St. Martin's College
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

St Martin's College was a British
higher education Tertiary education (higher education, or post-secondary education) is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank defines tertiary education as including universities, colleges, and vocational schools ...
college with campuses in Lancaster,
Ambleside Ambleside is a town in the civil parish of Lakes and the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Westmorland and located in the Lake District National Park, the town sits at the ...
and
Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...
, as well as sites in
Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and civil parish in the Cumberland (unitary authority), Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. It is a port on the north-west coast, and lies outside the Lake District National parks of England and Wales, National Park. ...
, Barrow and
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. It provided undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the arts, humanities, business studies, teacher training, health and social care. In 2006 the college was granted the power to award its own degrees (prior to this they were accredited by
Lancaster University Lancaster University (officially The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several new univer ...
). On 1 August 2007, the college merged with other institutions to form the University of Cumbria.


History

St Martin's College opened in 1964, founded by the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...
as a college of education to train teachers, one of only two church colleges to be established in the 20th century. Built on the former site of Bowerham Barracks, the college opened with 89 students. The college was officially opened by the Queen Mother in 1967. The college is named after
St Martin of Tours Martin of Tours (; 316/3368 November 397) was the third bishop of Tours. He is the patron saint of many communities and organizations across Europe, including France's Third Republic. A native of Pannonia (present-day Hungary), he converted ...
, a Roman soldier who tore his cloak in two to clothe a naked beggar and later had a vision of Christ wearing the cloak. It is significant because just as St Martin renounced his life as a soldier after this to take on a life of caring and teaching, Bowerham Barracks left behind its military past to become a Church College. The college's founder principal was Dr Hugh Pollard, who stayed with the college until his retirement in 1976. He had overseen the college’s establishment and led it through its formative years. The student population had grown to 700 students by the time of Dr Pollard’s retirement. He was replaced by Robert Clayton, who had been previously principal of Matlock College in
Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...
. During his time in charge, the college branched out into Health, Radiography and Nursing courses, areas that would form a substantial part of the college’s provision from then on. In 1989, Mr Clayton announced his intention to retire. His replacement was Dr Ian Edynbry, formerly Vice-Principal of Worcester College of Higher Education and Assistant Principal at Middlesex Polytechnic. Dr. Edynbry was to oversee the college’s greatest expansion to date, as St Martin’s started to establish campuses in Cumbria. In 1996, Charlotte Mason College in Ambleside became part of St Martin’s College to become its first campus in Cumbria. This was soon followed in 1998 by the college’s acquisition of Carlisle’s former City General Hospital and City Maternity Hospital (originally a
Workhouse In Britain and Ireland, a workhouse (, lit. "poor-house") was a total institution where those unable to support themselves financially were offered accommodation and employment. In Scotland, they were usually known as Scottish poorhouse, poorh ...
) on Fusehill Street. The college had been active in Carlisle since 1995, since its takeover of the Lakeland College of Nursing. The Carlisle Campus has subsequently been redeveloped with modern facilities including en-suite student accommodation, a sports complex and most recently the Learning Gateway, a building kitted out with state-of-the-art IT to aid flexible and distributed learning. It was left to Edynbry's successor to take these new campus developments forward, as he announced he was to retire earlier than expected in 1997. The new Principal was Professor Chris Carr, whose previous role was as Pro-Vice Chancellor of
University of Central Lancashire The University of Lancashire (previously abbreviated UCLan) is a public university based in the city of Preston, Lancashire, England. It has its roots in ''The Institution For The Diffusion Of Useful Knowledge'', founded in 1828. Previously k ...
. Professor Carr took on the challenge of bringing cohesion to a diverse and multi-campus institution, whilst encouraging further diversification and expansion. Developments have been constant on each campus during that time, with new sports complexes built in Carlisle and Lancaster, a new library named the Charlotte Mason Library on the Ambleside Campus and new en-suite halls of residence built on the Carlisle Campus. The Alexandra Building was opened on the Lancaster Campus in 2004, a teaching and learning block with dedicated facilities for the arts. As of 2005, over 11,500 students studied at St Martin’s College, which employed over 1000 staff. The college had a substantial national reputation in teacher training and nursing, as the largest provider of teachers in the UK and a major provider of Health Care Practitioners in the North and North-West.


