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Throughout its long history, Winterbourne has had several roles – from a family home to a rich resource for research and learning at the University of Birmingham. As the University celebrates its 125th anniversary, we are delving into these different roles.
First up is the time when Winterbourne was home to University of Birmingham’s Extra-Mural Studies Department – a period of Winterbourne history affectionately remembered by the people whose lives it touched. Archive volunteer Sue Tungate investigates.
University of Birmingham’s Extra-Mural Studies Department was originally set up in 1909 as part of the Workers’ Education Association (WEA). The WEA was created to promote the higher education of the working ‘man’, although women were also allowed to take part.
Mason Science College, the predecessor college of University of Birmingham, had offered part-time courses to give students practical help in gaining employment. By 1881, Mason College was offering courses in the sciences, maths, geology, botany, engineering, and languages. Mason College eventually became the University of Birmingham, exactly 125 years ago in 1900, and the tradition of offering part-time courses was continued with the creation of the Extra-Mural Studies Department.
By 1955 the Department employed twenty-one tutors. Allen Parker, whose portrait we have in the archives, was director from 1955 until 1982. Activities included day courses, lectures, training, local visits and trips abroad. In the archives are a series of albums showing some of these early outings; for example, a visit to Sweden in 1939, a trip around the Birmingham canals in June 1956, and visits to archaeological excavations.
The Extra-Mural Department was originally situated on the University’s main campus in the city centre. It moved to Pritchatts Road in 1962 and then, in 1966, found a new home in Winterbourne House.
Since 1944, when it was bequeathed to the University by John Macdonald Nicolson, Winterbourne had been used as a hall of residence for women, and the garden was utilised by the Department of Botany for research. When the house was turned over to the Extra-Mural Department, alterations were made to convert bedrooms into seminar rooms, offices and tutors’ rooms, and a second staircase was added between the first and second floors. Original toilets and bathrooms, fireplaces and French windows were removed, and doors were panelled over. A library was built on the area which had formerly been a paddock; it is now The Maples Day Nursery. A car park, which remains to this day, was built on the site of a tennis court.
By the 1970s, there were 500 part-time tutors, and courses were given in centres in Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Shropshire and South Staffordshire. From1979 to 1980,648 courses were offered to more than14,500 studentsper year with sessions in the arts and humanities, and social, natural and physical sciences. In 1983, the Extra-Mural Department reached its peak of 19,000 students. Full-time students at the University did not reach this number until around 2000! A lot of the courses were for general enjoyment, such as Egyptian hieroglyphics which my own father attended for a year part-time.
From 1988 the Department, now known as the School of Continuing Studies, offered MA and BA part-time degree courses, plus leisure courses, and the emphasis was increasingly on credited modules. Management of the botanic garden was transferred to Continuing Studies in 1989.
By 1999, courses included BA Integrated Studies, BPhil Continuation Studies, MA Counselling, and lots of Certificates in Higher Education covering a wide range of sciences and humanities. The School of Continuing Studies remained at Winterbourne until 2002; by 2006 it ceased to exist.
In the archives, we have plenty of flyers for various lectures and courses held at Winterbourne. For example, a four-hour session on the history of Winterbourne cost just £1 in 1979! A similar day school in July 2006 on Edwardian Birmingham and the Arts and Crafts Movement cost £30. By contrast, a two-year part-time course for a Post-Experience Certificate in the Study of Human Ageing was £190 in 1996.
Dianne Barre was an administrator for the Extra-Mural courses from 1973 to 2002. She says: ‘I remember Winterbourne as a friendly place that hummed with life, with a constant flow of hundreds of students each week; many returning year after year. There were dozens of part-time tutors for whom Winterbourne was part of their life, CV and an important income.’
As Dianne says, ‘Winterbourne holds a special place in the hearts of countless people in the Midlands, who gained so much from courses and support there.’ I would wholeheartedly agree with that. I started a ten-week history course, ‘Manors, Mills and Mansions’ given by Ken Hughes, at Winterbourne on 9 May 1995, which eventually led to my PhD in History, awarded in 2011. Since 2009, I have been volunteering in the archives at Winterbourne, a lovely place to be on a Wednesday morning.
Winterbourne continues the legacy established by the Extra-Mural Department, offering part-time courses to members of the wider community. Why not take a look at its horticulture and arts workshops and RHS-accredited courses today?