St Matthias (known colloquially as St Matts) used to belong to the

University of the West of England The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a Public university, public research university, located in and around Bristol, England, UK. With more than 39,912 students and 4,300 staff, it is the largest provider of hi ...

. The campus is located in the suburb of

Fishponds Fishponds is a suburb in the north-east of the English city of Bristol, about from Bristol city centre, the city centre. It is mainly residential, and housing is typically terraced Victorian. It has a small student population from the presence ...

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

History

The campus was previously a teacher training college, originally called the Gloucester and Bristol Diocesan Training Institution for School Mistresses, which opened in 1853 and was later the humanities campus for UWE Bristol. As part of a project dedicated to the history of the campus, staff and students both past and present
share their memories of their time on campus
The original buildings were constructed in 1851–2 by John Bevan with Jonathan Clarke, in a

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. The building was extended in 1903. Today it is a 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, Hi ...

and the lodge is listed grade II.

Departments and courses

St Matthias was home to departments within the faculty of Creative Arts, Humanities and Education, including: * Department of Culture, Media and Drama * Department of History, Philosophy and Politics * Department of English, Linguistics and Communication. In addition, the Department of Psychology was housed at the campus, before staff, students and laboratories were moved to the French campus. The move was made in order to join the other departments in the Faculty of Applied Sciences.

Buildings and facilities

The campus has some

Victorian Gothic 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 ...

buildings, and is set around a quad.

Closure

The University of the West of England closed the campus in September 2014 (with operations on the site ceasing on 4 July 2014) as a part of a relocation project. The various departments of the faculty of Creative Arts, Humanities and Education from St Matthias and Bower Ashton have moved to new facilities at Frenchay campus. As part of the planned closure UWE and the UWE Students' Union held a 3-day farewell party to celebrate the campus, its history, staff, ex- staff, students and alumni. In March 2014 it was announced that, subject to planning permission, the site would be sold and redeveloped by

Barratt Developments Barratt Redrow plc is one of the largest residential property development companies in the United Kingdom operating across England, Wales and Scotland. It is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. It was originally based in Newcastle upon Tyn ...

for housing and the listed buildings would become a Steiner School.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Matthias, Bristol University of the West of England, Bristol Grade II listed buildings in Bristol Grade II listed educational buildings Grade II listed churches in Bristol 1852 establishments in the United Kingdom

History

Archives

Departments and courses

Buildings and facilities

Closure

References