Academic portfolio

The college had a significant undergraduate and postgraduate portfolio with degrees accredited by
Lancaster University Lancaster University (officially The University of Lancaster) is a collegiate public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several new univer ...
. As the largest provider of Higher Education in Cumbria, St Martin’s College offered a wide range of courses from the traditional academic subjects to Sport Studies,
British Psychological Society The British Psychological Society (BPS) is a representative body for psychologists and psychology in the United Kingdom. History It was founded on 24 October 1901 at University College London (UCL) as ''The Psychological Society'', the org ...
(BPS) accredited Psychology, Information Technology and Environmental Management, to name just a few.


Locations

The college was located in the historic cities of Lancaster and
Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from ) is a city in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. Carlisle's early history is marked by the establishment of a settlement called Luguvalium to serve forts along Hadrian's Wall in Roman Britain. Due to its pro ...
and in the
Lake District The Lake District, also known as ''the Lakes'' or ''Lakeland'', is a mountainous region and National parks of the United Kingdom, national park in Cumbria, North West England. It is famous for its landscape, including its lakes, coast, and mou ...
. There are a wide range of clubs, bars and other activities available, as well as a variety of outdoor activities in the Lake District. New buildings including a new library and learning resource centre in
Ambleside Ambleside is a town in the civil parish of Lakes and the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Westmorland and located in the Lake District National Park, the town sits at the ...
, a modern sports centre in Carlisle and purpose built teaching facilities in Lancaster were added in the 2000s, totalling over £20 million.


Merger

St Martin's College, Cumbria Institute of the Arts and the Cumbrian sites of the
University of Central Lancashire The University of Lancashire (previously abbreviated UCLan) is a public university based in the city of Preston, Lancashire, England. It has its roots in ''The Institution For The Diffusion Of Useful Knowledge'', founded in 1828. Previously k ...
(UCLan) in Carlisle and Penrith amalgamated to form the University of Cumbria on 1 August 2007. This was instigated by a HEFCE (Higher Education Funding Council for England) report by Sir Martin Harris, published in September 2005, which recommended the amalgamation of the two institutions (UCLan's involvement came about after the report was published) to best serve the higher education needs of
Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...
.


Campus closure

On 1 December 2009, it was announced that the
Ambleside Ambleside is a town in the civil parish of Lakes and the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Westmorland and located in the Lake District National Park, the town sits at the ...
Campus would be 'mothballed' at the end of July 2010, and would no longer take new undergraduate students. The action by the University of Cumbria, if seen through, would have ended over 175 years of heritage and a protest was held on 1 December 2009 by the student body, with more actions following by students, the townspeople of Ambleside.
Tim Farron Timothy James Farron (born 27 May 1970) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Liberal Democrats from 2015 to 2017. He has been the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Westmorland and Lonsdale since ...
MP also voiced his support for the campus and students.
"Hundreds of local people have signed this petition and that shows how committed the community is to stopping this closure from happening. Now that the issue has national attention, I hope that the University will take notice of level of protest against this proposal and will reconsider their decision to downgrade Ambleside Campus..."
''Tim Farron, speaking in the Commons.'' In July 2011, the university announced a plan to reopen the Ambleside campus and increase student numbers, and this began in 2014. The campus now runs a variety of environmental, forestry, business and outdoor education courses.


References


External links


University of Cumbria website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Martin's College Higher education colleges in England St Martins Educational institutions established in 1964 Educational institutions disestablished in 2007 University of Cumbria Defunct universities and colleges in England 1964 establishments in the United Kingdom 2007 disestablishments in the United Kingdom