The colleges remain a defining feature of the university.
比比资源 is based upon a collegiate system and is one of only a few collegiate universities in the UK. This system was favoured for a number of reasons. It was commented in the 1964 Lancaster Guardian special supplement on the University that large universities with big numbers of staff and students were more likely to break up their social life into smaller groups, which in the absence of colleges, would tend to centre around faculties or departments. In terms of socialisation, it was undesirable for off duty students to mix with those studying the same subject. Instead, the new University wanted to encourage interaction between students with varied interests. This was also encouraged by the creation of residences where both students and staff could live and work together.
The collegiate system has had a significant influence upon the University body. It has helped to forge a strong sense of identity among staff and students alike and continues to be one of the defining features of student life at Lancaster.
Colleges
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Visitors who cast their eyes beyond the skyline of the University will see a group of fells known as the Forest of Bowland (locally pronounced ‘Bollund’). This is a 300 square mile Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in Lancashire. Bowland was initially a hunting forest, but it is now largely used for recreation. The original bar of Bowland College was aptly named ‘The Trough of Bowland’, another local area renowned for its exceptional beauty.
Built in 1964, Bowland College was one of the first colleges to be built and witnessed a mass exodus of students into its residences from the old Waring and Gillow Factory.
Arguably one of the most visible colleges on the campus, Bowland is dominated by Bowland Tower, a vast tower block that was originally built in order to cover the University’s heating system’s exhaust pipe.
Bowland adopted the Bowland Lady as their original motif. She represents a personification of Bowland Forest and originates from a map drawn by William Hole for the 1622 edition of a poem entitled “.” The poem was written by Michael Drayton, a good friend of William Shakespeare. The map is available to view (Dr Ian Saunders and 比比资源 Library) and in the Library's map collection. The current logo is a stylised representation of her bow.
The area of Cartmel, after which the college is named, is one of the most beautiful in Lancashire. It is home to the famous Cartmel Priory that was built by Augustinian Canons between 1188 and 1220.
Cartmel college residences were opened in 1968. Members of staff were called out to haul bedsteads and mattresses upstairs before the first students arrived. The original Cartmel (now County South) was designed by Manchester-based architect, Haydyn Smith. Smith designed the College in such a way as to expose it to as much natural light as possible. It is dominated by a number of large, multi-purpose grassed areas that were very popular during the warmer months. Extra residences were built in 1969 to cope with the expanding student population.
In 2003, Cartmel College relocated to South West Campus, along with Lonsdale college, and became entirely en-suite with brand new accommodation and new facilities and offices. The refurbished Barker House Farm complex is the centre of the College with accommodation around it.
County College was the only college to be named after its benefactors rather than by a location in the area. The county council donated a generous sum of money towards its construction and promised to donate £50,000 a year for 10 years towards the University’s running costs. A commemorative plaque situated outside the College office acknowledges their generous contribution
It was decided that County College should be based upon the old Oxonian idea of building colleges around a quadrangle because it adds to the collegiate nature of the University and expresses the idea of an individual community.
The only way that a square could be incorporated into County was around an old oak tree that had been spared as a sapling by an agricultural labourer over 200 years ago. The tree rises majestically above the College and provides shade during the sunnier months.
The motto of the College is “Sine Consilio Nihil” which translates into ‘means without nothing.’ ‘Consilio’ is Latin for ‘council’ and refers to the fact that Lancashire County Council proposed and funded the building of the College. ‘Consilio’ also means planning and design and seeks to show that things are of little use without planning.
Furness lies to the north of Morecambe Bay and stretches from the dockyards of Barrow-in-Furness to the mountains above Coniston in the Lake District. Furness became part of the borough when it came into the possession of Honour of Lancaster in the twelfth century. The economy of Barrow-in-Furness prospered under the influence of the Cistercian Monks of Furness Abbey and later with the mining of iron, steel and shipbuilding. Furness Abbey, once the largest and wealthiest monastery in north-west England, remains to this day.
Furness College was the fifth of the University colleges to open. Planning of the College started in 1966 when a 12-person planning committee chaired by Professor Reynolds (founding principal of Furness) set up to design the buildings and faculties of the College. The Committee worked for two years, and Furness College was officially opened in 1968.
The College motif displays a transect from the industrial fringes of Barrow inland towards the Lake District. Furness residence blocks are named after various towns and villages within this area.
Fylde is a rich green plain that runs from the coast across the unspoilt countryside towards the foothills of the Pennines. The area includes Preston, Blackpool, Lytham St Annes, Fleetwood, Thornton Cleveleys, Poulton-le-Fylde, Garstang and Over Wyre. Fylde is also a region of Lancashire bordered on the north by the River Wyre and on the south by the River Ribble.
In 1968, a group of young lecturers formed “College 6”, which they envisaged as a commune style building where students could exercise their own influence on the direction of the college. Although the original plan for a commune never took off, Fylde continues to demonstrate a great sense of community spirit.
