
The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) was a university based in the centre of the city of
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
in England. It specialised in technical and scientific subjects and was a major centre for
research
Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...
. On 1 October 2004, it amalgamated with the
Victoria University of Manchester
The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. A ...
(commonly called the University of Manchester) to produce a new entity called the
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...
.
UMIST gained its
royal charter
A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...
in 1956 and became a fully autonomous university in 1994. Previously its degrees were awarded by the Victoria University of Manchester. The UMIST motto was ''Scientia et Labore'' (By Knowledge and Work).
Manchester Mechanics' Institute (1824–1882)
The foundation of UMIST can be traced to 1824 during the
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution, sometimes divided into the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, was a transitional period of the global economy toward more widespread, efficient and stable manufacturing processes, succee ...
when a group of Manchester businessmen and industrialists met in a
public house
A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...
, the Bridgewater Arms, to establish the ''
Mechanics' Institute in Manchester'', where artisans could learn basic science, particularly
mechanics
Mechanics () is the area of physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among Physical object, physical objects. Forces applied to objects may result in Displacement (vector), displacements, which are changes of ...
and
chemistry
Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...
.
[Kargon (1977) ''pp''20–24] Hundreds of such institutions were founded in towns and cities throughout the country and while many of the fine
Victorian buildings built to house them remain, Manchester's alone survived as an independent institution serving some of its original educational aims throughout the 20th century.
The meeting, convened by
George William Wood on 7 April 1824,
[
][
]
was attended by prominent members of the science and engineering community, including:
*
John Dalton
John Dalton (; 5 or 6 September 1766 – 27 July 1844) was an English chemist, physicist and meteorologist. He introduced the atomic theory into chemistry. He also researched Color blindness, colour blindness; as a result, the umbrella term ...
, who became known as the "father of atomic theory" and was vice-president of the institute from 1839 to 1841
*
Robert Hyde Greg, a
cotton mill
A cotton mill is a building that houses spinning or weaving machinery for the production of yarn or cloth from cotton, an important product during the Industrial Revolution in the development of the factory system.
Although some were driven ...
owner who was soon to be elected a member of parliament
*
Peter Ewart, a millwright and engineer
*
Richard Roberts a machine tools inventor
*
David Bellhouse
David Bellhouse (February 8, 1764 – 1840) was an English builder who did much to shape Victorian-era Manchester, both physically and socially.
Biography
Born in Leeds, Bellhouse received no formal education. An autodidact, he taught himsel ...
, a builder
*
William Henry, a pioneer in the scientific chemical industry, discovered
Henry's law of solubility of gas in water
*
William Fairbairn, a Scottish engineer associated with
water wheel
A water wheel is a machine for converting the kinetic energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a large wheel (usually constructed from wood or metal), with numerous b ...
s and the
Britannia tubular bridge but above all with a scientific approach to engineering. He was elected first secretary of the Mechanics' Institute
* Sir
Benjamin Heywood, a prosperous banker, acted as president of the Mechanics' Institute from 1824 to 1841;
his son,
Oliver subsequently became president.
A committee was elected to realise the planned institution, including Wood, Fairbairn, Heywood, Roberts and
John Davies and the institute opened in 1825 with Heywood as chairman.
However, the institute's intentions were paternal and no democratic control by its students was intended. In 1829, radical
Rowland Detrosier led a breakaway group to form the New Mechanics' Institution in Poole Street, a move that had a serious effect on the recruitment and finances of the original institute. Subscriptions and memberships in 1830 and 1831 were an all-time low and only the gradual opening of the board up to election by the members rectified the situation. Detrosier's break away ultimately rejoined the institute.
By 1840, the institute was established with 1,000 subscribers and a library of some 5,500 books. However, the increased popularity had been somewhat at the cost of science education as more and more lectures on non-scientific subjects were occupying its programmes.
The institute occupied a building on Cooper Street (near the present
St Peter's Square) and later moved to its present site on David Street (later renamed
Princess Street).
This still stands and 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 ...
.
The Tech (1883–1917)
In 1883 secretary of the institution
John Henry Reynolds reorganised the institution as a technical school using the schemes and examinations of the
City and Guilds of London Institute
The City and Guilds of London Institute is an educational organisation in the United Kingdom. Founded on 11 November 1878 by the City of London and 16 livery companies to develop a national system of technical education, the institute has be ...
. A new building was begun in 1895 and opened by the Prime Minister
Arthur Balfour
Arthur James Balfour, 1st Earl of Balfour (; 25 July 184819 March 1930) was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1902 to 1905. As Foreign Secretary ...
in October 1902.
[
] On the site previously had been cheap crowded inner-city housing occupied by Irish immigrants.
