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The University Years: celebrating 125 years of University of Birmingham
2025 marks a milestone for University of Birmingham: 125 years of research, learning and driving change since Queen Victoria granted the Royal Charter in 1900. Winterbourne – built close by in 1903 – is intrinsically entwined with the University’s history. From celebrating our arts-and-crafts heritage, to our commitment to horticulture education, Winterbourne continues to build
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Cultivating knowledge
In 1944 Winterbourne’s grounds became the University’s Botanic Gardens and were used to provide plant material for teaching in the Botany department. Produce from the vegetable garden was used in the kitchen of University House. Initially the gardens were also used to provide decorative plant material for Great Hall. Natural order beds were planted in the
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A passion for plants: women in botany
The University Herbarium contains 60,000 preserved plant specimens, collected by some 2,000 botanists and collectors over the University’s 125-year history. Most of these collectors were men, but some 260 women also worked on this valuable archive – some well documented, others entirely unknown. My name is Lottie, and I’m currently studying an MA in Art
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The history behind ‘The Summons’
Visitors often stop to look at our magnificent wall hanging in reception, which is entitled ‘The Summons’. This object brings together the work of William Morris, the Arts and Crafts movement, and the ancient legend of the Holy Grail. Our wall hanging is not as old as it looks. It was made in the 1980s
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A treasure trove of botanical illustrations
When Winterbourne took responsibility for the University Herbarium a few years ago, we had no idea what treasures we were going to uncover. Opening some of the cardboard boxes revealed a major collection of prints by a significant figure in the history of botanical illustration, James Sowerby. Sowerby was born in 1757 at a time