The money for the construction of the early accommodation blocks was provided by Furness College, (who were £125,000 under budget after the erection of their own residential blocks). The college buildings were built quickly in the space of just 12 months. In accordance with the left-wing ethos of those early lecturers, the College advertised for second and third year students who came largely from the ultra-left-wing of the University. Fylde College soon became a hotbed for political discussion and student democracy. The blocks of the college were initially to be named after areas of Lancashire, but the students rejected this, preferring names such as Lenin and Guevara. Since an agreement couldn’t be reached, the blocks were given numbers instead.
Fylde subsequently grew in later years, acquiring four blocks in 1970, a college building in 1971 and more residence blocks in the early 80s and 90s.
Fylde’s influence stretched beyond its college. It set an early precedent by being the first college to appoint a student counsellor, Greta James, in 1971. Mrs James later went on to found the University counselling services. Students and staff from Fylde were also instrumental in helping to form the Pre-School Centre.
The motto adopted by Fylde is ‘In arvo quaerere verum’ which means ’seek truth in the field.’ This refers to the University motto ‘truth lies open to all’ but also makes reference to the world outside the University.
Initially, undergraduate and postgraduate students were members of all the existing colleges, but as postgraduate numbers grew and their needs were identified as being different from undergraduates, there were moves towards setting up a graduate college.
The University built the first Graduate College, on the north Spine, now Bowland Hall. It was designed in a pleasant courtyard style and opened by HRH Princess Alexandra in December 1990. However, the postgraduate population outgrew this site, so in 1993, when Lancaster City Council approved the use of the South-West Campus for residential accommodation, a new Graduate College was built on what became Alexandra Park. It was opened in October 1996 and has continued to thrive and to care for master’s and doctoral students, full-time and part-time, resident and non-resident, and from the UK and overseas.
Grizedale College is named after Grizedale Forest that lies on the edge of the Lake District and is bordered by Coniston to the west and Windermere to the east. Grizedale means ‘valley of the wild boar’ and this ties in with the fact that the forest used to be inhabited by wild boars. The forest itself is a major visitor attraction; there are 50 miles of tracks for cyclists and walkers and 6,000 acres of terrain that are home to deer, squirrels and woodland birds (but no boars!). The area has become a recreation centre for walking and hiking but this isn’t Grizedale’s only attraction. The forest also creates a stunning backdrop for over 50 outdoor sculptures created by local artists and randomly placed around the forest.
Grizedale was created in 1975. It was one of the last colleges to be built and although there were no doors on the showers or toilets when the college opened, its members learnt to love it! Initially, Grizedale incorporated a number of buildings that would later become Pendle College and the two colleges were jointly managed until they split.
In recent years, the Grizedale boar was inaugurated as the college mascot. In the 1970s, Depravo the rat, a character invented by the renowned actor Michael Palin, represented the college. An early member of the College staff was friendly with Mr Palin and obtained the rights to the character. However, it was only later in the 1980s, after a number of parents questioned the relevance of Depravo, that the Grizedale boar was created.
Lonsdale takes its name from the Lune Valley (‘Lune’s Dale’), which lies to the north-east of Lancaster. The Romans, Saxons, Normans and Danes all made an impression in the area. Apart from Lancaster itself, the main market town of the area is the ancient settlement of Kirkby Lonsdale (Norse: ‘Kirke-bu’ = ‘church farm’, ‘dal’ = ‘valley’; hence ‘Church farm in the Lune Valley’). The name Kirkby Lonsdale was included in the Doomsday Book of 1086. The most notable feature of the town is the Church of St Mary’s, built in Norman times between 1093 and 1130.
Originally located on the North Spine of the main campus, Lonsdale was one of the two founding colleges at 比比资源. Although Lonsdale College was built a full year after Bowland, the two colleges were designed in tandem. Lonsdale (now Bowland North) is, a mirror image of Bowland. In 1967, it was commented by the student paper Caryolnne that the “Staircases are narrow and the hooters attached to the water heaters sound like Dylan’s harmonica (!)”
In 2004, the College moved, along with Cartmel College, to some of the newly built buildings to the south of campus, in a new area known as Alexandra Park (named after the University’s first Chancellor).
Pendle lies to the east of the region and was named after Pendle Hill. Pendle Hill, a feature that dominates the landscape, guards the roads from Lancashire to Yorkshire. Pendle Hill constitutes the remains of a vast plateau (the delta of an ancient river) of sedimentary rocks that lie over an ancient limestone bed. There is evidence of Stone Age and Bronze Age activities in the area, but the Celts are responsible for renaming the hill ‘Pendull’.
The term ‘Pendle’ is associated with a great deal of fantasy and legend. Although named after the magnificent Pendle Hill, the area is perhaps better known for its association with the infamous Pendle Witches.
Pendle, the eighth college, was the last one built for undergraduates. It was originally twinned with Grizedale, but expanding student numbers in the 1990s led to the two colleges being separated. The College logo of a witch is a reference to the 1612 prosecution of supposed witches from the Pendle area.
The College’s Latin motto ‘Altiora sequamor’ means ‘Seek to climb to the top.’