This is the western end of the
Sackville Street Building, until 2005 known as the UMIST Main Building, pictured above, 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, H ...
by Spalding and Cross with Renaissance motifs of
Burmantofts terracotta
Terracotta, also known as terra cotta or terra-cotta (; ; ), is a clay-based non-vitreous ceramic OED, "Terracotta""Terracotta" MFA Boston, "Cameo" database fired at relatively low temperatures. It is therefore a term used for earthenware obj ...
.
[Hartwell (2001)] By this time the institution was called the Manchester Municipal School of Technology or fondly known as the Tech.
[Cardwell (1974)] As a project of the Manchester City Council it includes in the decoration many portrayals of the city's
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...
.
As befits its roots in the early chemical industry of the region the Tech had pioneered
chemical engineering
Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials ...
as an academic subject in Britain, indeed the lectures by
George E. Davis in 1888 were highly influential in defining the discipline. Similarly in the 1920s it pioneered academic training in management, with the formation of a Department of Industrial Administration funded by an endowment from
asbestos
Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...
magnate
Sir Samuel Turner.
In 1905, the Tech become the Faculty of Technology of the
Victoria University of Manchester
The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. A ...
, allowing the award of
BSc and
MSc degrees. The principal of the School of Technology was now also dean of the faculty and an ''ex officio'' member of the university's senate.
After the merger with
Victoria University of Manchester
The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. A ...
the UMIST Main Building was renamed as the Sackville St. Building.
Establishment as a university (1918–1994)
In 1918, the institution changed name again to Manchester Municipal College of Technology. By 1949 over 8500 students were enrolled, however most still studying non-degree courses.
The appointment of
B. V. Bowden (later Lord Bowden) in 1953 marked the beginning of a phase of expansion.
On 29 July 1955 the institute received its own
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, but ...
incorporating it as a university college under the name Manchester College of Science and Technology, and became separately funded by the
University Grants Committee. The process of independence from the city was completed on 1 August 1956 when the Manchester Corporation transferred the assets of the Manchester Municipal College of Technology to the new college, with the principal of the municipal college becoming the first principal of the university college on the same day.
By 1966 all non-degree courses were moved to the
Manchester School of Design which is now part of
Manchester Metropolitan University
Manchester Metropolitan University is located in the centre of Manchester, England. The university has 40,000 students and over 4,000 members of staff. It is home to four faculties (Arts and Humanities, Business and Law, Health and Education ...
, and in 1966 the name finally changed to the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology on the initiative of Acting Principal
Frank Morton.
[''The Chemical Engineer'' 11 March 1999, page 30 "Frank Morton" (obituary)] UMIST and the
Victoria University of Manchester
The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. A ...
retained close ties for the second half of the 20th century, with UMIST students being awarded, or having the choice of, a University of Manchester degree until full autonomy.
In 1994 UMIST finally achieved the status of an independent university with its own degree-awarding powers with the principal,
Harold Hankins, becoming the principal and vice-chancellor.
Until this time UMIST was the Faculty of Technology of the Victoria University of Manchester, an interesting situation because the University of Manchester also had its own science and engineering courses. Although academically part of the university, UMIST was financially and administratively independent.
Congregation ceremonies were held at the University of Manchester on Oxford Road, but in 1991 the first congregation ceremony was held in the Great Hall at UMIST itself in the Sackville Street Building.
UMIST students were entitled to use the facilities of the Victoria University, including the
John Rylands University Library at the Oxford Road site and sports facilities and social clubs organised by the students' unions. In fact, first year UMIST undergraduates were often placed into Manchester University halls of residence and vice versa.
Student life
In the late 20th century, student life at UMIST centred on the Barnes Wallis Building, which was the home of the Students' Union (later known as the Students' Association), the main refectory and Harry's Bar. The main redbrick building contained a student self-service café, known as the Readers' Digest.
A prominent feature of the student calendar from the 1960s onwards was the
Bogle Stroll. This was a sponsored walk for charity which was held annually during
Rag Week
Rag, rags, RAG or The Rag may refer to:
Common uses
* Rag, a piece of old cloth
* Rags, tattered clothes
* Wash rag, a small cloth used for bathing
* Rag (newspaper), a publication engaging in tabloid journalism
* Rag paper, or cotton paper
Arts ...
. Each year, hundreds of students followed the circular route which started and finished at the UMIST campus. The tradition continues at the University of Manchester.
Sports facilities included a gymnasium in the main building, the large assembly hall, the MUTECH playing fields and the Sugden Sports Centre (jointly owned by UMIST and the Metropolitan University and opened in 1998). The director of sport administered the facilities, recreation classes and inter-departmental competitions. The athletic union was responsible for administering the grant-aided clubs and inter-varsity teams.
