Halifax College - History

History

The first blocks of Halifax College which formed Ingram, Irwin, Younger, Lindley and Wood Courts were built in the summer of 1996. Named 'Halifax Court' each house was assigned to a college at the University. The lack of any tie between the campus colleges and the houses in Halifax Court quickly led to demands from students that Halifax Court be given full college status.

The location of the buildings - at the back of the existing (1970s built) St Lawrence Court (used at the time almost exclusively for post-graduate and foreign students) - meant that even the student union paid little attention to the students, despite them forming the largest group at the university.

Halifax Court residents were the first to pay differential rents on their accommodation and lets were a mandatory 38 weeks. All others students, whether in the newer James College blocks or the very dated Derwent blocks paid the same rate. Despite this, accommodation in Halifax in 1997 was £38 a week - £6 more than the rest of campus but still one of the lowest rents in the country.

The campaign for full status was delayed primarily because of the insistence of the Dean of Halifax Court, Mark Evans and the JCRC that Halifax Court should have all the facilities of a campus college. At that time, the Halifax Court Centre Building (now JJ's) consisted of a central common room (unlicensed though clearly built with the concept of housing a bar), the only part-time portering service (Geoff the porter) at the university (every other college had 24hr portering at that time), an adjacent laundry room accessed from the outside (now the lounge area of JJ's), and a small convenience store accessed from the outside (now the pizzeria). The building of today is almost unrecognisable from that of this time.

The lack of desire for a common room (it was very rarely used) and the need for a bar led to the construction of a new building housing the portering service and the shop and the complete refurbishment of the Halifax Court Centre Building into JJ's. The area now occupied by the newer Ainsty and Hickleton Courts (next to the car park) was a large 'village green' for the Halifax Court/College residents. During the summer term this was frequently full of students playing frisbee, having barbecues (strongly against the wishes of the university administration) and studying together.

The building of Halifax Court gave a huge boost to the local economy in Heslington Village as students walked through the village, used the shops and used the pubs.

The lane running directly from Halifax Court past St Lawrence Court, across Heslington Lane, past the Vice-Chancellor's house and eventually to the library has been used by students for many years as it reduces the walk to the main campus by a considerable margin. Despite being muddy, pitch black in the dark and a route that the university advises female students not to use, the lane has been the subject of years of campaigning for lighting and paving.

The last few years have seen many changes to the college- seen in the departure of Professor Mark Evans (Provost since the college's foundation) and Carl Thompson (later Provost of Wentworth College).

In 2009 Halifax College changed its College Crest from its original blue and white shield to newer Crest derived from the Coat of Arms of Lord Halifax while maintaining the College's traditional colour.