnwriter and theologian, who converted from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism in 1845. He was ordained to the Catholic priesthood subsequently in 1847. His best-kn ...

Extensions

The house was extended in 1846–1848 for use by the religious community, which started a village school and sought to convert locals to Roman Catholicism. The building work was financed by the Earl, who gave the commission to his architect

Augustus Pugin Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin ( ; 1 March 1812 – 14 September 1852) was an English architect, designer, artist and critic with French and Swiss origins. He is principally remembered for his pioneering role in the Gothic Revival architecture ...

, most famous for his work with

Charles Barry Sir Charles Barry (23 May 1795 – 12 May 1860) was an English architect best known for his role in the rebuilding of the Palace of Westminster (also known as the Houses of Parliament) in London during the mid-19th century, but also responsi ...

on the

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

. After the boarding school moved to Cotton, the building was further extended in 1874-1875, 1886-1887 and 1931-1932.

St Wilfrid's Church

As well as extending the house, Pugin designed a

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

style linked to the main building by a single-storey passage building. It has a south-west tower with a broach spire. St Wilfrid's Church remained intact after the closure of the school, although regular services are no longer held there.History
from CottonCollege.co.uk, retrieved 22 December 2014

Notable alumni

* David Cashman (Bishop of Arundel and Brighton) * Kieran Conry (Bishop of Arundel and Brighton) * John Cornwell (writer) * Billy Kan (Hong Kong billionaire) * Camille Solon (artist) * Thomas Leighton Williams (Archbishop of Birmingham)

References

External links

Cotton College site
{{Coord, 53, 0, 55, N, 1, 54, 13, W, display=title Defunct universities and colleges in England Defunct Christian universities and colleges Boarding schools in Staffordshire Defunct Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Birmingham Educational institutions disestablished in 1987 Educational institutions established in 1763 1763 establishments in England 1987 disestablishments in England Former Catholic seminaries Grade II listed buildings in Staffordshire Defunct boarding schools in England