Achievements and evolution
During the last quarter of the 20th century UMIST established a reputation as a major research-based university, performing well in the government's
Research Assessment Exercise
The Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) was an exercise undertaken approximately every five years on behalf of the four UK higher education funding councils ( HEFCE, SHEFC, HEFCW, DELNI) to evaluate the quality of research undertaken by British ...
in 2001, and was well placed in various league tables. UMIST has won four Queen's Prizes for Higher and Further Education, two Prince of Wales' Awards for Innovation and two
Queen's Award for Export Achievement.
UMIST was instrumental in the founding of what is now the
Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester. Famous alumni include
Nobel Laureate
The Nobel Prizes (, ) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make outstanding contributions in th ...
in
nuclear physics
Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter.
Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies th ...
Sir
John Cockcroft
Sir John Douglas Cockcroft (27 May 1897 – 18 September 1967) was an English nuclear physicist who shared the 1951 Nobel Prize in Physics with Ernest Walton for their splitting of the atomic nucleus, which was instrumental in the developmen ...
, aeroplane pioneer Sir
Arthur Whitten Brown, and designer of the
Lancaster bomber Roy Chadwick
Roy Chadwick, CBE, FRSA, FRAeS (30 April 1893 – 23 August 1947) was an English aircraft design engineer for the Avro Company.
Born at Marsh Hall Farm, Farnworth, Widnes, the son of the mechanical engineer Charles Chadwick, he was the chief ...
, while famous academics include mathematicians
Louis Joel Mordell,
Hanna Neumann,
Lewis Fry Richardson
Lewis Fry Richardson, Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (11 October 1881 – 30 September 1953) was an English mathematician, physicist, meteorologist, psychologist, and Pacifism, pacifist who pioneered modern mathematical techniques of weather ...
and
Robin Bullough, and the physicist
Henry Lipson.
Other notable alumni include
Margaret Beckett
Margaret Mary Beckett, Baroness Beckett, (; born 15 January 1943), is a British politician. She was a member of Parliament (MP) for more than 45 years, first from 1974 to 1979 and then from 1983 to 2024. A member of the Labour Party, she was ...
, a politician who in 2006 became Foreign Secretary.
The later 20th century saw UMIST diminishing its formal connections with Manchester University. In 1994 most of the remaining institutional ties with the Victoria University of Manchester were severed, as new legislation allowed UMIST to become a fully autonomous university with powers to award its own degrees.
The end of UMIST, 2004

UMIST, together with the
Victoria University of Manchester
The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. A ...
ceased to exist on 1 October 2004, when they were combined in a new single
University of Manchester
The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...
.
Terry Leahy, CEO of
Tesco
Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...
and alumnus was the last
Chancellor
Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...
of UMIST, and the Vice-Chancellor was a chemical engineer,
John Garside.
The merged university undertook a massive expansion and a £350 million capital investment programme in new buildings. Some, such as the
Alan Turing Building, house merged departments such as the
School of Mathematics. The estates plan, published in 2007, indicates an intention to sell a number of former UMIST teaching buildings, including the Moffat Building, the Maths and Social Sciences Tower, the Morton Building and the Fairbairn Building, as well as formerly UMIST-owned halls of residence including Hardy Farm, Chandos Hall, Wright-Robinson Hall and Weston Hall. The original UMIST Main Building is not included in this list.
Covenants restrict it to educational use. No plans have been announced for the sale of any former Victoria University of Manchester buildings. Unions and some ex-UMIST staff and students have reacted angrily to the potential sales.
In the estates strategy for 2010–2020 for the University of Manchester it is stated that essentially all of the former UMIST campus, described as the "area north of the Mancunian Way", is to be disposed of. Only the
Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, which was built in 2006, is exempted, whilst the fate of the former UMIST Main Building is left vague. The Faraday Building will be replaced by student accommodation and it is envisaged that the Engineering Schools will eventually be relocated to new buildings on the site of the present halls of residence in the Grosvenor Place area. This plan will, therefore, encompass the destruction of almost all of UMIST's physical legacy.
In March 2007, the press claimed that the merger had created a debt of £30 million, about 5% of the university's annual turnover, and that the university was aiming to tackle this debt by implementing 400
voluntary redundancies. The
University and College Union
The University and College Union (UCU) is a British trade union in further and higher education representing over 120,000 academics and support staff.
UCU is a vertical union representing casualised researchers and teaching staff, "permanent" ...
accused the university of mismanagement and called for a halt to recruitment. Critics use these statistics to support the claim that it was not a merger of equals, that it was effectively a takeover of UMIST by Manchester University and that this was not in UMIST's best interests.
Alumni groups
Until the late 1980s, UMIST's official alumni organisation was called the Manchester Technology Association, a name which was a relic of UMIST's past incarnation as 'The Tech'. The organisation's name was then updated to become the UMIST Association. It published a glossy magazine for UMIST graduates called ''Mainstream''.
