Durham, Neville's Cross College and New College
Reference: E/Du Catalogue Title: Durham, Neville's Cross College and New College Area: Catalogue Category: Education Records Description:
Covering Dates: 1969-1993
Access: Access to records less than 100 years old is restricted under Data Protection legislation. Apply to county archivist for access.
Catalogue Index
Use and to reveal/hide the structure of the catalogue index (requires Javascript to be enabled in your internet browser options). Click to jump directly to information at a specific level of the catalogue.
- Durham, Neville's Cross College and New College
Catalogue Description
Records of Neville's Cross College of Education, Durham and New College Durham,deposited on long-term loan:
27 May 2004 Acc: 3285
Origins of New College Durham
New College Durham was formed in 1977 by the merger of Neville's Cross College of Education (formerly Neville's Cross Training College for Women) and Durham Technical College.
Neville's Cross Training College for Women, Durham (1921-1969)
The building of a non-denominational teacher training college by Durham County Council on the Neville's Cross site was approved by the Board of Education in 1908, and plans were submitted by W. Rushworth in 1912 (Durham Record Office Ref. No: CC/Arch 311). Building commenced in 1913 but was suspended during the First World War, and the college eventually opened in September 1921. The residential accommodation was completed by September 1922. Training was provided for 120 women students.
During the Second World War the college was occupied by the Royal Army Medical Corps, and from 1940 by the Auxiliary Territorial Service. The students were accommodated at Bede College, and later Hatfield College, University of Durham, throughout the war.
The college admitted the first male students in 1963.
Neville's Cross College of Education, Durham (1969-1977)
Neville's Cross Training College was redesignated as a college of Education in 1969. The college governing body was reconstituted under Government plans to give colleges of education increased responsibility for their academic work, also adequate administrative services and control of college expenditure. Funding was still provided by Durham County Council.
The college offered degree level, certificated and in-service teacher training, and maintained the connection with the University of Durham which had been established early in the history of Neville's Cross Training College.
Durham Technical College, Framwellgate Moor, Durham (1957-1977)
Durham Technical College was built for Durham County Council. When it opened in September 1957 it admitted students of mining, engineering and building. Further buildings opened in 1958 to admit commerce students, and in 1960 provision was made for domestic studies.
The college became a centre for all forms of further education, for the benefit of vocational students and the community at large. It absorbed the vocational training which was formerly provided at local evening institutes, and a small amount of day study at neighbouring colleges, and also satisfied the latent demand for further education.
New College Durham (1977 to date)
New College Durham opened in September 1977 as a Community College of Further and Higher Education. The college was maintained by the local Education Authority until 1992, when it assumed independent status under the reform of post-16 education in England (White Paper, Higher Education: a New Framework, May 1991) and became funded directly by the Government.
From 1977 to 2004 New College Durham operated from two sites, at Neville's Cross and Framwellgate Moor, occupying the premises of the two colleges from which it was formed. The college was relocated to a new campus on the Framwellgate Moor site in September 2004. A contract for the sale of the Neville's Cross site, for housing development, was signed in November 2002, and planning consent for the redevelopment of the Framwellgate Moor site was given in February 2003.
Further reading
Desmond Dalton, A Contribution to Teacher Education: Neville's Cross, 1921-1986, 1986