In 2004, at the time of the university merger, the UMIST Association also merged with its equivalent organisation at the Victoria University of Manchester. This step was taken after minimal consultation with its membership. From that point on, there was no official association specifically for past UMIST students or staff. However, the growth of social networking websites has allowed the development of a number of unofficial UMIST alumni groups in cyberspace, particularly on Facebook. The UMIST alumni group on LinkedIn has over 6,500 members and has a sub-group for each of UMIST's academic departments.
UMIST Campus

UMIST moved to its present location just south of
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
city centre at the end of the 19th century. The
Main Building (now called the
Sackville Street Building) was purpose-built between 1895 and 1902 by Spalding and Cross. Starting in 1927, plans were drawn up by the architects
Bradshaw Gass & Hope for an extension which would approximately double the size of the original building. However, construction was delayed by the war and other factors, so that the extension was not fully completed until 1957. The latter firm were also responsible for internal alterations which enlarged and upgraded the library so that it extended over more floors and some of the academic departments were relocated (1986-1987). Upon completion it was given the name of Joule Library.
[UMIST. Joule Library''. 1967]
In the 1960s the institution expanded rapidly to the south, growing from a single large building to an entire campus. Around a dozen modern buildings were constructed on the other side of the railway viaduct from the Main Building. The new edifices were designed by leading
Manchester
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...
architects and were all built out of concrete. They included the George Begg Building (Mechanical Engineering), the
Maths and Social Sciences Tower, the
Faraday Building, the
Renold Building, and the
Barnes Wallis Building, the last two of which faced each other across a
bowling green
A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls.
Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...
, which later became a landscaped garden.
* Three small apple trees, said to have been grown from cuttings taken from the apple trees in
Sir Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton () was an English polymath active as a mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author. Newton was a key figure in the Scientific Revolution and the Enlightenment that followed. His book (''Mathe ...
's garden, are planted by the archway containing a statue of
Archimedes
Archimedes of Syracuse ( ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Greek mathematics, mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and Invention, inventor from the ancient city of Syracuse, Sicily, Syracuse in History of Greek and Hellenis ...
in his bath by
Thompson Dagnall
Thompson Dagnall is a British sculptor.
Born in Liverpool on 15 February 1956, he attended Liverpool Polytechnic, Liverpool and University of Brighton, Brighton Polytechnics before gaining an Master of Arts, MA at Chelsea College of Art and Desig ...
.

* The popular fruit cordial
Vimto was formulated in a shed located in the space that UMIST eventually came to cover – around 1991–92 students and others were asked to give their opinions and perhaps vote on a memorial to this invention – the winner was a huge wooden carving of a Vimto bottle surrounded by representations of fruit, the juices of which are used in the product.
* UMIST is on land which used to be home to a large number of
dyers' factories by the
River Medlock
The River Medlock in Greater Manchester, England rises in east Oldham and flows south and west for to join the River Irwell in Manchester city centre.
Sources
Rising in the hills that surround Strinesdale just to the eastern side of Oldham M ...
, which now runs through underground culverts beneath the site. An original bend in the river can be traced by observing the angles of two of the arches of the railway
viaduct
A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...
alongside UMIST.
These were built slanted to accommodate the winding river.
See also
*
Armorial of UK universities
*
:People associated with the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology
*
UMIST linear system
Notes and references
Bibliography
*Cardwell, D. S. L. (ed.) (1974) ''Artisan to Graduate: Essays to Commemorate the Foundation in 1824 of the Manchester Mechanics' Institution'', Manchester: Manchester University Press,
*— (2004)
Reynolds, John Henry (1842–1927), ''
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...
'', Oxford University Press. Retrieved 18 June 2005 (subscription required)
*
*
*Marshall, J.D. (1964) "John Henry Reynolds, pioneer of technical education in Manchester", ''Vocational Aspect'' 16/35, 176–96
External links
University of ManchesterUMIST websiteversions from 1997 onwards, preserved in the Internet Archive
Higher Education Policy Institutereport based on interviews with those involved in several university mergers including UMIST's. Interviewees stressed the importance of a short timescale for mergers which "limited the time for opposition to gain momentum".
UMIST's archives at the
University of Manchester Library
The University of Manchester Library is the library system and information service of the University of Manchester. The main library is on the Oxford Road campus of the university, with its entrance on Burlington Street. There are also ten other ...
, including records of th
Manchester Mechanics' Institution
* A promotional film made in 1974 to attract prospective students to UMIST is available here
Sugden Sports Centre*
{{DEFAULTSORT:University Of Manchester Institute Of Science And Technology
University of Manchester, .Manchester Institute of Science and Technology
Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, University
Manchester Institute of Science and Technology
History of Manchester
Educational institutions established in 1824
Educational institutions disestablished in 2004
1824 establishments in England
2004 disestablishments in England